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MEDIA TALK

Since Riders Had No Subways, Commuter Papers Struggled, Too

Three weeks before a mass transit strike hobbled New York City, circulation managers at amNew York were already trying to ensure that their paper would reach readers. That daily, like its competitor Metro, is chiefly distributed by hawkers who pass the free papers out to commuters at subway entrances.

"We laid out a matrix, decided where we would put people, where we would move them," said Floyd Weintraub, amNew York's senior vice president. "Could we get them there? Where do we pick them up? What time do we have to pick them up?"

Faced with the prospect of fewer commuters, amNew York reduced its average daily circulation of 320,116 by about 8 percent during the strike. It also repositioned its hawkers -- the paper typically employs about 175 of them, who distribute 65 percent of the day's copies -- to entry points at bridges where commuters walked into Manhattan. "I live on the West Side, and there's no need to have two or three promoters at 72nd Street," said Mr. Weintraub.

Metro, which has an average daily circulation of 326,959, according to BPA Worldwide, a media auditing group, took similar steps, using vans to relocate distributors to crowded spots like Pennsylvania Station and Grand Central Terminal. "Our readers looked for us," said Megan Considine, Metro's marketing manager. Ms. Considine said she would not comment on whether the paper had reduced its circulation for the duration of the strike. "We've been business as usual for the most part internally," she said. But the end of the strike, she said, was "exciting for everybody. I can now stop walking to work."

James Brill Sr., the senior vice president for circulation and manufacturing at The Daily News of New York, which is also heavily reliant on commuter readers, was candid about having taken a hit last week, though he said it would be weeks before he knew just how much was lost during the strike. (A spokeswoman for The New York Post said the paper would not comment on strike losses.)

Eighty percent of The Daily News's sales are at newsstands and through a network of 800 street promoters. Those vendors typically return about 20 percent of their papers unsold. Last week, the returns were 30 percent to 35 percent. "I'm very happy the strike is over," Mr. Brill said. "It's a distribution nightmare for us."

SARA IVRY

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section C, Page 5 of the National edition with the headline: MEDIA TALK; Since Riders Had No Subways, Commuter Papers Struggled, Too. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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