AAM Column

The Alliance for Audited Media (AAM) requires newspapers to submit circulation figures for auditing purposes. In order to gather circulation figures, Circulation requires that every route and single copy outlet be assigned to an AAM column. A route can only be assigned to one AAM column, but an AAM column can contain information from many routes.

During the setup of your routes, you will define which AAM column the draw for each route is associated with.

The following AAM columns are defined by Naviga:

These columns cannot be changed—in other words, all mail copies will be reported in the mail column and nowhere else. The remainder of the circulation figures—regular (or “paid”) copies from routes or single copy outlets—are user-defined and usually reflect how the product is delivered. An example might be:

Before setting up AAM columns, you should determine the level of detail required for reporting. Each subscription type should be put into only one AAM column. For example, you could set up one AAM column for bulk subscriptions for city hotels and another for suburban hotels. Although you may combine the totals for these two AAM columns under the AAM report heading “hotels” on circulation reports, these separate definitions make circulation totals available for city and suburban hotels for use in ad hoc (user-defined) reports. In this example, you would not set up an AAM column for “hotels” since the circulation totals would be stored in the “city hotel” and “suburban hotel” AAM columns. See AAM Report Headings for more information about AAM Report Headings.

As another example, suppose an AAM column is required for each carrier region to allow a breakdown by region of carrier circulation figures in ad hoc reports. If there are four regions in the primary market area (North, South, East, and West) and you want to retain detail at the carrier region level for ad hoc reporting, set up AAM columns as shown:

If, however, you have no need for ad hoc reporting, simply set up the following AAM Column for this same report area:

It is important to be careful about setting up your AAM columns because they define the way circulation totals are stored and reported. If you change your setup plan after circulation history has been retained, it may be impossible to compare subsequent circulation history with previous history in a meaningful manner.

Routes are assigned to AAM columns in Distribution | Route | Distribution Point | Specifics | Distrib Point Publ. The Route Setup Utility in Distribution | Route can also be used.

To set up an AAM column:

• Select AAM Column from the AAM menu to display the AAM Column Setup screen.
• Click the Add icon and complete the following fields.

  Field

  Type

  What to enter

  AAM COLUMN

  open (10)

  Enter an AAM Column ID, such as “Dealer”.

  DESCRIPTION

  open (30)

  Enter the description for this AAM Column, such as “Newsstands”.

  THIRD PARTY

  yes/no

  Indicate whether this column’s draw should be reported as third-party draw when running AAM reports.

  PAID/QUALIFIED TYPE

  predefined

  Indicate the Paragraph 3 report column to which this AAM column belongs: Business/Traveler, Qualified, or Other.

  START DATE, END DATE

  date

  Enter the date range in which this AAM Column may be used. You may leave End Date blank.

• Click OK to save the AAM column in the database or Add Another to save the existing record and add another AAM column.