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- Newspaper Ad Revenues Gaining Downhill Momentum; Online Struggling Too [view article]
- Local TV Ad Plunge: What Would Google Do? [view article]
- 9 Questions on Newspapers' 2Q Reports [view article]
- Beyond 2Q Revenue Declines: AdMan's 9 Imperatives for New Growth [view article]
- Help Wanted: Newspaper Classified Ad Sales Continue to Slide [view article]
- A Silver Lining in the Newspaper Crisis [view article]
- What Do You Buy When You Buy a Newspaper Company? [view article]
- Rethinking Newspapers vs. the Internet [view article]
- Newspapers 'Rightsizing'? More Like Frightsizing [view article]
- Newspapers' 'Near Death Spiral,' Courtesy Web 2.0 [view article]
- Memo to Print: It’s the Multiples [view article]
- LA Times' Madness Is Brand Suicide [view article]
loading ...Recent SSP Articles
- Newspaper Ad Revenues Gaining Downhill Momentum; Online Struggling Too
- Local TV Ad Plunge: What Would Google Do?
- 9 Questions on Newspapers' 2Q Reports
- Beyond 2Q Revenue Declines: AdMan's 9 Imperatives for New Growth
- A Silver Lining in the Newspaper Crisis
- What Do You Buy When You Buy a Newspaper Company?
- Few Print Readers Use Local Newspaper Websites
- Frankly, Candidly, Truthfully: What Newspapers CEO Would Say About 2Q
- Rethinking Newspapers vs. the Internet
- Newspapers 'Rightsizing'? More Like Frightsizing
- Full List of Articles »
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Newspaper Ad Revenues Gaining Downhill Momentum; Online Struggling Too [view article]
getting rid of the neighborhood delivery teen did not help. ReplyNewspaper Ad Revenues Gaining Downhill Momentum; Online Struggling Too [view article]
As a 20 plus year veteran of the Newspaper industry...as an Advertising Management professional (Daily and Weekly, Shoppers, Family Owned, and Corporate Owned) I have an insiders opinion.Newspaper revenues have been self inflicted wounds. Family owned newspapers in smaller markets are in much better shape than newspapers in markets owned by corporations or large groups. Many of the problems can be repaired, or at least the declines arrested.
The main issues can be laid at the feet of top executives and publishers. Therefore, the problems can be corrected by examining them, and probably removing most of them.
The problem....lack of long term vision, and the wrong skill set to correct them. Corporate newspapers have valued only the immediate months' Operating Profit, and designed compensation programs accordingly. Corporate directors receive bonus payments based on either annual or divisional factors. This system has focused on the very short term performance financially.
Virtually no focus is placed on the fundamentals of the business. Adding to this, high level managers at the local and corporate level have changed in professional fields of expertise. Over the past 10 years, most local publishers and higher corporate types are now financial managers- accountants- not Editors, Advertising, or Circulation types. Think of that for a moment, and you can begin to see a large part of the long term problem.
Newspapers have traditionally attracted people interested in reading news that is important to them. Advertising was strong, because local advertisers could rely on both strong readership of their ads, and affordable ad rates that reflected return on investment. Both have been seriously eroded, and may be too late to correct.
Readership has been eroded, because senior management directed focus on short term bonus' for themselves. Examples...the refusal to invest resources and time for local Circulation managers to build home delivery services of newspapers. Instead, a practice of artificially "puffing" circulation is the focus. Almost all newspapers now have NIE departments (Newspaper In Education). Sounds good on the surface, however, the main reason the departments exist, and the main responsibility, is getting large bulk sales to schools paid for by businesses. That is then called "paid circulation" and reported as such to the ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulation). Another practice is to "wrap" a newspaper with a "jacket" of newsprint with ads on it. That "jacket" is paid for by advertisers, then dropped at hotels etc, perhaps at major league sporting events or concerts. Then, that entire pressrun is counted as "paid" as well. Using a newspaper to help reading programs is not really the circulation Advertisers are counting on. Nor is a free newspaper at the hotel desk. Home delivery is the most important, with paid single copy sales next.
The problem? Real newspaper circulation is far less than stated. The consequence is that ads don't reach real readers, and ads don't work as well as in the past. This "puffed" circulation is the basis that ad rates are sold to advertisers.
Why does this matter? Many publishers receive bonus based on circulation increases, not the type of circulation. Ad rates have also faced similar issues. Circulation goes down, ad rates go up, and results for those advertisers go down as well. In the online area, Publishers refuse to re think the model. Classified ad rates were raised artificially and forced online, with no infra structure to give that online ad a chance to work. It was done simply to add revenue. Results for the customer were not considered. That inflated price gave rise to Craigslist, Monster, and many others that have eroded Classified ads.
Display advertising is no different. Less real circulation, yet higher rate. What other industry does that? Give you less, but charge you more. Very poor execution of the online revenue model. Many publishers try to count online pageviews as extra circuation. Marginally true, but the print advertiser gets NO benefit of it, and the online only advertiser gets no benefit from the print. So, not completely accurate to "spin" online pageviews as circulation to advertisers
In the newsroom, the head counts have been drastically slashed. The only reason anyone even buys a newspaper is to read the news. The problem is not so much the cuts, as WHO has been cut, or quit. The more tenured and experienced the newsperson, the more likely they are to be be gone from today's newsroom.
At some point, there will be an executive in one of the companies that will state the obvious, and make some bold decisions. If the CEO does not fire them immediately, the changes needed will be done, and the newspaper industry will recover in some form. Until then, the death spiral will continue. The market will crush many of them, and only a few will survive. Local family owned newspapers have a better chance of survival, because they tend to make better long term decisions.
Think of it this way...an NFL team cuts it's best quarterback, running backs, line, and defense, but KEEPS the rookies and third stringers! Then expects the team to win the Superbowl, and expects you to pay the full ticket price to watch em! Then, the executive is surprised by an empty stadium!!
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Newspaper Ad Revenues Gaining Downhill Momentum; Online Struggling Too [view article]
it can be true even if we dont like it. newspapers can go the way of the buggywhip.most kids that i know are not interested in the news,nevermind the newspaper.in my day,last century,most kids at least read the paper for the cartoons.there is no future for print with most of todays kids & they are the future.the world will survive. ReplyNewspaper Ad Revenues Gaining Downhill Momentum; Online Struggling Too [view article]
this and also telephone book ad decline is just as steep and t.v. news ads are way down. tech is changing everything and it's not an advertising recession when it comes to some of this. newspapers will not recover substantially nor will the phone books or t.v. news.the only spot left is the web and the recession IS the impact there. Reply
Newspaper Ad Revenues Gaining Downhill Momentum; Online Struggling Too [view article]
I maintain models of (NAA) ad expenditures trends and I must say I was totally surprised by the Q2 results for online. The $777 million is in the zero percentile in a one period ahead series. I was forecasting the 2008 aggregate expenditure to be $39.4 bilion and 2009 to be $34.6 billion. It's going to be worse than that. Additionally, for some time now, newspaper ad exps have been disconnected from macroeconomic indicators. These recent trends are not cyclical. ReplyNewspaper Ad Revenues Gaining Downhill Momentum; Online Struggling Too [view article]
Amazing decline. Do you have a sense of the breakdown in online between classified and display? I see a ton of display inventory flowing through main pages on newspaper sites, which continue to be healthy, so is classified the culprit, or are the ad rates driving down on display? ReplyLocal TV Ad Plunge: What Would Google Do? [view article]
Local advertising will move to the internet, TV and newspaper can only slow the process. We are naturally a progressive society which means the internet will progressively steal market share wherever it can compete with an offline product. Every business owner will need a internet marketing plan.Jippidy.com - Internet Yellow Pages Reply
9 Questions on Newspapers' 2Q Reports [view article]
To answer question 9, the short answer is "not much if any". A trend line model (ARIMA) and forecast (Monte Carlo) show a decline of 13% in 2008 and an additional 12% in 2009. Interestingly, when I build the last three recessions into the model, there is only a slight change in the expected values. There are going to be major realignments over the short term...and a very rough ride for some. Reply9 Questions on Newspapers' 2Q Reports [view article]
No, other's will take Google's ad model and do it one better. But as a dominant market facilitator they do have time and have done wonderful preparing for the future mid and long-term. Just like K-Mart became less dominant then Wal Mart or Yahoo less dominant for Google. Was Google so wizbang or did it do something so simple and powerful to save a web-surfers time?Online ad vendors are crooked in general. Fraud is rampant and Google was not fully except from this behavior. See Google's class action lawsuit. They are cleaning up there act fast and they should, search is about the only decent performing sector of online ads.
Consolidation of major companies such as Omnicom combined with online ad networks like Ad.com and then throw in data companies like Alliance and your form some pretty serious competition. Right now, like Google for the short term and mid-term, we'll have to see what the longer term brings in economic correction that effects the entire ad market across the board.
I have no position in Google but am in Consumer Healthcare/Online Marketing, Clinical Trials etc. Reply
fredrickson
9 Questions on Newspapers' 2Q Reports [view article]
It is sad what has happened to newspapers around the country. Every day the stock price of all the publicly owned companies goes deeper into the tank. The real estate mess and job boards have siphoned huge cash flow for newspapers, and that business is not coming back.Will Google own the world, and all that is reported in 10 years? Reply
Beyond 2Q Revenue Declines: AdMan's 9 Imperatives for New Growth [view article]
I agree with above poster. Everyone knows what'sgoing on with industry. Anyone can point out all the problems. How many naysayers can actually offer solutions to the problems. Don't give me "there are no solutions" response. You find someone with innovative intelligent ideas that can be executed correctly. That person will find a solution to some of the problems in industry. BTW I work in print production at Gannett. The production plant I work for does alot of commercial printing that has nothing to do with the newspaper that hits the street. printing circulars for retail such a Rural King (1 million copies per week), Auto Books, Shop Local, Riverboat Gambling circulars plus many other Advertisers that are not in the local newspaper. ReplyBeyond 2Q Revenue Declines: AdMan's 9 Imperatives for New Growth [view article]
Thanks for posting ideas that may work instead of simple demise, doom and gloom for the newspaper industry. Replyfisayo
Help Wanted: Newspaper Classified Ad Sales Continue to Slide [view article]
We have got money to lend out to serious and prosprctive customers and all kind of business firms.Email:vinfinanci... ReplyA Silver Lining in the Newspaper Crisis [view article]
I work in the print news media and I agree the problem is content. I edit a 1500-circulation weekly and virtually all the 600 street copies I put out are snapped up by the time I get back a week later. I focus on local news - crime, human features, courts, local sports and meetings.On the national level, the problem is that a lot of news is now appearing on the internet because the clowns in charge have to defer to the agenda-driven money men who are going along with the fantasy-illusions being spun by the Administrations.
I look at the original footage CNN shot at the Pentagon onthe Second Day of Infamy and then I read the official news coverage, and I allege that accounts for the masses increasingly waking up and realizing mass media - print and electronic - are irrelevant and inaccurate.
The Denver Post has spilled tons of ink to detail the plight of poor illegally here aliens who are struggling in their attempts to get free college, free medicine and to maintain a birth rate here that is much higher than back in repressive Mejico. The Post ignores the plight of the legally here native Americans whose jobs were outsourced and now must compete with the wage-busting immigrants that callous, nation deconstructing opportunists have lured in.
The globalist driven agenda that deflates wages - has destroyed the banks, which require ever inflating wages to pay off usury. Now that wage deflation is taking out the midldle class that used to read newspapers. Young 20 somethings struggling in their jungles not only have an aversion to reading, they have an aversion to paying $300 a year for media that stains your hands black and does not have relevant content that can't be found anywhere else cheaper.
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A Silver Lining in the Newspaper Crisis [view article]
As a 26 year newspaper advertising manager....both family owned and publicly traded corporations...The problems usually lie in two areas. Publicly traded companies are primarily motivated by profit margins. Historically, the margins have been 40%. In the more recent past those margins were near 30%. Now, newspapers are hoping for something near 20%. How many businesses out there would call a 20% profit margin BAD? Publicly traded companies put pressure on local publishers to deliver that margin...no matter what they have to do to achieve it. A great many publishers fear their own jobs first, and have NO long term plan or vision at the local level. This means simply "cut", without regard to what those cuts mean in the future....a future that can be as close as the next quarter.
Family owned newspapers tend to take the content and the long term outlook very seriously. Profit margins are just as rich as the others. They tend to cut in a very different way, and usually are hesitant to cut at all.
The second area is advertising. The main reason newspapers are in the state they are now in is due to shortsighted corporate demands of the last 8 years or so. As the internet began to rise, corporations refused to execute more customer friendly pricing, and realize the need for integration of the web. When the opportunity came to capture the revenues from local customers, they priced themselves out of reach for medium to smaller sized local customers. They refused to invest in the web in a meaningful way to bring the power of the web to those same customers.
Consequently, those local customers began to drift to other mediums. Now, when the newspaper needs those locals, they are not available to them. Many newspapers have resorted to selling space at firesale prices to prop up weak days or months. What was a rare "deal" is now so common as to make published rates only a reference point. This is also the fault of local publishers, and corporate directives. Instead of moving toward the local advertiser, the shortsighted greed of the early part of this decade carried forward until the bottom began to fall out in 2006. Most advertising executives were pointing this out as early as 2004. No one took the warnings seriously, and the collapse began in earnest early in 2007. In the last 5 years or so, many publishers come from the accounting or financial disciplines, where they used to be either Newsroom or Advertising professionals. Accountants tend to cut expense to reach the profit target. They do not have the vision, or temperament to take risk. Therefore, they cut to profitability. And they did, and continue to do. Unfortunately, at some point that approach reaches an end. When that end has been reached, that visionless publisher has cut most of the talent that could have kept the long term issues from becoming as severe- possibly avoid it altogether. Now, when they need the very best and brightest talent, that talent has been driven out of the business.
Now, they still refuse to believe that the web will eventually replace them. Unfortunately, they still have no long term vision...and think the recession is the problem. Now that current short sighted view drives even more away from them. If you own stock in publicly traded newspapers...don't expect any significant return to greatness in the near future!
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