Bottom Line Communications

11-28-2009
EXAMINING KC STAR THANKSGIVING PAPER
Here�s the un-official, pre-press insert count, (complete with page count and approx. size) for the Thanksgiving Day Star.
Given The Star bills advertisers by weight, not by the piece, you can do the math on exactly what kind of single day billings just the inserts would have. I�m not nerdy enough to count the ROP.

Just another example of why, just for sheer goodwill (to say nothing of being thankful for the subscribers that remain) The Star should have kept the standard daily rate (if there is one) for their Thanksgiving Day edition instead of trying to �double dip�. This also excludes Automotive and Real Estate.

Walmart 31 pages, 8.5 x 11

Best Buy 12 page metro

NFM 10 page wrap thingy w/ single page metro

Toys R Us 28 page 9 x 12
Verizon 8 page 10 x 10

Pier 1 4 page 10 x 12

Office Max 12 page 9 x 12

La Z Boy 2 page metro

Old Time Pottery 8 page 12 x 15

Sprint 4 page 9 x 12

Radio Shack 4 page metro

Kmart 36 page 10 x 10

Cabellas 24 page 10 x 10

Penney�s 66 page catalog

Westlake 4 page metro

Sam�s Club 16 page metro

Sears 48 page catalog

Shoe Carnival 4 page 10 x 10

Walgreens 4 page metro

Nuts & Bolts 4 page metro

Rogers 4 page metro

Macy�s 76 page catalog

CVS 4 page metro

Chux Trux 4 page 9 x 12

Mattress Firm 4 page metro

Meierotto�s 4 page metro

Dick�s 20 page metro

Burlington 4 page metro

Home Depot 10 page metro

Guitar Center 4 page 10 x 10

Best Buy 4 page 10 x 10

Gordman�s 16 page 12 x 15

Lowe�s 6 page metro

World Mkt 4 page 10 x 10

HyVee 4 page metro w/ 2 page wrap

JoAnn 8 page metro

TOTAL 36 advertisers, 490 (approx) pages of advertising

Roughly half was printed on 25 or 30# newsprint. The larger �catalogs� were printed on 60# magazine stock.

When weighed all of the ads tipped the scales at a little over 3 lbs.

This list is of inserts only, no ROP.
---ANONYMOUS

UPDATE (11-25-2009)
PAPERS ACROSS COUNTRY RAISING THANKSGIVING RATES
    As reported here (10/5) the Kansas City Star will be raising the price of its Thanksgiving paper from 75 cents to $2.00 because of the numerous ads it will contain.
    However, the McClatchy-owned Star won't be the only paper to raise its rates as Tribune Co., E.W. Scripps and others are also joining suit.
   See Bloomberg story.

Direct mail piece sent to Quinn Gregg, Star Northland subscriber.

10-05-2009
A 166.667 % INCREASE AT NEWSSTANDS!!
KC STAR SAYS 'HAPPY THANKSGIVING' BY INCREASING PRICE
     The executives at the Kansas City Star have come up with a unique way of saying "Happy Thanksgiving" to their loyal subscribers.
    Regular customers will see an increase from the normal 75 cent daily rate to $1.25. However, the McClatchy-owned paper is more than doubling the price of the newspaper from .75 cents to $2.00---a 167% increase at newsstands.
    Subscribers who pay by credit card will see the extra charge added to their bill.
    "I was in newspapers for more than 30 years and have never heard of this before," said a retired newspaper executive.
   Customers who pay by credit card will automatically be charged more than their agreed-upon subscription price for the Thanksgiving paper.
   "As a Star subscriber, you can look forward to our largest edition of the year on Thanksgiving Day," said a direct mail piece recently sent to subscribers (above).  "Your newspaper will be filled with sales inserts from all your favorite retailers to kick off the holiday shopping season."
     The fine print (expanded below) of the mailer notes, "Due to the increased size and value of the Thanksgiving Day paper the newsstand prices for this edition will be $2 rather than the usual $.75."
    "For a newspaper that is losing a lot of circulation, advertising revenue along with declining quality, this money grab makes me ask myself again, "Why do I keep paying for the Star?"' said a frustrated subscriber to Bottom Line.
     "It make me wonder why the Star would give their remaining subscribers any reason to cancel the paper, especially since I will be able to see the inserts at the retailers' websites."

11-25-200910-06-2009
AMAZING!!
"Re: Star's Thanksgiving increase...Amazing! I've yet to see any decrease for the smaller and smaller daily editions - oh wait, they've INCREASED the price. This may finally put me over the edge and cancel. The fee should help pay for the production and mailing of the postcard, though. Hypocrites."

LINK TO MCCLATCHY WATCH STORY/COMMENTS: http://cancelthebee.blogspot.com/

10-09-2009
COMPLAINT TO STAR WORKED
"I called the circulation department today and told them if they charged me the extra $1.25 I would cancel. The customer service rep told me she would put in refund request for Thanksgiving (just as I thought they would) and I made sure the Star knew I would cancel my subscription if I saw an extra charge in November."

11-25-2009
WILL STAR DISCOUNT SUNDAY PAPER?

   "I think the question here should actually be: If The Star is charging the Sunday rate for Thursday's paper, are they discounting the rate for the Sunday paper given its now reduced size because all the advertisers are going on Thursday instead of Sunday!
   "As a community newspaper Publisher, I find it ironic they're actually increasing the price given the influx of single run advertisers that insert in to the Thanksgiving Day paper at the published open rate. They ought to be offering discounts to subscribers given the extra ad revenue they're receiving on Thursday!
   "I would highly advise calling the circulation department to issue a complaint. I didn't even have to threaten cancellation of my subscription either. "Katie" handled it on both of our delivery accounts - or so she said. We'll see when the bill comes. She was a little difficult to understand given my call probably terminated somewhere other than the United States."    ---Michael Bushnell, Northeast News

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