The Boston Globe is raising the newsstand price of its daily paper by 25 percent next week as it scrambles to prop up circulation revenue in the face of declining advertising income.
The state’s preeminent news organization managed to fend off a threatened shutdown in 2009 by negotiating givebacks from its unions, but the upcoming price increase and the bleak advertising numbers indicate the newspaper, while stable, is not out of the woods yet.
The New York Times owns the Globe. In its financial reports, the Times lumps the Globe in with its other New England property, the Worcester Telegram. Over the last decade, the revenue brought in by the two Massachusetts newspapers has plunged and the source of that revenue has changed dramatically. In 2001, the two newspapers reported nearly $641 million in total revenue, with 70 percent coming from advertising, 25 percent from circulation, and 5 percent from other sources. By 2011, overall revenue had fallen 38 percent to $398 million, but now advertising represents just half of the revenue pie and circulation accounts for 40 percent.
Advertising revenue cratered over the 10-year period, falling 56 percent, while circulation revenue held fairly steady, dropping only 2.6 percent. The
Globe managed to stabilize its circulation revenue at a time when its subscriber base was shrinking by 50 percent by raising the price of the daily newspaper.
Both newsstand and home subscription prices increased substantially in 2009, but that created a vicious cycle. The price hikes boosted circulation revenue, but they also prompted an exodus of readers, which contributed to a decline in circulation revenue. By 2011, circulation revenue was trending lower than what it was before the 2009 price increase.
The cycle may be starting again. The Globe plans to hike the newsstand price of its daily paper from $1 to $1.25 next week, with the cost rising from $1.25 to $2 outside the Greater Boston area. No word yet on whether home subscription prices will increase again as well.
One interesting twist to this drama bears watching. The $3.50 price tag of the ad-heavy Sunday Globe didn’t change in 2009 and it isn’t changing next week. As a result, the circulation of the Sunday paper is starting to stabilize. During the most recent six-month circulation period, which ended in September, the Sunday Globe reported a 1 percent increase in subscribers, while the daily paper’s circulation continued to drop, falling 6 percent.
Meet the Author
Editor, CommonWealth
About Bruce Mohl
Bruce Mohl is the editor of CommonWealth magazine. Bruce came to CommonWealth from the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper. At CommonWealth, Bruce helped launch the magazine’s website and has written about a wide range of issues with a special focus on politics, tax policy, energy, and gambling. Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He lives in Dorchester.
About Bruce Mohl
Bruce Mohl is the editor of CommonWealth magazine. Bruce came to CommonWealth from the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper. At CommonWealth, Bruce helped launch the magazine’s website and has written about a wide range of issues with a special focus on politics, tax policy, energy, and gambling. Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He lives in Dorchester.
Meet the Author
Associate Editor, CommonWealth
About Paul McMorrow
Paul McMorrow comes to CommonWealth from Banker & Tradesman, where he covered commercial real estate and development. He previously worked as a contributing editor to Boston magazine, where he covered local politics in print and online. He got his start at the Weekly Dig, where he worked as a staff writer, and later news and features editor. Paul writes a frequent column about real estate for the Boston Globe’s Op-Ed page, and is a regular contributor to BeerAdvocate magazine. His work has been recognized by the City and Regional Magazine Association, the New England Press Association, and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. He is a Boston University graduate and a lifelong New Englander.
About Paul McMorrow
Paul McMorrow comes to CommonWealth from Banker & Tradesman, where he covered commercial real estate and development. He previously worked as a contributing editor to Boston magazine, where he covered local politics in print and online. He got his start at the Weekly Dig, where he worked as a staff writer, and later news and features editor. Paul writes a frequent column about real estate for the Boston Globe’s Op-Ed page, and is a regular contributor to BeerAdvocate magazine. His work has been recognized by the City and Regional Magazine Association, the New England Press Association, and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. He is a Boston University graduate and a lifelong New Englander.
The Sunday gains may continue, in part because the newspaper is giving digital subscribers a financial incentive to buy the Sunday paper. When the
Globe unveiled its password-protected website BostonGlobe.com last fall, it set a price of $4 a week. But readers can get the same digital access to all
Globe content by subscribing to the Sunday paper – for $3.50 a week, a savings of 50 cents.
The Globe is engaged in a desperate balancing act: It’s trying to lure digital subscribers and shore up Sunday circulation even as it struggles to raise revenue by hiking the price of the daily newspaper and scrambling for ad revenue. There are a lot of balls in the air.
