Posted on 01/01/2003 5:09:00 AM PST by sarcasm
If you're picking her up at the train station or on a street corner, the "gray lady" just got pricier. As of Monday, the newsstand price of The New York Times in the New York metropolitan area - which includes 31 counties in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut - went to $1 from 75 cents, a 33 percent increase. The Wall Street Journal went up to $1 almost two years ago, but The Times is the first major general-interest daily in the New York market to charge a dollar a copy, according to industry observers. "Premium quality means a premium price," said Catherine Mathis, spokeswoman for The Times. The paper has added new sections and features and is worth a dollar, she said. "They're doing it for one single reason: Advertising revenue is under plan," said industry analyst Edward J. Atorino of Blaylock & Partners. Outside of greater New York, the price for The Times - the nation's third-largest newspaper - has been $1 since 1995. Atorino estimates the 25 cent increase will add $5 million to $6 million to the company's annual revenue. In New Jersey, The New York Times has a daily circulation of 142,419 Monday through Friday, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations in Schaumburg, Ill. Its Sunday circulation is 210,574 in the Garden State. The Times is not changing its home delivery or subscription rates or the price of its Sunday paper, which is $3 in the New York area and $4 elsewhere. The Times' move comes as some major newspaper publishers have cut newsstand prices hoping to boost stagnant or declining circulation. Knight Ridder Inc., publisher of the Philadelphia Inquirer, San Jose Mercury News, and Miami Herald, recently cut newsstand prices. The New York Post and the New York Sun have slashed their newsstand prices to 25 cents a copy. The median price nationwide is 50 cents at newsstands and $1.25 for Sunday editions, according to the Newspaper Association of America. In September 1999, the price of The Times went from 60 cents to 75 cents. Competitors were critical of the latest price hike. "The Times is a first-class newspaper, but what should be more important right now is readership, not revenue," said Mike Levine, editor of the suburban Times Herald-Record in Middletown, N.Y., one of the Ottaway chain of regional papers owned by Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co. The Times Herald-Record sells for 50 cents at the newsstand and its readers often pick up The New York Times or one of the New York tabloids as "a second buy," Levine said. Jonathan H. Markey, president of The Record, said the price increase is "absurd." "We expect to aggressively seek additional readers,'' he said. The Record gets 50 cents at the newsstand during the week and $1.50 on Sunday. "In an environment where there is no inflation, and newsprint prices are at historical lows, there is no justification whatsoever for the increase other than to drive profits to excessive levels," Markey said. Levine, Markey, and a spokeswoman for the New York Post all said their papers are not planning newsstand price increases. Mathis of The Times said Tuesday that it was too early to tell if the price hike has hurt newsstand sales. "Anytime you raise prices you run that risk," she said. "I don't think it's going to impact the circulation at all," said Atorino, who has a "hold" rating on New York Times Co. stock, which closed 3 cents higher on New Year's Eve, at $45.73, and about 7 percent higher for the year. The Times' readership is "more upscale" than that of many of its competitors, so the extra quarter will probably not drive many customers away, says Atorino. "It means now I can drop a dollar on the counter and I don't have to wait for the change."
Still a staple for would be intellectuals and those who think they are smarter and more tasteful than the herd.
Exactly my take on this. They've already cut staff. They can't downsize any further than they already have. And relocating to lower production cost is not practical in their business. That leaves them with only one option, which they've invoked. The problem is that it perpetuates the vicious circle they've in. The 5 or 6 million in boosted profits is nothing. The Times' other operations will increasingly have to support this failing newspaper.
Women, minorities hardest hit.
ROTFLMAO. You get today's unofficial, FR Best Post Award. The prize: a token of my appreciation.
Happy New Year!
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