Business groups urge Congress to block potential rail strike (chicagotribune.com)

Publishers who still mail print editions to subscribers are facing challenges on at least a couple of fronts. For one, new statistics released by the U.S Postal Service show that 86.1% of Periodicals were delivered on time against the USPS service standard in Q4, a decrease of 2.8% from the prior quarter. In contrast, 91.4% of first class mail was delivered on time, a 1.2% decrease, and marketing mail held steady with a 95.2% on-time delivery rate. This may or may not have any real impact. But in a related development, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) is speaking out against recent postal policy changes that she says are hurting local and rural newspapers.

HH Global is pleased to announce the completion of the acquisition of Noosh, following the signing of an agreement on September 30, 2021. HH Global identified Noosh as the best-in-class global technology solution provider with over $1.2b in marketing spend managed and sourced through its technology. This acquisition will allow HH Global to introduce self-serve and hybrid solutions to clients, while providing differentiated opportunities to extend existing client relationships into new categories and regions. Furthermore, the agreement will allow both businesses to leverage greater aggregated spend under management. Ultimately, the acquisition of Noosh will accelerate global service reach for both new and existing clients across both HH Global and Noosh, through unrestricted technology deployment.

Year-end book sales across Europe were slammed by December lockdowns after Covid-19 cases surged across the continent. Still, preliminary results in three major markets show declines for the full year were modest. In Germany, Europe’s single largest book market, sales were up 25% in the first two weeks of December over 2019, but they plummeted when a new lockdown was imposed on December 16. Overall sales for the year were down 2.3% compared with 2019, according to BUCH, a German book publishing trade group. Bookstores saw sales drop 8.7% for the year, but gains by online booksellers and platforms offset that decline. “It is true that books played an important role for people during the crisis,” said Karin Schmidt-Friderichs, head of the BDB, in a press release. “There was great enthusiasm for reading and demand for books was high for much of the year. But the shutdown in December thwarted the industry’s plans. The renewed store closings in the middle of the Christmas business stopped the race to catch up from lost sales due to the shutdown in spring.”