Ticked off at (Washington) Post price increase (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)

The Washington Post ^ | January 20, 2012 | Patrick B. Pexton

[abb]

The Post managed to tee off its readers twice this week..

It raised its single-copy price at the newsstand to $1, from 75 cents, and the company did so with no announcement, no publisher’s note, nothing online or in print that I could find.

That angered readers.

Remember that the No. 1 revenue stream for The Post still is print circulation — that is, the money received from home subscribers, newsstand sales and print advertising.

Here’s what one phone caller left on my voice mail:

“This [price increase], so far as I can tell, was unannounced. . . . I looked at my copies of Saturday and Sunday and found no notice of it, and there was no notice of it on the Monday copy itself. It was a huge increase, percentage-wise, at a time when supposedly there is next-to-no inflation. I understand that prices go up in jumps, but this was an enormous jump at what seems to me to be a very bad time. And I can’t imagine how the Post could justify it, but the fact that they do it and don’t even announce it has rubbed salt into the wound.”

A Metro rider who picks up his paper at the Medical Center stop every morning had this to say:

“Maybe you should consider sharing the burden with those getting the free [online] paper. A dime or a quarter isn’t asking too much of them, and then those of us who get the regular paper from the vending machines can catch a break. Many of us leave home too early to get home delivery. I would hate to see you go under, but this was a bad idea.”

[abb]

As sales decrease, raise prices and lower the quality of the product. Works every time it's tried. /sarc

[abb]

ping

[Obadiah]

Why in the world would any of the Post’s readers be upset? They LOVE taxing people so what’s the problem here?

Oh... I know. The Post readers want the rich to pay for their paper, right?

[abb]

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/166190/video-rental-stores-on-life-support.html
Video Rental Stores On ‘Life Support’

http://gannettblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/detroit-imperative-that-we-begin-year.html
Detroit | Jenereaux calls furloughs ‘imperative’

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/fbns-john-stossel-its-a-little-sad-how-the-media-is-compartmentalized-now_b107944
FBN’s John Stossel: ‘It’s a Little Sad How the Media is Compartmentalized Now’

[NoGrayZone]

Die die die already! I'm sick of the lamestream media dieing a slow death.

Just hari kari yourselves and be done with it! We are done with you.

[Chode]

[abb]

See this thread from yesterday.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2835741/posts

Online Ad Spending to Pass Print for the First Time, Forecast Says (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)
Ad Age ^ | January 19, 2012 | Nat Ives

Posted on Saturday, January 21, 2012 6:20:45 AM by abb

[The Sons of Liberty]

The cost of lining your trashcan just went up 33% - thank a dimocrap.

[GeronL]

more good news!

[NoGrayZone]

Capitalism at it’s best. They know a rotting corpse, or shall I say “corps”.

I hate them all. Newt has given me my “power to positive” back, rather than my “let’s get on with our 2nd Revolution”.

I am so giddy to actually have someone to vote FOR, instead of against!

[raccoonradio]

Only $1? In Boston the liberal Globe is at least $1.50 daily, maybe something like $3.50-4 on Sundays; more conservative Herald still a buck though. $2 on Sundays. You need to pay $$ to read most of the Globe online, Herald still free.

[Alberta's Child]

An astute businessman I know suggested to me last week that these newspapers are all deliberately pricing their print editions out of business. Eventually they — or at least, the ones that are left after the industry is devastated — will be all online content, with perhaps a weekly publication done as a higher-quality magazine edition that will compete with Newsweek, TIME, etc.

[kingu]

There was a deal the other day for the Los Angeles Times - Thursday - Sunday home delivery for one year for $20, with no strings attached. (IE: No ‘Once this year is done, you’ll be charged...’)

That’s just under ten cents a day for home delivery. They likely pay the driver more than this to make the delivery, not counting any printing costs, etc. And I’m pretty sure the newsstand price is 75 cents a day, or $2 for Sundays.

[Spok]

The WP needs an infusion of a couple hundred million in stimulus money. Has Hussein forgotten who his friends are?

[Grampa Dave]

“As sales decrease, raise prices and lower the quality of the product. Works every time it’s tried!”

That is the tried and proven method how liberals run/ruin their business.

They tick off a large percent of their customers and then raise their prices until they go out of business.

Then, it is the fault of evil Republicans.

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks for another example of why liberals fail in business:

“a higher-quality magazine edition that will compete with Newsweek, TIME, etc.”

Newsweak’s/Slime’s, etc’s market shares/$’s have been on a steady downturn for at least a decade. That is not the place for smart money to invest in. Hopefully the dumb liberals will continue to invest and chase these financial losers.

[Grampa Dave]

“There was a deal the other day for the Los Angeles Times - Thursday - Sunday home delivery for one year for $20, with no strings attached. (IE: No ‘Once this year is done, you’ll be charged...’)”

The population in the LA area that can still read English is shrinking everyday, this will probably die a one year death.

[hinckley buzzard]

with perhaps a weekly publication done as a higher-quality magazine edition that will compete with Newsweek, TIME, etc.

I'm sure I'm not as astute as your friend but I expect that these boutique editions of TIME and Newsweak will be history before too long.

[MovementConservative]

Perfect. Raise the price and save the trees. Hopefully print is gone in the next 3 years. Anyone stupid enough to pay for a newspaper deserves to pay big.