ABC Endorses Audit Update Recommendations

The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) has endorsed a set of recommendations to provide marketers with more useful information, streamline ABC rules and audits, and modify key circulation standards.

The recommendations have come from an industry task force comprising around two dozen newspaper and advertising executives and were announced following last week's launch of Audience-FAX (www.mrweb.com/drno/news7539.htm ), which provides a broader view of distribution, print readership and online audience measurements.

While details are to be further defined, ABC has agreed to implement the changes over the next three years in the US and says it will consider adopting similar changes for the Canadian newspaper industry following further input from its Canadian members.

For the US market ABC has agreed to:

• Revise the definition of paid circulation
• Adopt a paid/verified reporting model
• Implement a flexible pricing model
• Reclassify copies distributed at hotels and purchased by businesses for employees
• Allow newspapers more flexibility for home subscribers
• Revise ABC Publisher's Statements and Audit Reports to provide a summary of the total average circulation and the distribution by channel.

Board member Craig Sinclair, VP of Advertising at Walgreen said that the improvements are part of a two-year planning process to address the challenges of today's market: 'Our aim was to streamline the audit process, clearly define important measurement standards and improve overall communications between newspaper buyers and sellers'.

With more than 4,000 members in North America, ABC provides credible, verified information and maintains an online database of audited circulation information and readership, audience and web site usage data. Its home page is at www.accessabc.com.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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