The Australian Financial Review today reported that News and Fairfax are talking about working together in some non-competitive areas. It is frustrating that the publishers frustrate newsagents when they seek to work this way. For years, newsagents have sought publisher approval for strategies which would increase home delivery revenue only to be blocked by publishers. For example, newsagents have wanted to include advertising on the packaging used to deliver newspapers. Publishers have rejected this. Newsagents can only make revenue from home delivery based on title cover price (often discounted) and delivery fees. In real terms, millions of dollars have been cut out of the newsagent channel since deregulation in 1999. Had newspaper publishers allowed newsagents to carry advertising and be more entrepreneurial in managing local newspaper circulation fewer newsagents would have got into financial trouble.
I support the discussions between News and Fairfax on non-competitive areas. They ought to allow newsagents to have more control over their end of the business and thereby reduce pressure on delivery fees.