Ours went that route several years ago. Plus, it is no longer printed locally. We still got it because Hubby liked to read it. Last year we got a new carrier and she would ONLY take payments on a quarterly schedule.....and she wanted those payments early. She started bugging me in August for the Oct-Dec payment. And our carriers have been sporadic at best. Seems once a month I woudn't get a Sunday paper, but we still paid for it.
Then, late last year we got a new carrier. I didn't get my first December paper, so I called her. She immediately (in a snotty tone) said I wouldn't get no paper until I paid her. I told her I had already paid the other carrier. She told me that the other carrier wasn't now my carrier and I should pay her. I told her I paid the other carrier in SEPTEMBER for OCT-DEC delivery and that it was the only way that carrier would accept payments. Long pause. "Well, I'll have to talk to my supervisor". Never heard from her again. I got all my December papers and they gave me one January paper I guess to make up for the December one I missed. But none of those papers had the bill for January in it. If I don't get the bill, I won't pay it. So, we no longer get a paper. One did show up in our driveway one Sunday in March out of the blue, but there was no note or bill in it, so I guess we won't be getting the paper anymore.
I gave my husband the contact info for the carrier if he wanted to see about getting it started again, but I'm done with her.