OPUBCO / Oklahoman Business Practices

[cindycat]

Earlier this week they changed from newok.com to oklahoman.com. That's when my link quit coming, too. My REALLY SERIOUS problem now is that I can't look at the comics that used to be in my Favorites section. At the top of the comics page in the print edition is a note that says we can get nearly 65 more comics at oklahoman.com/comics. So far I'm getting exactly zero.

[stick47]

I gave DOK the Bird when they said Todd The DInosaur was no longer in production so searched and found Comics Kingdom. Everything the DOK had and more is on there.
https://www.comicskingdom.com/todd-the-dinosaur

[Mr. Blue Sky]

https://oklahoman.com/entertainment/comics

Is this any better? It links to off-site comics as well. They can surely get the comics(!) right?

[Richard at Remax]

My dad got his renewal letter. I think he is writing "is this a joke?" and sending it back to them as we speak. "Almost 50% increase for half the paper content. I've been a subscriber for 30+ years!", he says.

[LordGerald]

My dad got his renewal letter. I think he is writing "is this a joke?" and sending it back to them as we speak. "Almost 50% increase for half the paper content. I've been a subscriber for 30+ years!", he says.

What is a "paper statement fee?"

[PaddyShack]

My dad got his renewal letter. I think he is writing "is this a joke?" and sending it back to them as we speak. "Almost 50% increase for half the paper content. I've been a subscriber for 30+ years!", he says.

Also I notice it says "Up to X weeks..." Does this mean you might not get that many??

[Jeepnokc]

Anybody else having issue with getting today's print replica? Mine will only pull up yesterdays.

[cindycat]

Anybody else having issue with getting today's print replica? Mine will only pull up yesterdays.

Me, too. Our print paper hasn't arrived yet, either.

[Jeepnokc]

Me, too. Our print paper hasn't arrived yet, either.

Print replica appears to be up now (845 am)

[Dob Hooligan]

Darn, mine hasn’t updated yet. 9:08

[catcherinthewry]

I had the same issue.

[Dob Hooligan]

Mine updated about 9:15. I almost think they are updating by hand.

[okatty]

I got no paper Friday or Saturday (delivery) which has been an ongoing issue, and had same issues as noted above on print replica today. I was stacking dead tree limbs by the curb about 830 when the delivery person pulled up tossing papers - I asked if she was our normal delivery person and said “you don’t have a normal delivery person” and drove off.

[CloudDeckMedia]

Our paper arrived at 6:02 this morning (thanks, Ring doorbell!) and the app is working. A friend's app wasn't working earlier in the week but what problem he experience was resolved.

[Dob Hooligan]

This whole business through the last couple months of no delivery of the print edition for days on end; automated phone system saying they are closed, when it is 9 AM and message says they are open until 11 or whatnot; electronic edition not arriving until 9:15, has made me very cynical towards the newspaper industry. Publisher Kelly Fry has another editorial on Page 2 telling us how important their work is and asking us to support local journalism. Fine and dandy, but if I don't have her product in the timely manner her industry has trained us to expect for centuries, then what good is it? I don't care about high minded pronouncements about how important they are when they are incompetent about their core directive: timely delivery. I can't read it if I don't have it!

Because they have become so inept in their attempts to deliver the product, I have began to think they are equally unreliable and incompetent in their reporting and editorial opinions. Local print journalism is starting to look like that old guy in the bar who knows everything (and won't hesitate to say so) yet can't keep a job for more than 2 weeks.

"You Have One Job" is a popular social media saying for a reason: Remember the base reason you exist-timely.

[Pete]

^

In that Dyer Fry commentary, she blames the 'strong economy' for not being able to fill driver positions and thus the delivery problems with their hard copy.

1) You are not paying people properly if you can't get people to do the job
2) At the OK Gazette, we have no such problem
3) They can't even get their digital edition out early in the morning, so there are clearly much bigger issues than drivers

[okatty]

^We’ve historically had fantastic delivery from the Oklahoman. I couldn’t get up early enough to beat the paper to the front porch and that was during strong economies, bad ones, etc. That all changed for some reason about 60 days ago and it has been really unbelievable how bad it is. Absolutely ridiculous to blame it on the “strong economy.”

[Pete]

It's absolutely due to cutbacks and outsourcing.

Even in their attempt to 'come clean' and apologize for the problems, they still can't be honest about what is going on there.

[Dob Hooligan]

A few months ago I bought a recently written book about Andy Griffith and Don Knotts. About $10 on my Amazon Kindle account. I was probably drunk and soaking in my bathtub. I’m guessing the author and publisher made as much as they would have in the BDalton Bookseller days.
My point is an anecdote from Don Knotts’ agent: Knotts had become very popular on radio and was working on more than one show more than once a day. His agent complained that television was killing Knotts career. Knotts just had to show up and talk on radio and nobody cared about how he looked and where he stood. He just had to read a piece of paper in an entertaining fashion. On TV, he had to do so much more, and couldn’t play as many parts. His money was going to dry up and the entertainment industry would cease to exist as we know it!

I can buy every Old Time Radio episode that exists for less than $50. Total. The Andy Griffith Show plays in prime time world wide every day on television. Smart people know how to adapt.

[king183]

The subscription prices are outrageous. My parents and I are letting our subscription lapse because of it. Previous 26 week subscription was $182 with access to more content. Now, "up to 17 weeks" is $261.

They're finished.

[okatty]

^I got 2-3 papers this week out of 7 days (zero at a decent hour to allow it to be read in the morning). So at those rates, I’d be paying about $9 a paper.

[Pete]

Today, there are ZERO ads in the Oklahoman.

There is a tiny spot for a GateHouse-sponsored money giveaway and a big ad for an Oklahoman-sponsored all-city sports event. You can be sure those are non-revenue ads.

They do have a few obituaries which they charge for (while claiming they are some sort of public service) and 1.5 pages of classifieds.

That's it.


I can tell you that as a print publication the goal is to be 60/40 content to ads; and in today's world, 50/50 is actually a show of strength. The only reason you go less than 60/40 is because you can't sell ads.

THIS is why the paper has so little local content, why subscription rates have skyrocketed and why they can't even deliver their product properly.

[stile99]

Phase 1: Underpants! I mean outsource the printing to Tulsa.

Phase 2: ???

Phase 3: Profit!

[oklip955]

If this keeps up, I'm thinking they'll soon be only history.

[onthestrip]

Wow, these stories dont make things sound good for the Oklahoman.

With their subscription rates, you think they could look to conservative tax policy they've championed over the years. If your rates are too high, people will go elsewhere. If you lower rates, you will actually bring in a broader base, therefore more revenue. Weird that this conservative paper cant realize that...