At the Quarter 'Post': NYC Tab Drops Price Hike

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By: E&P Staff The New York Post thought twice about the doubling of its street price this month and today suddenly dropped back to charging 25 cents a copy.

The top of its front page announced that the paper was back "the way you like it." This appears over the main headline: KINKY LOVE.

So one way or the other, the paper ought to get a nice sales hike today.

The climb to half a dollar had badly hurt newsstand sales, as the rival Daily News had responded with a week-long promotional cut to a quarter, which it will drop in a few days.

Just last week the latest FAS-FAX had showed both New York dailies gaining circ. The Post has shown a rapid circulation gain since the early 2000's when it tried the 25 cent formula.

Critics have long charged that this is the main reason for its readership surge and the News Corp. reportedly still lost money. Finally it tried to gain more revenue by charging more -- but apparently now feels those benefits are outweighed by the risks.

The Post insists the price change was not related to sales.

"This is a business decision and part of a well-planned strategy," Post Editor in Chief Col Allan told Crain's newyorkbusiness.com. " We're proud of our sales and the numbers being thrown around by our competition are pure fantasy and wishful thinking."

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