Washington Post 2008 Annual Report Download - page 25

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 25 of the 2008 Washington Post annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 104

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104

Newspaper Publishing
The Company’s newspaper publishing operations include results for its flagship newspaper, The Washington Post, and
Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive (“WPNI”), which develops news and information products for electronic
distribution. The Washington Post and washingtonpost.com together comprise Washington Post Media. In addition, the
Company produces a number of other newspapers and websites targeted to specific geographic and demographic
audiences.
The Washington Post
WP Company LLC (“WP Company”), a subsidiary of the Company, publishes The Washington Post, which is a morning
daily and Sunday newspaper primarily distributed by home delivery in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area, including
large portions of Maryland and northern Virginia. The following table shows the average paid daily (including Saturday)
and Sunday circulation of The Post for 52-week periods ended October 1, 2006 and September 30, 2007, as reported
by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (“ABC”) and as estimated by The Post for the 52-week period ended September 28,
2008 (for which period ABC had not completed its audit as of the date of this report) from the semi-annual publisher’s
statements submitted to ABC for the 26-week periods ended March 30, 2008 and September 28, 2008:
Average Paid Circulation
Daily Sunday
2006 ........................ 681,510 945,343
2007 ........................ 657,918 912,433
2008 ........................ 639,724 878,110
In The Post’s primary circulation territory, which accounts for more than 90% of its daily and Sunday circulation and
consists of Washington, DC and communities generally within a 50-mile radius from the city (but excluding Baltimore City
and its northern and eastern suburbs), the newsstand price for the daily newspaper was increased from $0.50, which
had been the price since December 31, 2007, to $0.75 effective December 15, 2008. The newsstand price for the
Sunday newspaper has been $1.50 since 1992. The rate charged for each four-week period for home-delivered copies
of the daily and Sunday newspaper, which had been $14.40 since 2004, was raised to $15.84 effective July 6,
2008. The rate charged for Sunday-only home delivery has been $6.00 since 1991. The same rates prevailed outside
The Post’s primary circulation territory until the third quarter of 2006, when The Post raised its newsstand prices and home-
delivery rates for such sales. At that time, newsstand prices for sales outside the primary circulation territory were
increased to $0.50 for the daily newspaper and $2.00 for the Sunday newspaper, while home-delivery rates for each
four-week period increased to $20.00 for the daily and Sunday newspaper and $8.00 for the Sunday newspaper only.
On August 4, 2008, daily newsstand and home-delivery prices for sales outside the primary circulation territory increased
to $0.75. Home-delivery rates for each four-week period are $26.00 for the daily and Sunday newspaper and remain
$8.00 for the Sunday newspaper only.
General advertising rates were increased by an average of approximately 2.5% on January 1, 2008 and by additional
amounts on January 1, 2009 that WP Company estimates will average approximately 2.5%. Rates for most categories of
classified and retail advertising were increased by an average of approximately 2.4% on February 1, 2008, and by
additional amounts on February 1, 2009, that WP Company estimates will average approximately 2.4%.*
The following table sets forth The Post’s advertising inches (excluding preprints) and number of preprints for the past three
years:
2006 2007 2008
Total Inches (in thousands) .................... 2,613 2,301 1,952
Full-Run Inches ............................. 1,839 1,592 1,349
Part-Run Inches ............................. 774 709 603
Preprints (in millions) ......................... 1,828 1,700 1,518
WP Company also publishes The Washington Post National Weekly Edition, a tabloid that contains selected articles and
features from The Washington Post edited for a national audience. The National Weekly Edition has a basic subscription
price of $78.00 per year and is delivered by second-class mail to approximately 24,500 subscribers.
* The percentages set forth in this paragraph were calculated from The Post’s published non-discounted advertising rates. However, most advertisers qualify for
multiple-insertion and other discounts, and the demand for advertising varies over time, so those percentages may not accurately reflect the actual revenue
impact of year-over-year rate changes.
2008 FORM 10-K 13