Comments on: Desperation Measures for Desperate Times

By: Gail

Gail — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:09:38 +0000

I had a very similar experience as Mr TML with my local newspaper…had been receiving 7-day delivery for 20+ years when decided to cancel, mostly because I was getting my new online while at work and the weekday paper was going unread. When I called to cancel they convinced me to switch to Sunday only which ended up being a perfect fit for me, but a couple of months later they called and offered to throw in Wed-Fri for no added charge. I opened my mouth intending to say, of course, sign me up! but to my astonishment what instead came out was “no thanks, I don’t miss reading the weekday paper at all, let’s just skip it, I’m happy with Sunday only.” Even the Sunday paper has been drastically down-sized, both in dimensions and content…I agree with Mr. TML print newspapers are going to be extinct in a few years!

By: Kacie

Kacie — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:51:32 +0000

Duh, I meant 58. Sometimes the calculator in my head fails me.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:23:20 +0000

Christine,

If you’re really persistent, you can get them to drop the Friday and Saturday. I had the same conversation – “but they’re just going into the recycling bin” – and they wouldn’t budge until I asked to speak to a supervisor and said I would just cancel the subscription entirely if they couldn’t manage to only bring Sunday. Of course, they could call your bluff I guess and just cancel it …

By: Christine

Christine — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 02:43:58 +0000

Oh! Now I get it–my paper does the same thing. I just want the Sunday paper but they give me Friday and Saturday for less than they’ll charge for just Sunday. I even told them I literally take it out of its plastic bag and toss it in the recycle bin on Fri and Sat (mostly, tho sometimes I’ll flip through, since it’s here). But I’m not willing to pay more to get just Sunday. I do like the way you can flip through a section of the paper more easily than finding that info by chance on their website.

By: Roger

Roger — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 23:37:35 +0000

Hunh, I can’t say that I’ve encountered anything like this. Although, given that I don’t have a subscription to a ‘paper’ paper, I suppose that’s not surprising. I suppose they’re just doing whatever they can to survive. Short of a global internet crash or something similar, I doubt newspapers will be viable for too much longer.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 21:39:27 +0000

You are correct in your assumption, TML. They can charge more for ads if they say they have a certain number of subscribers, but it seems to me that advertisers are probably hip to this maneuver.

I actually had to fight with the Denver Post to get them to stop sending me a paper every day. I only wanted the Sunday paper and they kept pushing me with similar offers, I finally said I would drop the subscription entirely if they sent me anything besides the Sunday paper and they agreed. I just don’t read “paper” papers all that much, it’s wasted resources.

I did a little writeup on the Hyundai “we’ll make your payments” thing in January. It’s not a very good deal.

By: Kacie

Kacie — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:18:22 +0000

I’m sure you’re right about the newspaper simply wanting to count you as a subscriber. My college paper was free to readers. It was solely supported by ad revenue. The readers mattered!

And — hold the phone — are you 68 years old, plus or minus? I had no idea you were old enough to be celebrating a 40-year high school graduation. I had you pegged at around mid-40s to early 50s.

No wonder you’re so wise. You’ve got plenty of life experience!