NSW newsagents were finally granted a small increase in home delivery fees they can charge for the delivery of Fairfax newspapers last month. I’m told that recent research shows that this increase still falls short of the actual cost of providing the service by up to 50% in some areas and as little as 10% in other areas.
Newspaper executives in Australia and elsewhere have commented on the efficiency of the newspaper home delivery model in Australia. Our penetration is deeper than most other countries.
This success with newspaper home delivery is, in the main, due to newsagents subsidising the home delivery service.
The inadequacy of the latest delivery fee increase in NSW is another reason more newsagents will sell or abandon their round.