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THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE LICENSES PBS MEDIAPLUS® CIRCULATION SYSTEM
Vendor ROI showed PBS system to be most profitable
Minneapolis, MN – January 24, 2006 – Publishing Business Systems, North America’s leading source for integrated enterprise-wide newspaper business software systems, today announced an agreement with The San Francisco Chronicle, a Hearst Newspapers property, to license PBS MediaPlus® Circulation, a comprehensive circulation management system. Additional products included in the agreement are MediaPlus® List MatchPlus and MediaPlus® Circulation InSight, along with online, self–service applications MediaPlus® iServices Subscriber and MediaPlus® iServices Distribution.
The San Francisco Chronicle is the largest newspaper in Northern California, and the second–largest on the West Coast, with a paid daily circulation of 461,000. It is one of 12 daily newspapers published by Hearst Newspapers, an operating group of the Hearst Corporation.
In its search for a new circulation system, The San Francisco Chronicle first defined its goal, which was to select a system with the flexibility to meet the needs of a highly competitive and sophisticated market with the functionality necessary to achieve a significant reduction in targeted operational tasks, activities and process steps. The search committee performed an extensive mapping of circulation and financial processes, resulting in 14 criteria with which to compare and measure vendors.
"We wanted a product that contains a wide array of customer and market–driven capabilities with real–time data for improved decision making, built on a foundation of sound operational functionality. We thoroughly reviewed a multitude of vendors, and for operational efficiency and functionality as determined by our process mapping, PBS was at the forefront," said Chris Blaser, vice president of circulation at The San Francisco Chronicle.
In addition to marketing, data and operational capabilities, The San Francisco Chronicle also wanted a company that would be a good business partner. Blaser said, "We surveyed clients of our vendor finalists, and PBS received high scores on customer collaboration, research and development, and its support model." An example of the way PBS meets the needs of its customers through collaboration is its user group, InPUT (The International Publishing Users Team), which serves as an R&D resource.
Blaser sees the world migrating to digital transactions, and looks to PBS online applications MediaPlus iServices Subscriber and iServices Distribution to help the newspaper serve its customers – including those in its distribution channel – better. Blaser explained, "We currently use an electronic product for our carriers and distributors, and look forward to iServices Distribution as the next generation."
The San Francisco Chronicle expects that MediaPlus Circulation will improve customer service by anticipating customer needs, and improve management of single copy sales through enhanced draw and returns analysis. MediaPlus Circulation InSight will benefit managers at The San Francisco Chronicle, who will be able to set up dashboards within the application to perform trend analysis.
MediaPlus Circulation, which will be installed on an Oracle® database for The San Francisco Chronicle, is also available with Progress database compatibility.
