Turkey Day is on the way, and many newspapers are looking forward to a little gravy by charging a premium on single copy editions that are stuffed with the kind of advertisements and editorial content that readers usually expect on Sundays.

More than one in three newspapers now charge a premium for Thanksgiving Day single copy editions, according to a recent NAA survey, and newspapers like The Orange County Register and the Knoxville News Sentinel are adding surcharges for home delivery editions for the day as well.

At The Cincinnati Enquirer, this will be the third year that the Thanksgiving Day edition is sold at the Sunday price for single copy and the second year of premium pricing in home delivery. Valecia Quinn, director of consumer sales and retail marketing for the paper, says readers accept the premium because it’s the largest paper of the year, filled with solid news content, advertising and coupon offerings.

“From 2007 to 2008, sales went up 13 percent on Thanksgiving Day, and we look for that to rise this year, even though we had a Sunday price increase in March,” Quinn says. “Volume losses have been minimal thus far since we moved from $1.50 to $1.75 on Sundays. With the economy and focus on the use of coupons, readers know the value of the newspaper."

Quinn says the Enquirer starts its Thanksgiving Day preparations on Nov. 1, communicating with retailers to find out which stores will be open, closed, or have reduced hours to map out the best distribution plan, along with finalizing promotional and sales incentives.

In-house advertising, rack cards and retailer in-store signage will tout the Thanksgiving Day edition’s extended shelf life, which will be on sale through Saturday after the holiday. Social media venues, like Twitter/Enquirer Media messaging, Web site ads and an e-mail campaign to non-subscribers will also be used.

“We have a Sunday hawking program, and will utilize our vendors on Thanksgiving morning at their usual corners,” Quinn says. “Cincinnati has a 10K Thanksgiving Day race, and about 10,000 people will participate. So we’ll have hawkers positioned there with the paper in a special events bag that people can carry the paper in.”

This year, the paper will also try to attract customers Friday morning by working with targeted advertisers on a coupon offering that equals or exceeds the cost of the newspaper, which will also drive early morning shoppers to the advertiser.

In Alabama, The Huntsville Time has priced its Thanksgiving Day single copy paper at the Sunday price for the last four years.

“We start a month ahead of time promoting it as the largest paper of the year, which promotes the real value of the paper,” ” says Frank Maier, operations director for The Huntsville Times. “This year, we’ll probably do something on the Internet with our non-subscribers as a single copy sales promotion.”

Maier says the newspaper provides promotional signage for retailers, and sends them letters showing what their profit will be on that day’s edition. Since the premium equates to handling two Sunday newspapers in one week, retailers are happy to get the increased revenue.

The return percentage on Thanksgiving Day editions are low, Maier says, with last year’s return being 12 percent, almost half of the daily return percentage.

At the Columbus Dispatch, research found that single copy editions were selling out on Thanksgiving, despite aggressive increases in the draws. In 2006, the Dispatch sold an additional 5,284 copies, or an increase of 12.8 percent over 2005 sales figures. So the newspaper decided to implement a $1.75 Sunday price point for Thanksgiving Day 2007.

By focusing the marketing on the size of the Thanksgiving Day edition and not the price, circulation volume increased over the previous year by 1.8 percent, says Carol Huddleston, circulation standards manager of the Columbus Dispatch, adding nearly $50,000 to the bottom line. Of the 350,000 single copy and home delivery customers, only nine complained about the price. She also stressed the importance of communicating with the retailers and involving them in both the promotion and operational details.

When the Lexington Herald-Leader in Kentucky upped the price on its Thanksgiving Day edition to the Sunday price last year, Nelson Fonticiella, vice president of circulation and marketing for the paper, took a handful of calls from readers protesting the move. But after he explained the increased value of the day’s edition, callers were satisfied.

“Save time, save money was our angle,” Fonticiella says. “We’ll help you organize your holiday shopping. The one day pick-up was more than $30,000, so it was worth it for us.

“The retailers and carriers loved it because it’s more revenue for them, too. We had a few issues with retailers that use scan-based trading when people didn’t change the register and were scanning the wrong price, but otherwise, there was zero pushback.”

This year, Fonticiella says the newspaper will place hawkers at three local malls where foot traffic is expected to be heavy on the Friday after Thanksgiving. The hawkers will focus on the early morning crowd, with a goal of selling 500 to 1,000 Thanksgiving Day newspapers to shoppers. The Turkey Day edition will sell for $2, and the Friday edition will be offered for the normal 75 cents.

While the Herald-Leader will sell single copies at the Sunday price, home delivery editions will remain at the regular daily rate this year. Next year, however, a surcharge will be considered.

Fonticiella says the success of selling single copy Thanksgiving Day editions for a premium can be replicated with any special edition that readers perceive as having extra value.

“The philosophy we have to follow is don’t underprice and don’t undervalue,” Fonticiella says. “I worked at The Miami Herald when the University of Miami won a national football championship. When they held a parade, we did a little experiment when we sold the special section and commemorative poster package.”

Half the hawkers sold the paper at its regular daily 25 cent price, and half sold it for $2. More newspapers were purchased at the $2 price point.

“People thought they were getting more value,” Fonticiella says. “Our sister paper, The State in Columbia, S.C. is now charging a premium price for its Saturday papers during the college football season. You’ve just got to look at your market and see where the fervor is -- whether it’s the horse industry or basketball -- and provide additional content. Then look at the price.”