Fox publication mail analysis shows decline of 51 million copies mailed in 2009

Every year, Michael J. Fox, the senior vice-president, circulation and development, for Rogers Publishing, publishes a detailed analysis of Canada Post's financial results and the situation with Publications Mail. It was published on the Magazines Canada  website.  This year, he reports (not surprisingly) that in the year of recession, 2009, 51 million copies were not mailed, a decrease of 9.7% from 2008. Revenues dropped 10% or $30 million to $259 million over the year before.

The decline in copies, he says, were a combination of a loss of 11 million copies when Time Canada ceased using the system and declines in the number of copies taking advantage of the (now discontinued) Publications Assistance Program.

The average recovery rate per copy was still roughly the same as last year, though revenue per piece declined slightly.

Publishers paid $0.55 on average in 2009. The 20+ different Pubs Mail rates range from $0.41 to $1.73 a copy depending on weight, density of copies to a postal facility, and distance; the  $0.55 average results from dividing Pubs Mail revenue by volume of copies. When CPC began distance-based pricing in January 2009, it estimated an average increase of 3.1% — local rates remained the same; regional rates increased $0.01; national rates increased $0.02 to $0.03 a copy. However, reduced advertising pages cut the weight of magazines, lowering CPC revenue per copy. [CPC’s rate card charges more for heavier magazines: it costs less to mail two copies of a 200-gram magazine than one copy of a 400-gram magazine.]