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From: www.theglobeandmail.com/s...y/Business
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Cities eye moving papers to superboxes
But industry sees lost marketing opportunities and higher fees
GRANT ROBERTSON
MEDIA REPORTER
The newspaper box, a fixture on street corners for decades, has come under fire in some of Canada's biggest urban centres.
Officials in Vancouver and Toronto are moving toward introducing a new brand of newspaper superbox -- capable of housing several publications in one large vending machine -- in an effort to clean up street clutter.
But the move has the newspapers fuming as publications worry about lost marketing opportunities from going to the nondescript silver boxes, while having to pay higher fees to sell on the street.
A prototype of the boxes was unveiled yesterday in Vancouver by Viacom Outdoor and JC Decaux, a partnership of advertising firms that has been contracted to design everything from bus stops to trash bins as the city looks to improve the look of its streets.
A similar push is under way in Toronto as well, where the city wants to test superboxes in the downtown core, amid opposition from the industry to bylaw changes governing newspaper boxes.
Vancouver placed a moratorium on new boxes after the total jumped to 6,000, from 3,200 in 2004, following the launch of three free commuter papers. Some of the boxes had become an eyesore, the city said.
"It's a problem, these things get graffitied or vandalized. Not all of them are maintained," said Tom Hammel, a streets administration engineer for the City of Vancouver.
Officials want to introduce more than 100 of the large silver boxes, which hold a maximum of six different newspapers. The new design has rankled some publications and may also set the stage for a fight over which titles get preferential placement in the boxes.
At least one tabloid publication is upset the design of the superboxes requires that format to be displayed sideways, making it difficult to read headlines and view pictures.
"As far as we're concerned, they're absurd," said Nick Collier, director of operations and circulation for The Georgia Straight, a free weekly. Newspapers in that market, which includes The Globe and Mail, are collectively opposing the new boxes, Mr. Collier said. "It's one of the few things we agree on," he said.
Several U.S. cities have adopted similar boxes, including Chicago and San Francisco, where a consortium of publications including the San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times went to court to stop the city, but lost in 2002.
In Toronto, where city officials say they are also concerned about too many boxes cluttering city streets, the matter may also be heading to court. A group called the Toronto Publication Association, which represents the newspapers operating in the city, said restrictions on how newspapers distribute infringe upon the rights of the industry. The association is working with the city on testing a prototype, but doesn't want to lose its freedom to have individual boxes.
"If you can only have [the box] in certain locations and the locations are controlled, there is a severe restriction on being able to distribute news," said Stan Mukuch, a lawyer representing the association.
There are an estimated 15,000 newspaper boxes in Toronto. Andy Koropeski, director of transportation services for the city, said: "We've done extensive public consultation. And the situation with newspaper boxes is certainly one of the main concerns."
The industry also faces rising licensing fees for newspaper boxes. In Vancouver, newspapers may be asked to pay $100 a year to be in the superboxes, which do not bear their logos, almost four times what an individual box has cost recently.
The same debate played out in Chicago a little over three years ago when JC Decaux introduced the superboxes there. Newspapers, which don't derive a lot of revenue from box sales, argued they were losing their marketing ability.
Downtown Chicago now has between 40 and 50 of the multipublication newspaper boxes.
"Cosmetically, it looks great," said Earnest Sutton, director of retail sales and distribution for the Chicago Tribune. "A couple of years ago . . . you turned down a corner and half the block was taken up."
But Mr. Sutton said the Tribune has lost a key advertising vehicle by having to shelve its trademark blue and white boxes.
Though he suspects sales have declined slightly because of it, he can't say for sure.
"I think it has an effect on sales negatively because you just don't have as many locations as you would. You just don't have that presence."
__________________
Cities eye moving papers to superboxes
But industry sees lost marketing opportunities and higher fees
GRANT ROBERTSON
MEDIA REPORTER
The newspaper box, a fixture on street corners for decades, has come under fire in some of Canada's biggest urban centres.
Officials in Vancouver and Toronto are moving toward introducing a new brand of newspaper superbox -- capable of housing several publications in one large vending machine -- in an effort to clean up street clutter.
But the move has the newspapers fuming as publications worry about lost marketing opportunities from going to the nondescript silver boxes, while having to pay higher fees to sell on the street.
A prototype of the boxes was unveiled yesterday in Vancouver by Viacom Outdoor and JC Decaux, a partnership of advertising firms that has been contracted to design everything from bus stops to trash bins as the city looks to improve the look of its streets.
A similar push is under way in Toronto as well, where the city wants to test superboxes in the downtown core, amid opposition from the industry to bylaw changes governing newspaper boxes.
Vancouver placed a moratorium on new boxes after the total jumped to 6,000, from 3,200 in 2004, following the launch of three free commuter papers. Some of the boxes had become an eyesore, the city said.
"It's a problem, these things get graffitied or vandalized. Not all of them are maintained," said Tom Hammel, a streets administration engineer for the City of Vancouver.
Officials want to introduce more than 100 of the large silver boxes, which hold a maximum of six different newspapers. The new design has rankled some publications and may also set the stage for a fight over which titles get preferential placement in the boxes.
At least one tabloid publication is upset the design of the superboxes requires that format to be displayed sideways, making it difficult to read headlines and view pictures.
"As far as we're concerned, they're absurd," said Nick Collier, director of operations and circulation for The Georgia Straight, a free weekly. Newspapers in that market, which includes The Globe and Mail, are collectively opposing the new boxes, Mr. Collier said. "It's one of the few things we agree on," he said.
Several U.S. cities have adopted similar boxes, including Chicago and San Francisco, where a consortium of publications including the San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times went to court to stop the city, but lost in 2002.
In Toronto, where city officials say they are also concerned about too many boxes cluttering city streets, the matter may also be heading to court. A group called the Toronto Publication Association, which represents the newspapers operating in the city, said restrictions on how newspapers distribute infringe upon the rights of the industry. The association is working with the city on testing a prototype, but doesn't want to lose its freedom to have individual boxes.
"If you can only have [the box] in certain locations and the locations are controlled, there is a severe restriction on being able to distribute news," said Stan Mukuch, a lawyer representing the association.
There are an estimated 15,000 newspaper boxes in Toronto. Andy Koropeski, director of transportation services for the city, said: "We've done extensive public consultation. And the situation with newspaper boxes is certainly one of the main concerns."
The industry also faces rising licensing fees for newspaper boxes. In Vancouver, newspapers may be asked to pay $100 a year to be in the superboxes, which do not bear their logos, almost four times what an individual box has cost recently.
The same debate played out in Chicago a little over three years ago when JC Decaux introduced the superboxes there. Newspapers, which don't derive a lot of revenue from box sales, argued they were losing their marketing ability.
Downtown Chicago now has between 40 and 50 of the multipublication newspaper boxes.
"Cosmetically, it looks great," said Earnest Sutton, director of retail sales and distribution for the Chicago Tribune. "A couple of years ago . . . you turned down a corner and half the block was taken up."
But Mr. Sutton said the Tribune has lost a key advertising vehicle by having to shelve its trademark blue and white boxes.
Though he suspects sales have declined slightly because of it, he can't say for sure.
"I think it has an effect on sales negatively because you just don't have as many locations as you would. You just don't have that presence."
