Torstar, Sun Media and Transcontinental Media have all left the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), and its Canadian leaders are not happy about it.
The three publishing companies announced yesterday that they resigned from ABC and that all of their regular audits would now be conducted by the Canadian Circulation Audit Board (CCAB).
According to a CCAB release announcing the change, the three publishers were looking for a “made in Canada” auditing solution to “address widespread concerns within the newspaper industry about a lack of Canadian input into U.S.-based auditing agencies and because of the need for increased recognition of unique Canadian perspectives on the future of the newspaper industry.”
The three publishers joined the CCAB after it created a new Canadian Newspaper Advisory Board in February. The board includes 16 members, eight from newspaper publishing companies and eight from the advertising industry, with the chair of the board alternating every two years between publishers and advertising buyers.
Torstar said it was moving the Toronto Star, Hamilton Spectator, Waterloo Region Record and Guelph Mercury to the CCAB because the new governance structure addressed the “unique characteristics of the Canadian marketplace.”
There are a couple of important distinctions between the U.S. and Canadian markets, explained Bob Hepburn, director, community relations and communications, for the Star Media Group.
“First is the fact that free dailies have a more significant presence
The move provoked an immediate response from senior Canadian media industry leaders who support ABC.
“I can’t begin to express how shocked and disappointed I am at this shortsighted move,” said M2 Universal president Hugh Dow, in an ABC release. “In an environment in which newspapers are struggling to retain readers and advertising revenue, this will only make media buyers more apprehensive and wary… We are now supposed to accept two different standards in Canada? I cannot imagine a worse time to make the newspaper buying decision problematic.”
Sunni Boot, president and CEO of ZenithOptimedia Canada Inc. called the move “appalling.”
“We expect the newspapers in which we advertise to adhere to the rigorous and broadly accepted audit standards provided by ABC,” she said.
“Clearly, the audit standards of ABC are too high for these newspapers and they have settled for a less rigorous, less acceptable alternative,” added Robert Troutbeck, president, Troutbeck-Chernoff. “I will recommend to my clients that they invest their advertising dollars only in newspapers that are audited by ABC, and I urge my fellow Canadian media buyers to do likewise.”
With 30 of its newspapers already audited by the CCAB, Sun Media will move 14 more dailies into the CCAB audit system—including all of its Sun papers, the London Free Press, Le Journal de Montreal and Le Journal de Quebec.
Transcontinental Media newspapers currently audited by the CCAB include The Telegram (St. John’s), The Guardian (Charlottetown), The Cape Breton Post, Amherst Daily News, Prince Albert Daily Herald and Moose Jaw Times Herald.
