When an agent delivers a newspaper to your doorstep, do you know, as an enlightened consumer, how much you have to pay him? Many customers are paying more than they should.
Let us first look at how many issues are delivered in a year. All national and state level newspapers, both English and Kannada have just 4 holidays in a year. The local papers have 7-8 holidays in a year.
Star of Mysore has the simplest price structure, 1 rupee on all days. So you pay Rs. 30 (or 31) per month. Subtract a rupee for each holiday.
The local Kannada dailies, Andolana, Mysooru Mithra and Prajanudi charge Rs. 1.50 per issue except on Fridays and Sundays, when they charge Rs. 2. The cost for 365 days at Rs. 1.50 per issue is Rs. 547.50. The 50 paise extra charge for 52 Sundays and 52 Fridays in a year is Rs. 52. Subtracting Rs. 12 for 8 holidays, the total cost per year is Rs. 587.50. So you pay Rs. 49 per month (average) for these papers.
The state-level Kannada dailies, Prajavani and Vijaya Karnataka charge Rs. 3 per issue except on Fridays and Sundays when they charge Rs. 3.50. So the annual cost is 365x3+52=1147. Subtracting Rs. 12 for the 4 holidays, the annual cost is Rs. 1135. So you pay Rs. 95 per month. Kannada Prabha charges Rs. 3 per issue except on Fridays (Rs. 4.50) and Sundays (Rs. 3.50). So the cost per year is 365x3+52x1.50+52x0.50=1199. Subtracting Rs. 12 for the four holidays, the annual cost is Rs. 1187. So you pay Rs. 99 per month.
Deccan Herald, The Hindu and The New Indian Express charge Rs. 3 except on Sundays when they charge Rs. 5. So the annual cost is 365x3+52x2=1199. Subtracting Rs. 12 for the 4 holidays, the annual cost is Rs. 1187. So you pay Rs. 99 per month. The Times of India charges Rs. 3.50 per issue except on Sundays(Rs. 5). So the cost per year is 365x3.50 +52x1.50=1355.5. Subtracting Rs. 14 for the 4 holidays, the annual cost is Rs. 1341.5. So you pay Rs. 112 per month.
The newspapers pay good commission (20% for Kannada, 30-32% for English dailies) to the agents delivering newspapers to your doorstep. So many agents do not charge extra for delivery and as a result you pay only what is calculated above.