Much to the delight of independent newsagents in the UK, the Daily Telegraph today announced price rises on its weekend and Saturday editions with the maintenance of pro rata retail terms.
In a letter to the retail trade, Telegraph head of circulation Peter Hickman said that this would generate more than £30 million per annum in additional revenue for retailers as well as contributing more than £7m per annum in additional retail margin.
From this weekend in the UK the Saturday edition rises by 10p to £2 and from Monday it will increase to £1.20.
Meanwhile, in the Republic of Ireland from this weekend the Saturday edition of The Daily Telegraph will increase in price by €0.20 to €2.00 and the Sunday edition will rise by €0.10 to €2.00. From Monday the weekday editions will have the new price of €1.30.
Such action does of course beg the question, if the Telegraph can support newsagents in this way then why can’t the other national newspapers do so too?
Commenting on the Telegraph announcement, NFRN National President Kieran McDonnell said: “This move is a fine example of the way in which newspaper publishers and retailers should be working together.“The cover price increases on the Saturday and weekday editions are welcome in themselves, but more importantly, it is heartening to see the publisher recognise that pro rate margin increases are vital if independent newsagents are to survive.
“I would therefore like to thank and applaud the Telegraph for this action and would urge all NFRN members to give the newspaper publisher their full support.”
This is a massive boost to the morale of newsagents who have been targeted for arbitrary cuts to the margins and livelihood of hard working families up and down the country.It is saying a lot when a publisher makes a case for increasing the price of the papers and says by its actions the most important part of that jigsaw the people who get the finished article to the final destination the readers, deserves the rise just as much. This will generate lot of goodwill and if tapped constructively extra sales for the Telegraph titles.It is only by working together that we can stem the decline in the paid for newspapers and the publishers have to come up with the good of quality journalism and innovative ways to make their titles stand out every day.
Here in Scotland we are trying to arrange a meeting with DC Thompson publishers of the Sunday Post and have a meeting already arranged with Johnstone Press publishers of the Scotsman and Edinburgh Evening News.