The Audit Bureau of Circulations is doubling the size of its Canadian committee by adding six new members.
The new members will include three publishers—one from the newspaper industry and two from business publishing—along with three media buyers. According to ABC spokesperson Kammi Altig, the individuals haven’t been selected but should be in place before the organization’s July board meeting.
ABC’s Canadian committee, which will now be known as the ABC Canada board, currently includes Brian Segal of Rogers Media, Dennis Skulsky of Canwest, Sunni Boot of ZenithOptimedia Canada, Bruce Claassen of Aegis Media Canada, Kirk Davis of Gatehouse Media and Robert Troutbeck of Troutbeck-Chernoff.
Altig said the move was made to recognize the differences between the Canadian and U.S. print media markets.
“We’ve had a lot of discussion lately about Canada being different from the U.S. and that they have different needs and standards and that our rules and standards should reflect those,” said Altig. For example, she said that readership and audience are considered critical metrics in Canada, whereas advertising is bought based on circulation in the U.S.
Altig said ABC examined its rules pertaining to newspapers last year, a process that resulted in a separate set of standards for Canadian and U.S. newspaper publishers. She added that part of the expanded Canadian contingent’s role would be to replicate this initiative for business and consumer magazines.
“Those ideas and the things that are unique to Canada will be reflected in the new rules.”
Last April, three Canadian publishers—Torstar, Sun Media and Transcontinental Media—withdrew from ABC. Claiming that the organization did not accept enough Canadian input, the three companies decided their audits would instead be conducted by the Canadian Circulation Audit Board.
Altig said the decision to bolster the ABC’s Canadian committee was not intended as a specific response to the actions of Torstar, Sun Media and Transcontinental Media.
The ABC also announced yesterday that it would broaden its definition of a digital magazine edition, which previously applied only to exact replicas of print editions. Beginning with ABC’s June 2009 statements, magazines will be able to report paid digital editions in either the “replica” or “nonreplica” category.
The former applies to digital editions where advertising, pagination and editorial content are exact mirrors of their print counterparts, while the latter takes into account digital versions that retain the print magazine’s basic identity and content but may contain some different articles and advertising.
“This is something we’ve been doing with newspapers for a long time,” said Altig. “I think it’s reflecting the reality of our members expanding their digital presence and needing the flexibility to do that differently, besides an exact copy of the print edition.”
The ABC has also decided to cancel its 2009 conference, which was scheduled for Toronto in November. The organization made the decision after projecting lower attendance due to current economic conditions. The ABC will instead hold a business meeting in New York Nov. 11, where it will elect board directors, conduct business reports and deliver a financial update.
