Johannesburg - A change in the rules for measuring newspaper and magazine circulations has sparked furious debate among publishers and advertising media agencies.

The decision, by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, is "as disappointing as it is amazing", says former ABC chairperson Rory Macnamara, who now edits a clutch of trade magazines published by Interact Media.

"How they can justify such a move is beyond me as this just opens the door to put out questionable figures. While Avusa may have driven this, there is still a council that approved it, so they must all take the rap for this questionable decision."

Macnamara is the latest person to comment in the developing row after the ABC approved a change in the definition of "copy sales" to include copies sold at less than half the stated cover price. Previously only sales made at half or more qualified as ABC-endorsed paid circulation.

The change was proposed by Avusa, publisher of the Sunday Times and The Sowetan among others, which argued that the existing rule breached anticompetitive rules. But the change would also allow some publications to disguise declines in core circulation (made up of single-copy sales, subscriptions and digital sales).

Macanmara says a similar proposal during his tenure as ABC chairperson some years ago "was thrown out because of the potential to mislead. When one considers the offers being made out there by some consumer publications the purpose is clear: to see how they can screw the figures up and confuse the market.

"Clearly every member of the ABC needs to reconsider their membership as this move effectively is clouding the transparency that ABC stood for, as well as devaluing circulation figures.

"Does ABC forget past attempts to boost circulations falsely? In these tough times the ABC is expected to remain tough and not weaken itself by giving into this type of rubbish. Publishers should understand that a price is a price and if one sells it lower it is not the advertised/sold cover price. Let us at least keep circulations and publishing honest."

The move has been rejected by media directors and consultants, and respected industry guru Gordon Muller has resigned from the ABC board in protest.

There will now be no lower limit to the price you may charge. This means, to take an extreme example, that if your newspaper is officially selling at R10 and you offload it for 1c in some kind of promotion, it still counts as a full, normal sale.

But as every media planner knows, a big discount pulls in many buyers who would not otherwise buy it. This dilutes the demographic profile of the publication, which is the basis on which advertisers choose it in the first place.

Crucial core circulation figures

As mentioned above, the change in the rules was made by the ABC board at the instigation of Avusa, publisher of The Sunday Times and The Sowetan.

The newspaper with the lowest level of core circulation relative to total circulation is The Sunday Times. Its core circulation is only 78% of its total, whereas the average among weekend newspapers is 93%.

Among urban dailies the average is 96%, but The Sowetan, another Avusa publication, has the lowest core circulation figure - 87%. The Star is 90%.

Changing the rules "will neither achieve nor advance the objectives of the ABC or the spirit of the Competition Act", says Advertising Media Forum chairperson Gordon Patterson.

"Rather than levelling the playing field, this decision has the potential to flatten it, obscure the truth and create greater opportunities for abuse."

Patterson conducted a dipstick survey among 13 media experts - consultants and top media directors - who were unanimous that "copy sales" of this kind were worthless to advertisers.

Media24 has led the way in encouraging reliance on core circulation. A recent trade campaign has aggressively encouraged users to "clear the air", asking "are inflated circulation figures stringing you along"?

The ABC change is "outrageous", says Linda Gibson, MD of Ads24, the Media24 newspaper sales arm. "I have to ask whether it was the right thing for the ABC to go along with the Avusa suggestion. Now the industry is up in arms. They are losing their currency. Now people can start doing all sorts of knock and drop publications."

Concludes Patterson: "Perhaps those companies not embracing industry needs have something to hide."

- Fin24.com