The ABC board’s earlier decision to refuse to accept the inclusion of circulation resulting from inter-group transactions between Media24 and Touchline, moved Finweek to lodge a dispute with the ABC about the interpretation of the body’s rules.
align=leftCharles Beiles, general manager of the ABC, said this afternoon (Thursday, 6 March) the ABC board would no longer reduce Finweek‘s total circulation for the quarter January to March 2007 by 3,439. The 3,439 – the portion of Finweek‘s circulation for the said quarter that resulted from inter-group transactions – would instead be re-classified from Business Subscriptions to Third Party Bulk Sales.
align=leftThe re-classification would not affect the total circulation for this quarter (34,374).
align=leftIn the case of the total circulation for January to March 2006, the total figure would still be reduced, but by a smaller number than was initially stated.
align=leftThe ABC initially said the total circulation for the relevant quarter (29,003) would be reduced by 2,810. Now, the bulk (2,078 of the 2,810) will be re-classified instead.
align=leftTheMediaOnline reported earlier the inter-group transactions involved a deal by which Touchline bought copies of Finweek to distribute to subscribers of Touchline magazines.
align=leftBoth Beiles and Rikus Delport, general manager of Fin24, confirmed to TheMediaOnline that the dispute had been resolved.
align=leftDelport said Finweek was pleased with the outcome.
align=left”It shows our figures are above suspicion. We were not involved with any scams.”
align=leftHe said Finweek wanted to put the matter behind it and was keen to cooperate with the ABC. It would not try to recover its legal costs from the body.
align=leftAccording to an ABC statement, Sports Illustrated and Best Life‘s total circulation figures for January to March 2007 will also no longer be reduced, because of the decision about the re-classification of circulation resulting from inter-group transactions to Third Party Bulk Sales. Both are Touchline titles.
align=leftThe ABC initially intended to reduce Sports Illustrated‘s circulation for the said quarter by 6,000 and !_LT_EMBest Life!_LT_/EM’s by 5,000.
align=leftThe board will implement an amendment of the ABC rules from 1 April according to which inter-group transactions will not be allowed to be included in circulation in future.
