I read an article this morning about the woes of newspaper revenues – pretty much the same old thing you see from anyone covering this media space in a one-dimensional fashion. The twist to this article though was that it stated that revenue declines in July of this year, were felt in both the print and online mediums at newspapers. I will side with the article and say that up until now, online verticals at any publishing house usually saw monthly increases and July represents the greatest online revenue slowdown we have seen to date.

• NYTCO – total revenue down 16.2% in July, online revenue up only 0.9%
• Media General – total revenue down 13.8% in July, online revenue up by only 5.3%
• Gannett – total revenue down 16.7%, online revenue up by only 3%

The article then went on to use more written prose to beat the issue of the dismal state of newspapers and their publishers. The reason for the perils in revenue and the slowdown in online is very clear however, and to understand it, you have to understand the traditional publisher mindset. The mindset of gouging print rates, ownership of content, and so on. It seemed that for a while newspaper Web sites were answering the need of failing print revenues, but as this article stated, this is no longer a publishers reality. Even given these dismal reports, new-age publishing pundits, me included, strongly feel that the negative revenue trends can be reversed, if only a few key changes are made at newspaper groups.

What publishers must do:

Get comfortable selling online as a standalone – bundling media, especially print media for a publisher, aids in covering inventory and gaining revenues. However, a forced bundle is not always what your Web savvy advertiser is looking for. With the understanding of new forms of advertising that pure-play online giants can offer, and effectively might I add, advertisers are looking for guided free will with spending their money, not a forced bundled purchase.

Think of your Web site as a standalone product – many publishers view their newspaper sites as an extension of their print product. In some ways this may be true: ads laced with a call to action that directs a consumer online, for example. However, when looking at keeping current and active in the minds of advertisers and the general consumer population, looking at the new and innovative ways your Web site can enable you to interact is key.

Be creative online – the world of online is far different from the static print regiment publishers are accustom to. An online marketplace allows you flexibility, agility, new media inclusion, dynamic platforms, speed to market and all for a low investment if compared to print. Guaranteed, if a publisher used the capabilities an online platform offers, they would find themselves remaining current and in the advertising game a lot longer.

Listen to your readers and targeted consumers – just because we’ve been publishing the product for over 50 years, doesn’t mean that we know best. The most effective way to produce a successful marketplace is to make it one that includes your readers and better yet includes the behaviors of the online consumer.

Flexible pricing - consider moving to pay for performance pricing for your advertisers online. The benefits of this is twofold – advertisers feel that you have partnered with them to ensure their dollars are working in conjunction with the leads and exposure you provide and it keeps your marketing and digital teams focused on the goal of building a thriving marketplace. They should never feel comfortable or content. Reinventing ourselves in this ever-changing e-enabled world is an imperative.

These are just a few of the things that publishers need to consider and or implement to stay current. The risk of not making a change to mind-set is obvious, continued revenue and marketplace declines. As we have said many times on this blog, a newspaper brings with it a lot of advertiser benefits, trust and brand recognition just to mention a few and all that we are suggesting here is that publishers build on these benefits, and do it quickly.

written by Beverly Crandon

Nielsen has released its July listing of the top 25 companies in terms of online user share and stickiness. What’s interesting to note is that 16% of the companies on the list are publishers of newspapers or they own newspaper publishing companies. In addition, 24% of companies on the list dabble in classifieds. Not too shabby

Source: Nielsen Online, 2008

written by Beverly Crandon

Washington Post and Newsweek plan to partner to produce seven hours of video, covering the upcoming democratic and republican conventions. The publishers plan to equip reporters with cell phones and digital cameras to record the necessary video interviews. Online readers will be encouraged to participate by adding comments to videos without moderation.

written by Beverly Crandon

Gannett announced that it plans to eliminate 1,000 jobs from its local newspapers across the U.S., due to declining advertising and circulation revenue.

This planned reduction in Gannett’s work force represents a three percent decline of their overall staff. The reduction of staff will be a blend of lay-offs, retirements, resignations and other vacancies will go unfilled. “We would prefer no more reductions, but… we must keep expenses in line with revenue,” the internal memo to staff said. “If advertising and circulation revenues continue to decline, further payroll reductions may be necessary.”

McClatchy Co, The New York Times Co, The Washington Post Co and Tribune Co, have all have cut their employee rolls, either through buyouts or through layoffs.

written by Beverly Crandon

There seems to be a lot of activity around magazine sales and circulation, since a recent article from AP spoke to sales declines of 6.3 per cent for this traditional publishing medium this year. Now, analyst group McPheters & Company has released their magazine related report entitled: The ‘AudienceLab’ Study of Public Place Engagement’ and it provides the industry with opportunity data, which is good news for a change.

The ‘AudienceLab’ report found that 57 per cent of all magazine reading took place outside the home and that 45 per cent of time spent reading magazines occurred in public places, such as waiting areas, airplanes and hotels. Further, 86 per cent of those who said they read one or more magazines in the last month had done at least some of their reading in a public place, with 87 per cent of them saying that they pay as much or more attention than usual to magazines read in public locations.

Many of our blog readers (traditional newspaper publishers) are probably wondering how this information relates to them, as they have not been known to have boutique magazine titles on their publishing roster – but they’re mistaken. It is very common today to find publishers with niche auto titles (classic car, luxury car, etc…) or lifestyle titles geared to moms and dads. Some would even argue that their cottage real estate title could qualify as a niche “public consumption title”. No matter how you look at it, your niche titles have the potential to be circulated and included in the extended readership arena that the public areas listed above provide. In addition, most publishers have done focus group studies on not only their newspaper products, but also on their niche magazine titles. Reviewing the results of those focus groups can also provide insight on where your magazine could and should be left for public consumption. Although we recognize this will not help circulation revenues, it will definitely help your advertiser with their product reach.

written by Beverly Crandon

The Journal Register Co. has struck a deal (a Forbearance Agreement) to delay interest payments to several banks until the end of October. The JRC has also d-listed its stock (JRCO.PK) as it stands at a rate of four cents per share.

The Journal Register Co. publishes 22 daily newspaper and 300 non-dailies with a concentration in 6 geographic areas: Greater Philadelphia; Michigan; Connecticut; Greater Cleveland; and the Capital-Saratoga and Mid-Hudson regions of New York.

The Journal Register Co. is currently carrying $640 million of debt, which compared to the $463.2 million it made in 2007 seems daunting. What will make rising out of debt even more difficult for JRC is that through the Forbearance Agreement, it cannot gain funding elsewhere to get them out of this bind.

Being so far under the desired revenue goal it is hard to say if the Journal Register Co. will make it.

written by Beverly Crandon

Gannett is taking its relationship with video company Mogulus one-step further and has decided to partially finance the start-up. Mogulus has received 2.7 million in financing to date and now Gannett’s 10 million dollar investment will give the start-up the flexibility it needs, to compete in the ever crowded world of video vendors.

Mogulus and Gannett have already had a relationship spanning the past three months, but Gannett’s announcement of funding for the start up further ferments the relationship and in my mind could very well lead to an acquisition. It is important to note that up until this point, Gannett has termed the relationship as one formed out of a product need only, but I strongly question the truth of that. “Now, with Mogulus, all our journalists–including print and Web reporters–can deliver live, multi-camera broadcasts of news events to our customers,” said Craig A. Dubow, chairman, president and CEO of Gannett, in a statement.

Mogulus provides a browser-based Studio application to create LIVE, scheduled and on-demand internet television to broadcast anywhere on the web, through a single player widget. Their service comes in two types Free (ad-supported) and Pro (white-label, no-ads, pay for usage). To date Mogulus has gained 100,000 users and more than 3,000,000 unique viewers.

written by Beverly Crandon

LinkedIn and the New York Times have just announced a content partnership that will provide LinkedIn users with targeted news and advertising. This announcement follows a list of new media ventures that the Times has started to dabble in and the LinkedIn relationship couldn’t have come at a better time for the media giant, given the release of its second quarter results.

Moving forward, LinkedIn members reading an article in either the business or technology section of NYTimes.com will see a box featuring five stories selected for them, based on their LinkedIn profile. The online ads the user sees will also be targeted to their profile. Kay Luo, spokesperson for LinkedIn, said, “We felt that The New York Times is obviously a great brand and useful in delivering news to our people.”

written by Beverly Crandon

Covering stories from blog.ad-ition.com and other relevant classified media news.

This episode’s covered news bits include coverage of two publishers potentially forming a workforce collaborative partnership, what the search giants are saying the economy has done to their advertising business, Gannett and ADTECH, automotive spending, and a review of the top auto, real estate and recruitment sites for the month of June.

 

 Standard Podcast [21:58m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

written by Beverly Crandon

Traditional print media must really be at an impasse when you see two rival dailies join forces, to aid in leveraging costs. This very act of cooperation is exactly what we’re seeing in the case of two state of New York dailies.

The New York Post, Wall Street Journal and the New York Daily News are in negotiations to see if the three publications can combine distribution, printing and back office duties. Both the Post/Journal owner (Rupert Murdoch) and the Daily News owner (Mort Zuckerman) were both said to have had a bid in for the Tribune Co.’s Newsday and had hoped that winning the bid would allow them to optimize and streamline work functions then.

“The request for proposal is an opportunity we are jointly exploring to lower costs, improve efficiency and strengthen our respective newspapers,” said Howard Rubenstein, who handles public relations for News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch.

Publishers, since I can remember, have always been faulted for being territorial and missing the big picture opportunity. If the cooperative deal between Murdoch and Zuckerman goes through, I think it has the ability to change the way in which the print media industry interacts with each other. This finally shows the importance of looking at the big picture of “staying in business” because no longer is the competition in your market, the rival daily down the road, when more and more of your customers are seeking the same information you offer in print, online.

written by Beverly Crandon