Morning News Slashes Business Rate to $7.80

In late November, The Morning News of Springdale began promoting its special rate for advertisers to everyone in the business community.r

The deal includes a Monday through Friday subscription for $7.80 per year. That’s three cents per issue, the lowest advertised rate we’ve seen from any local newspaper.r

Lewis Floyd, circulation director at The Morning News, said the rate existed when he arrived at the paper four years ago, but it had not been made available to all businesses in Northwest Arkansas.r

The rate is a 75 percent discount off the normal rate of $2.60 per month, so the papers sold at the new business rate can be counted as paid circulation under the rules of the Audit Bureau of Circulations.r

ABC docked The Morning News’ average paid circulation by 1,082 daily (Monday through Saturday) and 555 on Sundays for the 12-month period that ended March 31 because those newspapers were sold to hospitals and nursing homes at a discount of greater than 75 percent. Tom Stallbaumer, publisher of The Morning News, said the hospital and nursing-home distribution was a “service to the community.”r

Floyd said extending the special rate to the entire business community was not in reaction to ABC subtracting circulation numbers from its total. r

“It’ll grow the numbers some more,” Floyd said. “We’re in a war [with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette]. We’re trying to get [the numbers] up. Our competitor is doing some creative things, and so are we.”r

Floyd said The Morning News is trying to sell the discounted subscriptions in particular to businesses with waiting rooms. The theory is, people will read the paper there and want to subscribe.r

“It’s part of a more in-depth plan to reach newcomers,” Floyd said. r

The audited figures show The Morning News with an average paid circulation of 36,587 daily and 39,646 on Sundays for the year ended March 31. That compares with 33,067 daily and 43,661 Sundays for the D-G in Benton, Washington, Madison and Carroll counties combined.r