Leading newspaper publishers are working with the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) Rule Review Sub-Committee, to establish a new, reporting structure with the auditing of average day of week sales data to commence from 1 July 2011.

Average Day of Week reporting will become part of the Bureau’s quarterly circulation reports under the new rules. The first set of newspaper average Day of Week sales data is expected to be available in the second half of 2011.

The members of The Newspaper Works (TNW), which includes News Limited, Fairfax Media, APN News & Media and West Australian Newspapers, have advised the ABC’s Rule Review Sub-Committee, that they plan to significantly increase their data reporting, including their daily sales figures.

TNW chief executive Tony Hale says: “We understand and support the request of advertisers and advertising agencies to increase the availability of sales data for national, metropolitan and regional publications.

“Responding to advertisers and agencies, we propose bringing average daily sales reporting for Monday to Friday editions in line with reporting for weekends.”

Currently, Monday to Friday sales data is released as an average of aggregated sales for each quarter, while average sales figures for Saturday and Sunday editions are already published. This development means that average sales will be available for each day of the week, providing greater accuracy and accountability to media buyers.

The ABC Rule Review Committee is currently in discussions to determine the frequency and form of the reporting.

The ABC’s Rule Review Sub-Committee comprises members from the Media Federation of Australia, the Australian Association of National Advertisers and magazine and newspaper publishers.

Source: Audit Bureau of Circulations; The Newspaper Works, Tony Hale.
By: Philip Jenkinson