Weekly Newspapers
If you work for a weekly newspaper, you've got a lot of advantages. One benefit of your newspaper is the type of news you carry. I used to argue that most people can't live without the news a weekly provides. Unlike dailies, whose editorial will include news about things like meteors hitting Saturn, trouble in Eastern Europe, state and national politics, even comics, the weekly newspaper usually contains news about what matters most to readers--what's happening in their immediate area that will affect themselves and their family. Information on what's going on in their home town, including what's going on in their children's school system, changing in zoning regulations that might affect their property values, information on the quality of their drinking water, etc.

It could be argued that because this information is more important to the local area, then subscribers to both the daily and the weekly will read the weekly first and maybe even a number of times during the week. Another benefit of the weeklies is that they usually attract a much higher quality reader--at least in the eyes of the retailer. For some reason, people who read weekly newspapers have a higher income, have more advance degrees, and spend more money. Why? One explanation is that people who read weekly newspapers simply like to read, and better readers usually end up getting better jobs, although this argument could also apply to dailies.

Another argument for weeklies is that people who read weeklies, since they care so much about the area in which they live, that they're more likely to stay in the area longer. This means if an advertiser gets a weekly newspaper reader to respond to their ad and come in to their business, then that customer, if they like the store, will live in the area long enough to return to the business again and again.

Others will argue that weeklies tend not to have enough circulation relative to the daily newspaper. This will be seen as a disadvantage to some businesses who need more coverage, but an advantage to others who can't afford to pay for a lot of circulation.

Weekly newspaper salespeople will say weekly newspapers provide the best of both worlds--reaching the upper income/long-term customers without having to buy all that so-called wasted circulation that the daily paper might have. Sure, weeklies tend to have a higher CPM, again, cost per thousand, but weeklies claim that you get what you pay for. Another advantage of many weeklies is that they're mailed to the homes through the post office. This means the delivery method is one of the most reliable in the US and can be put directly in the mailbox. Some feel alternative delivery systems, such as a newspaper delivery person or carrier, as they're called, are less reliable.