Detroit newspapers losing "daily" tag?

Already seeing a couple of "I'm calling to cancel my subscription" comments tacked to the bottom of that story ... along with one hoping they keep the Web site free to the public.

 

Here's the thing. At least Detroit is trying something. And it's something kinda new.
Most importantly, if this doesn't work, they can just go back to the way things were in a couple of months.
I don't agree with the idea, but at least it is an idea.

 

Yeah.... I saw those as well.

Why would someone without a computer pay $12 a month for 3 papers and an e-edition when they got 7 papers for $13 before.

They can also go to the news stand and get three papers a week for $2; that's $8 bucks a month.


So... I'm sure that's what a lot of people will be doing.

 

That article was a advertorial. Notice not one subscriber was interviewed for reaction. Hmmm.. a story on home delivery limited to 3 days a week. You'd need to get the newspaper on the one hand, and on the other... Nope! The suits at the paper should do it! Notice no reporter wanted a byline there.

 

When you have the monopoly, you can ask the questions you want...

 

The numbers I want to see in that story:

* How many subscribers does each paper have?
* How many of those subscribers are 7-day subscribers?

That would be the most accurate gauge of potential backlash, which I would only expect from 7-day subscribers.

 

So, could people still get seven day delivery if they paid a premium for it?
Like, say I wanted my office or factory breakroom to get 20 copies delivered every day, could that still happen?
I'm just wondering.

The other thing I was wondering was readership numbers. With a print copy, the pass around rate is generally 2.5 times to 3.5 times. With online, you don't have that pass around factor and you lose a big chunk of numbers.
I wonder if that was considered at all, or is that just a sign that newspaper publishers know that the pass around number is a big bunch of bullshit.

 

This might be a good idea here:

The Freep will offer 4 delivery options. Here is No.4

Home delivery of print edition on Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Postal mail delivery of print edition on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday.

 

So you get an early edition with maybe three NBA/NHL scores at 2 p.m. every day, or whenever the mailman ends his liquid lunch break. Yeah, I really want that.

 

I want Wednesday's state edition to arrive in the mail after I've read Thursday's home delivered edition... Key-rist

 

I just think it's an option some people would prefer over a 3-day paper or an e-edition.

 

What if we got out of the business of delivering all-together?

It's already done through contractors, but instead of the paper doing it, why not set up a contract with an agency where you sell it XX papers a day, and the guy owning the business sets the pricing, etc.?

Delivery is a loss leader now. With all the deals out there, the price of having the home paper delivered hasn't gone up much in 20 years. Our paper offers a deal for something like $8 per month now, if you lock in using your credit card. I'm pretty sure that's close to what they were charging in 1989 and that's pretty close to what you'd pay in 1989 for the Boston papers to get delivered. I get that the landscape has changed, but you need to charge more than that if you want to make cash.