The document outlines the role and responsibilities of circulation managers in the newspaper industry, emphasizing their crucial role in selling and distributing newspapers to ensure organizational revenue. Key challenges faced include declining subscriptions, delivery failures, and competition from digital news sources. The document also discusses the importance of effective marketing strategies and maintaining strong relationships with retailers and distributors to boost circulation rates.

1. CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT
Circulation is another major division of the business office and is usually headed by a major
executive, the circulation manager, since the newspaper ultimately stands or falls on the basis of
the number of steady readers that can be enrolled.
This department as the name suggests is in charge of circulating or distributing the newspapers.
They are also a very crucial department in a newspaper organization. This department is
responsible for selling the newspapers, which is also another major source of revenue for the
organization. The department also sees to it that the newspapers are delivered to the right places.
This department have three main responsibilities
 Selling the media product
 Delivering it to retailer
 Collecting data from subscribers
CIRCULATION MANAGER
Publications live and die by subscriptions. For magazines, catalogs, and newspapers, a higher
number of subscribers means more advertising revenue, more content, and more widespread
recognition of those publications.
Circulation Managers ensure the ongoing survival of various publications. These individuals
oversee the distribution process for mainly newspapers and magazines in the country. Read on to
discover how circulation managers work closely with the rest of the publishing team to increase
circulation rates.
What do they do?
Circulation managers first and foremost are communication experts. The primary task of any
circulation manager is to develop contacts with retailers and distributors, increasing the number of
catalogs, newspapers, or magazines they distribute.
To increase circulation rates, these professionals might enact marketing campaigns to give
consumers special prices on subscription rates. These deals must be balanced in line with a
publications budget, which circulation managers also typically develop.
Circulation managers typically work alone within a publishing company, reporting back to higher-
level management. Some of the other professionals they might work with include:
 Digital Media Managers
 Advertising Manager
ROLE OF CIRCULATION MANAGER
The circulation manager may have any or all of the following subdivisions under his supervision:

2. (i) City Circulation:
It involves the maintenance of circulation records for the city of publication; the recruitment,
supervision and reimbursement of carrier boys; the: supervision of district men who oversee
circulation by subdivisions of the city, taking responsibility for moving papers to the news-stands,
relations with news-stand operators, etc.
(ii) Area Circulation:
Responsibilities here include getting papers destined for the surrounding area into the mail and
operation of a fleet of tempos/taxis to carry the papers into surrounding areas where mail service
is not rapid enough.
The circulation manager is also in charge of moving the papers into the appropriate distribution
channels as they move into the mailing room from the press room.
(iii) Sales Promotion:
It involves the direction of an office staff to keep records, notifying subscribers when their
subscriptions need renewing, the handling of complaints, new subscriptions and renewals over the
counter, by mail, etc.
Promotion is essentially the "public relations" department of the newspaper. Where a separate
promotion department exists, it usually is responsible for initiating promotion policies, subject to
the approval of the publisher, and usually coordinates the promotional activities of other
departments.
Responsibilities of circulation manager includes the following:
i. Develop mail strategies and create mailing lists for catalog promotions.
ii. Coordinate with production units to finalize master copies for distribution.
iii. Review mailing lists and make any additions or removals.
iv. Analyze customer responses before and after the mailings and accordingly plan circulation
strategies
v. Maintain circulation database for customer service transactions.
vi. Provide timely responses to customer queries.
vii. Prepare customer service reports and weekly sales reports for management.
viii. Support in marketing initiatives and oversee promotions and email offers.
ix. Prepare management reports, presentations, charts and graphs for business meetings.
x. Assist in budget preparation and expense management activities to achieve cost-
effectiveness.
xi. Determine business forecast and develop strategies to meet revenue goals.

3. PROBLEMS OF CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT
The success of any media organization lies more on its ability to sell its product to the consumers
rather than on its ability to produce goods. No product or service is produced for its own sake, but
for the consumers. The product should satisfy their needs and should be acceptable to them.
"Marketing is a total system of interacting business activities, designed to plan, price, promote,
and distribute want satisfying products and services to present and potential consumers.” All this
comes under circulation management. The problems faced by print media organization related to
this are listed below:
1. Delivery failures: It does come occasionally to the readers due to several reasons which
ultimately result in loss of trust for the media organization. The newspaper industry is one
in which there is intense competition. The competition, however is not perfect, but
monopolistic in nature. The industry has the structural characteristic of monopolistic
competition such as large number of firms, no barriers to entry and product differentiation.
No other industry, perhaps faces such intense competition as newspaper industry. The
competition between the different newspaper firms demand high level of efficiency in the
firms business. Those firms which cannot meet the stiff competition with their efficient
operation of the business, naturally die out.
2. Declining subscription: Around 39% of subscribers have cancelled a subscription of
printed media in the past five years; and an industry facing circulation that has declined by
10% in the last decade and advertising revenues that have fallen by half just since 2006.
Due to this it is becoming difficult to ensure the sustainability of the media organization.
3. Problems with its delivery vendor partnership due to revenue problem. Newspapers
publisher and retailers—don’t have cost problems. They have revenue problems. And
providing lousy or nonexistent customer service won’t improve revenues. Agents for the
distribution of newspapers are appointed on commission basis. The rate of commission
varies from paper to paper. The agent’s commission earlier used to be about 25 percent of
the price of newspapers. However, in the recent period this has been changed and the
commission is now fixed arbitrarily whenever there is a price change.
4. Problems related to distribution agent: Generally, one agent often deals with more than
one newspaper. The Circulation Manager of a newspaper has to ensure through his field
staff that his newspaper gets proper attention and display from the agent. Agents can, to
some extent, influence the volume of circulation. The field staff should evaluate agent’s
performance as far as their newspaper is concerned, by meeting subscribers or readers
frequently and making occasional surveys within the area of operation of the agent. The
agents are supervised by circulation department to ensure efficient and timely supply of
newspapers to readers.
5. Effect of TV and Internet: With television dishing out news 24X7, and mobile phones
giving instant access to news, newspapers are under tremendous pressure. To stay relevant
to its readers, a newspaper has to present news that is more informative and enriching than
TV and Internet.

4. 6. Scarcity and frequent price hikes of newsprint: Newsprint is the major raw material of
the newspaper industry. The scarcity and frequent price hikes of newsprint are the greatest
problem faced by the newspaper industry in these days. Further, the technological
development and competition arising from it have recently changed the industrial
atmosphere.
7. Unlike other products, the newspaper is a highly perishable product and perhaps the most
perishable commodity. The distribution or marketing of such a commodity is extremely
difficult and needs to be organised very thoroughly. The distribution channel has to be so
efficiently organised that the newspapers reach the readers within the least possible time
after production. This is a very difficult task because of the highly dispersed location of the
readers.
8. Problems of speedy transportation: As soon as the printing is over, the Circulation
Manager makes arrangements for counting, packing, labeling and dispatching the
newspapers to various agents in far and wide locations. One of the difficult and crucial
tasks of the marketing department is the transportation of newspaper bundles from the press
to the various places and agents as fast as possible. Different modes of transportation -
road, rail, water and air are used for this, depending upon the location to which the bundles
are transported.
9. High cost of distribution: when the subscribers are scattered and are in far of places, the
cost of distributing newspapers through agents sometimes becomes prohibitive due to very
high freight charges and incidentals. In such cases, it would be cheaper to distribute it
through mail. The distribution through mail, however, on a large scale is not advisable and
feasible as far as daily newspapers are concerned except to far off places outside where
there is no agents to distribute the paper.
Other Factors that Influence the Volume of Circulation
 Population size, literacy and religious composition
 A successful marketing strategy: This factors relate to the first component of the
marketing strategy viz., the product strategy. A product, to capture the market, should
satisfy first of all, the taste and preferences of the consumers of different types and should
be produced in consistent quality. A newspaper should be able to provide the readers the
right mix of different news items in good quality so that they get the maximum satisfaction.
 Content of the printed material: The coverage given and space allotted for different
editorial items like political news, economic news, law and order items, entertainment
items, cultural news, cartoon etc., and for advertisements in a newspaper make the product
distinct and this will have a significant influence on the volume of sale of the newspaper.

5. REFERENCES
http://www.greatsampleresume.com/Job-Responsibilities/Circulation-Manager-
Responsibilities.html
http://www.marketing-schools.org/careers/circulation-manager.html
http://www.preservearticles.com/what-is-the-role-of-circulation-department-of-newspaper.html
http://www.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_role_of_different_departments_of_a_newspaper_organ
ization
http://www.slideshare.net/rohama_waseem/newspaper-organization
http://hosbeg.com/the-departments-in-newspaper-organizations-and-their-roles/