Register moves to weekend edition

To better carry Register readers through the weekend, the Register will begin a weekend edition starting July 9.
The Friday-Saturday edition will be called The Weekender.
The news portion will include weddings and engagements, Thursday and Friday sporting events, court news, the NASCAR page, obituaries and editorials and columns — everything typically run over the course of a Friday and Saturday paper with the additional space to allow for more in-depth stories.
The TV guide will revert to Thursday’s edition.
The advertising portion of The Weekender will include inserts from area advertisers, garage sale alerts and employment ads.
The change to the weekend edition means the elimination of the Friday publication.
“Reader response tells us that most people would rather have a meatier newspaper on Saturday mornings when they have the time to enjoy it,” said Susan Lynn, Register editor and publisher.
“For forever, the Saturday paper has been published on Friday nights, sometimes in just a matter of a few hours after Friday’s paper has gone to press,” Lynn said. “That has not allowed for much of a Saturday paper.”
Does the move save the Register money?
“Absolutely,” said Lynn. “But only through the distribution side. We’ll still have as much news that we did with the combined Friday and Saturday newspapers. It doesn’t mean any reduction in staff. Our office will be open five days a week.
“The savings will be realized on delivery either by mail or by carriers to our rural and out-of-town customers.
“With the price of fuel remaining high, we’re having to look at ways to cut costs,” Lynn said. The Register is delivered to 492 individual rural households and another 455 papers are distributed to convenience stores across the county. Its total paper circulation hovers around 3,100. Another 67 subscribers take the Register by online only.
Along with the change comes an increase in the cost of a single paper.
“It’s been 20 years that the Register went from 35 cents to 50 cents,” for copies purchased individually, Lynn said. “We’re raising that to 75 cents — still less than the price of a candy bar — and hopefully more satisfying.”
Subscriptions to the Register will remain the same, Lynn said, reflecting an even greater bargain for those who have it delivered or receive it by mail.
The other change is that for those who want to run three-day classified ads, they must be submitted by 2 p.m. Tuesday, and will run in the Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday editions.