PBS Posts Circ, Class-Ad System Sales

By: E&P Staff To increase print and online classified sales and improve a host of reporting capabilities, E.W. Scripps' Ventura County (Calif.) Star, is licensing MediaPlus Classified Advertising from Publishing Business Systems, Minneapolis, Minn. The newspaper is already a licensee of PBS MediaPlus Circulation and MediaPlus Ad Management.

"The suite of PBS software systems will provide management with integrated reporting and tracking capabilities for circulation and display and classified advertising," said Tim Gallagher, president and publisher, who called it "a compelling solution for the challenge of putting out six editions and a Spanish-language product."

"The ability to receive real-time updates on critical sales information will allow us to be more responsive to our customers' needs, and will enhance our overall classified management," Classified Advertising Director Darlene Frank said in a statement.

MediaPlus Classified Advertising offers nine up-selling options and automatically revises the price of an ad as options are selected. The software provides sales reps with on-screen tips for soliciting additional information from customers, which can increase linage. MediaPlus Classified Advertising gives the sales representative the ability to schedule priority placements, send e-mail proofs, view a record of past placements by the customer, and know whether the customer is a subscriber.

In addition to MediaPlus Classified Advertising, the Ventura County Star is licensing PBS MediaPlus Pagination, Layout, and MediaPlus iServices Order Entry. Pagination and Layout extend deadlines, affording more time to sell. iServices Order Entry allows customers to create and submit classified ads online. A partnership with Admission Corp. facilitates uploading and manipulating digital photos.

MediaPlus Classified Advertising, available with Oracle or Microsoft SQL database compatibility, is being installed on SQL for the Ventura County Star.

Another Scripps daily already running PBS circulation and ad-management systems, the Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, Wash., also licensed PBS MediaPlus Classified Advertising, which will use a Microsoft SQL database. The Sun, too, is installing MediaPlus iServices Order Entry and MediaPlus Pagination.

The Janesville (Wis.) Gazette licensed PBS MediaPlus Circulation, MediaPlus Circulation InSight, MediaPlus List MatchPlus, MediaPlus iServices Subscriber and products from the company's business solutions suite.

MediaPlus Circulation manages the entire circulation business cycle and includes tools to increase sales, manage returns, and create, test, and analyze direct marketing campaigns.

The Gazette also will install: Circulation InSight, an analysis and reporting application; List MatchPlus to upload demographic and other data for prospecting, direct marketing, and more; iServices Subscriber, a self-service application that allows subscribers to start subscriptions and manage their account information online.

In addition to circulation solutions, the Gazette and Bliss Communications' other papers also licensed PBS MediaPlus Business solutions: General Ledger, Accounts Payable, and the Bank Book bank reconciliation tool.

Available with Oracle or Progress database compatibility, MediaPlus Circulation is installed on Progress at the Gazette.

The Huntsville (Ala.) Times licensed PBS MediaPlus Circulation and MediaPlus Circulation InSight. Also licensed are MediaPlus InsertPlus and MediaPlus List MatchPlus, which will replace an aging circulation system that the Advance Publications daily could no longer support.

The Times also licensed List MatchPlus and, for insert planning, InsertPlus. Its MediaPlus system is being installed on Progress.

Production Director Martha Reichold said that because other Advance papers already use PBS solutions "there are others within our organization to whom we can turn for advice and with whom we can share best practices."