French newspaper union, postal service and the state make delivery deal
By Alisa Zykova, Monday 28 July 2008 at 19:12 :: Circulaton & Distribution :: #2000 :: rss
The French union representing the regional daily press (SPQD) signed an agreement Wednesday with the country's postal service and the state, permitting newspapers to be delivered through the Post's network, albeit at a higher price than before.
Publishers mentioned that this growth in delivery rates would be "heavy" on the industry as a whole, making some newspapers more "fragile," AFP reported.
The union representing newspapers (SPPMO) said that readers would be affected as well, since publications may get more expensive or have less content.
The deal outlines a distribution plan for 2009-2015, during which publishers will be subject to a "high" increase in delivery rates for their publications.
France, meanwhile, announced that it will continue to support the delivery deal between the press and the Post by offering a subsidy of €242 million until 2011, eventually dropping to €180 million by 2015.
The Post currently has a €400 million deficit, and aims to make it disappear, according to AFP.
According to the plan, publishers would see a growth in delivery rates over the seven-year period. In total, the rates would go up by nearly 25 percent for politically oriented and general interest publications. For the rest, it would be closer to 34 percent. Initially, however, the increase was estimated to be 40 percent for daily newspapers, which had to be "balanced" out, said François Morel, the president of the SPQN, according to AFP.
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