ABC Board Accepts Guidelines for Publishers Affected By Wholesaler Shutdown

Guidelines address incomplete returns and draw not delivered.

By Chandra Johnson-Greene
Tuesday, July 28, 2009

The Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) announced today that its board has reviewed and accepted filing guidelines for magazines affected by the closure of Anderson News’ wholesale operations.

ABC’s Magazine Directors’ Advisory Committee (MDAC) formed a task force last month to provide recommendations to the board on how consumer magazine publishers that have been affected should account for newsstand sales where there is incomplete information and reporting of issues as a result of the closure.

The guidelines are as follows:

Incomplete Returns

Magazines that have incomplete return information may report this circulation by determining their previous average sell-through percentages. These percentages should be based on the Anderson account wholesaler average. ABC reports will provide a full explanation of the issues impacted by the Anderson closure and the method used to estimate the circulation.

For Most Magazines

For regular issues of any magazine, regardless of frequency, the publisher should calculate the average Anderson sell-through percentage for the six-month period January through June 2008. This percentage should be applied to any Anderson draw known to be distributed to a retail outlet for sale, but has incomplete return information.

Special or Seasonal Magazines

For special or seasonal magazines, the publisher should calculate the average Anderson sell-through percentage for the corresponding issues in both 2007 and 2008. This percentage should be applied to any Anderson draw known to be distributed to a retail outlet for sale, but has incomplete return information.

Draw Not Delivered

In some situations, the draw for specific issues was never delivered to the retail outlets. Because those issues were never delivered, the circulation cannot be claimed on ABC reports.

Geographic Data

Magazines affected by the Anderson closure may report state geographic data based on the single-copy percentages reported on the December or June 2008 Publisher’s Statements.

Last month, ABC announced that it was extending the filing deadline and release date for the June 2009 FAS-FAX report and Publisher’s Statement due to the closure of Anderson News.