The WTF household is a two paper household. We receive our local newspaper and also the San Francisco paper. We like getting two papers for a number of reasons. First, they fulfill two entirely separate needs. The local paper lets us know what is going on in our county, the happenings in our more immediate part of the globe. The SF Chronicle keeps us up to date on the news on a more national scale. Our ritual in the morning has been Chizz reads the local paper at breakfast and I read the SF Chronicle. He leaves for work and takes the Chronicle with him and I read the local paper at a more convenient time during the day sometime after he leaves. It works for us.
Until about 2 weeks ago. I received our renewal bill for the Chronicle. $403 per year. Last year I paid $140. It is now almost triple. I understand the siege newspapers are under right now trying to stay afloat and relevant in this economy, but I can't single handedly bring them back. When I sat down and figured it out, it doesn't make economical sense to subscribe to the paper at this rate. You receive very, very little benefit. The newspaper stand price (what it would cost if I bought it at Safeway) for a full year of the SF Chronicle is $417.00. When we subscribed to the paper, I usually didn't read the Saturday's paper - too little content. Very often when we went on vacation, I donated the papers. Count vacation papers at 15 per year, and 52 Saturday papers, the newstand price of my paper goes down to $350. Even if Chizz bought the Chronicle at Bart every single weekday he commutes into the city, we would still save money not subscribing.
So I cancelled our subscription. And I made sure the Chronicle knew why. And apparently they don't care, at least when I called in they did nothing to try and retain me as a customer. Based on some discussions I have had with my friends and family, I think the SF Chronicle is losing lots of customers with this approach. I would not be surprised if they aren't around much longer. I worry about the state of all newspapers. I love sitting down and reading one, but I think I am in the last generation that really does that. The younger generation gets their news from the Internet or television. Nothing wrong with that, it is just a different medium. Quite frankly, the newspaper industry doesn't appear to be doing anything to lure younger readers. They certainly don't do anything to keep their current ones. It is a shame.
Don't worry, we still subscribe to 2 newspapers, our local paper and ta-da . . . . the Wall Street Journal! (And which we receive for the bargain price of $150 per year). Sorry Chronicle, but by the time you do get around to offering me a discount to come back, I most likely can't or won't be persuaded to come back. The only downside, I don't have 2 Sudokus to do every morning. Oh, well I'll survive!! (Probably more than the Chronicle can say!)
No comments:
Post a Comment