To Opt In or Not to Opt In: Alas the TV Book, I Knew It Well

There has been plenty of discussion and buzz revolving around newspaper TV books, so much so, that it was a session at this year's ABC Major Metro Conference. By all accounts, there appears to be four options (currently) regarding the disposition of the TV Book as we know it: Discontinue printing the TV book, Sponsorship/Naming Rights, The TV Book as a niche publication, and the most popular, opt-in TV book.

T he basic question here: Is there a way to cut printing expenses, saving money yet still meet a reader's needs? Of course, by reducing the print run of a TV book for opt-in readers, there is an expense to the distribution of the TV book. Let's take a look at the four options outlined above and some things to be cognizant of when tinkering with the TV book.

Earlier this year, the Chicago Sun-Times did away with their TV book only to bring it back after push back from customers. While newspapers look to cut the TV book because of expense, John Jones of Advantage Marketing believes TV books can be profitable by focusing on advertisers that are interested in targeting an older demographic. Those 54 years of age and older listed the TV book among their favorite sections of the newspaper in the recent NAA Single Copy Buyer Study. Conversely it is one of the least favorite in the 18 -34 year old demo surpassed by only the business/personal finance section.

In Philadelphia, after considering an opt-in approach, the newspapers chose to go with a more novel approach and sold sponsorship / naming rights to the local cable company Comcast. The TV book is now titled the Comcast TV Book complete with a Comcast logo. This sponsorship approach can lead to other branding advertisements such as the Dick's Sporting Goods box scores or consider Mutual Funds Table brought to you by Fidelity Investments.

The Record Searchlight in Redding, Calif., chose to discontinue the TV book as part of their core product, repackaged it and brought it back as a niche publication. To subscribe to the niche publication, one must be a subscriber of the core product. They were able to overcome the challenge of delivery by mailing the stand alone publication. The newspaper with circulation near 35,000 now has a new TV publication with about 6,000 circulation, additional revenue and additional home delivery customers for the core newspaper. Since you have to be a subscriber to The Record Searchlight to be eligible to receive the TV book niche product, many single copy readers became home delivery customers. Of course their single copy circulation has fallen but this has meant a gain in subscribers.

By far the most popular method is the opt-in model. The Ventura County Star, The Orange County Register, The Denver Post and the Detroit Free Press are some that have taken this approach. It is important to publicize the change to an opt-in offer well in advance, most papers have provided at least six weeks lead time. It's also important to have additional customer service personnel on hand when implementing the opt-in approach because call volume will increase during the first few weeks of the change. Those markets that have a large percentage of older readers may want to think twice about an opt-in program because most older folks will opt-in for the TV book and the cost, both money and time, may have an adverse effect. The cost savings in print may be negated by the delivery challenge and expense. The challenges of household specific delivery may require more time impacting service percentages. Some newspapers have toyed with the idea of just removing the TV Book from their single copy newspapers. This practice should be strongly discouraged because some single copy buyers purchase the newspaper expressly for the TV Book.

Where do you stand on the TV Book issue? Write me at robert.rubrecht@naa.org and let me know what you think and what you're doing with your TV book.

Submitted by: Robert L. Rubrecht, Director/ Circulation Marketing, NAA

First Published:
June 7, 2007