The ComBase tri-partite committee has approved a pricing formula for the national readership study.
The approved pricing formula is a nationally blended flat price based on circulation breaks. The pricing formula does not take into account any possible government funding or advertising sales revenue. The price for ComBase will likely drop once either of those revenue sources become available.
Final ComBase pricing is affected significantly by first year start-up costs. The eventual cost to members could also be reduced if start-up funding could be found.
Some of that start-up funding may be generated by members. CCNAÔÇÖs Board recently agree to ask each member paper to supply two pages of advertising each year for two years of the project. Proceeds from the sale of the advertising space would be applied against the total costs of the project in that year.
“Even if we only get half of what the pages are worth, that’s still $1 million,” said ComBase Project Manager Elena Dunn. “That would be one-third of the total start-up costs of the project.
Dunn said that the total first year cost for the ComBase study would most likely be about $3.11 million. That number compares favorably to other national media studies, including NADbank ($3.75 million) and PMB ($6 million).
The Board has also authorized CCNA to approach government for financial support of the startup costs of ComBase.
ComBase Project Manager Elena Dunn will be traveling across the Canada in the next few months, giving presentations on ComBase to the various regional associations. She will give presentations on March 1 in Saskatchewan, on April 2-4 in Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer, on April 12 in Ontario, on April 13 in Manitoba, on April 26 in British Columbia and on May 11 in Quebec.Dunn will be giving members and other stakeholders a chance to see the preliminary ComBase numbers and the pricing structure.