Issues to be included / excluded - National Newspapers

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Issues to be included / excluded

All published issues for which the majority of the distribution took place within the Reporting Period must be included except for any issues allowed to be excluded according to this section.

Principles

1. All issues published in the Reporting Period must be included

2. Published issues that are allowed to be excluded according to this section may be removed from the average circulation figure

3. Issues allowed to be excluded from the average circulation figure will be reported

Requirements

1. All issues published in the Reporting Period must be included

1. Whether an issue is included in the Reporting Period is determined by the date by which 50% of the claimed distribution is distributed/made available. For each component of distribution the date distributed/made available is determined as follows:

   1. Mailed copies: The date the copies enter the distribution chain, i.e. when they are posted or delivered to a courier.

   2. Paid copies: The first date the copies are made available to the consumer, i.e. for retail sales the first official on sale date.

   3. Copies made available for pick up by consumer: The date the copies are made available/handed out to the consumer.

   4. Free digital copies: The date email notifications are sent.
      

2. Published issues that are allowed to be excluded according to this section may be removed from the average circulation figure

1. There are certain circumstances under which you may exclude an issue from the reported circulation. The circumstances and information surrounding any exclusion are subject to audit.

2. ABC granted exclusion: You may exclude an issue for which we have issued an exclusion note. You may apply for an ABC Granted Exclusion if:

   1. Print or Digital Circulation

      Due to circumstances outside your control, you can demonstrate:

      • A shortfall in the UK and ROI normal net sale, excluding Multiple Copy Sales; and

      • That shortfall is at least 5 per cent of the average normal net sale of the previous four equivalent issues. For example: comparing Mondays with Mondays.

      In addition:

      Print circulation

      The shortfall must have arisen because exceptional circumstances outside your control resulted in:

      • The planned level of distribution not being achieved; or

      • The planned level of distribution being achieved but it was severely delayed or withdrawn from sale prematurely.

      Examples include machinery breakdown or severe adverse weather significantly reducing or delaying distribution.

      Digital circulation

      The shortfall must have arisen because exceptional circumstances outside your control resulted in claimable circulation being materially affected.

      Examples include:

      • A platform or system outage

      • Access errors or file corruption

      • A reporting failure
        
        Guidance available 

      Comparable issues

      • If one or more of the last four issues are excluded due to an official National Public Holiday or Christmas/New Year trading period exclusions, then do not use these as one of the four comparable issues, but go back one further issue.

      • If one or more of the last four issues are excluded because of an ABC Granted Exclusion, then it will be counted as one of the four comparable issues.

   2. Publication Active Views

      Due to circumstances outside your control, you can demonstrate:

      • A shortfall in the PAV figure for the issue or day in question; and

      • That shortfall is at least 5 per cent of the average PAV figure of the previous four equivalent issues or days.

      The shortfall must have arisen because exceptional circumstances outside your control resulted in the PAV figure being materially affected.

      Examples include:

      • A platform or system outage

      • Access errors or file corruption

      • A reporting failure
        
        Guidance available

   3. Application Process

      You must submit your application using an ABC Exclusion Note Request Form within 7 days of the end of the relevant Reporting Period.

      • If we do not issue an exclusion note, we will issue a rejection notice explaining the reason. To obtain an Exclusion Note Request Form, please email .

3. Optional exclusion: You may optionally exclude the following issues without applying for an exclusion note:

   1. Issues published during the Christmas/New Year trading period, which is defined as from Christmas Eve to the first Sunday after New Year’s Day (inclusive). Note:

      • If the fall of days renders these dates inappropriate ABC reserves the right to amend the dates for any particular year.

   2. Issues published on official National Public Holidays for the publication’s Core Country, as notified to ABC. The official National Public Holidays accepted by ABC without further need for referral to ABC are as follows (may be varied in a particular year if changes are officially announced):

England, Wales and Scotland

1. 1. New Years Day – January 1^st *
   2. Good Friday – March/April
   3. Easter Sunday – March/April
   4. Easter Monday – March/April
   5. Early May Bank Holiday – First Monday in May
   6. Spring Bank Holiday – Last Monday in May 
   7. Summer Bank Holiday – Last Monday in August
   8. Christmas Day – December 25^th *

   9. Boxing Day – December 26^th *

Northern Ireland Only

1. 1. News Years Day – January 1^st *
   2. St Patrick’s Day – March 17^th *
   3. Good Friday – March/April
   4. Easter Sunday – March/April
   5. Easter Monday – March/April
   6. Early May Bank Holiday – First Monday in May
   7. Spring Bank Holiday – Last Monday in May
   8. Battle of the Boyne – July 12^th *
   9. Summer Bank Holiday – Last Monday in August
   10. Christmas Day – December 25^th *

   11. Boxing Day – December 26^th * 

Republic of Ireland Only

1. 1. News Years Day – January 1^st *
   2. St Patrick’s Day – March 17^th *
   3. Easter Sunday – March/April
   4. Easter Monday – March/April
   5. First Monday in May
   6. First Monday in June
   7. First Monday in August
   8. Last Monday in October
   9. Christmas Day – December 25^th *
   10. Boxing Day – December 26^th *

*or next available working day if falls on a weekend

3. Issues allowed to be excluded from the average circulation figure will be reported

1. Any issues excluded from the reported circulation will be reported on the Certificate.

Reporting

You will report the following which will be reported on the ABC Certificate:

1. Number of issues included in the circulation claim.

1. The number of issues included in the print circulation claim.

2. The number of issues included in the digital circulation claim.

3. The number of issues or days included in the PAV claim.

2. Excluded print and digital issues

For each excluded issue:

1. The general reason for exclusion.

2. The total of the UK and Republic of Ireland circulation.
   
   For print circulation only, this must be broken down into

   1. United Kingdom

   2. Scotland - as a subset of UK

   3. England, Wales & N. Ireland – as a subset of UK

   4. Republic of Ireland (ROI)

3. Excluded PAV issues or days

For each excluded issue or day:

1. The general reason for exclusion.

2. The PAV figure, where available.

Guidance

G2. Published issues that are allowed to be excluded according to this section may be removed from the average circulation figure.

Digital Copies

Each case will be assessed on its individual merits. However, the following scenarios are intended to illustrate circumstances that may give rise to an exclusion application relating to digital copies:

• Platform or system outage: A technical or service failure affecting the primary hosting, distribution, or subscription platform, resulting in the issue being unavailable to users for a substantial period of its normal on sale or availability period.

• Access error or file corruption: The issue is published but is inaccessible or unreadable due to file corruption, faulty links or errors in digital delivery.

• Reporting failure: A failure in reporting processes that results in the loss or corruption of data integral to the claim. For example, users may be able to access the product as normal, but an analytics outage or other technical failure prevents circulation or engagement from being accurately recorded.

Circumstances Not Ordinarily Eligible

Exclusions would not ordinarily be considered where changes in circulation or traffic arise from general actions taken by third parties, such as search engines or social media platforms, in the normal course of business.

This includes changes to:

• Algorithms

• Referral methods

• Product presentation or ranking systems

• Business models or platform features

Such developments are considered part of the normal operating environment.