Goodbye, daily newspapers in Detroit

[classicman]

May 27 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. publishers are betting readers will fork over a few more quarters for their newspaper, one of the few ways they can boost revenue as advertisers cut spending.

New York Times Co.’s flagship newspaper will cost $2 at newsstands as of June 1, a 50-cent increase, and subscription prices also will rise. A.H. Belo Corp. said this month it will consider more increases next year after raising the Dallas Morning News 25 cents to $1 in February.

Price increases at the Washington Post and Tampa Tribune also paid off with higher circulation revenue, a rare area of improvement in an industry that posted declines in advertising and readership in the past year. Ad sales have dropped so low that publishers said they are willing to lose some readers to get more money out of the loyal ones.

“Those rate hikes will continue as long as they can keep pushing them through,” Alexia Quadrani, a JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst in New York, said in an interview. “Circulation is relatively a positive story, but unfortunately it doesn’t do too much to offset the declining advertising.”

In 2007, readers paid 35 cents for the Washington Post, less than half the current newsstand price of 75 cents, and $1 for the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal, which now costs $2.

Raising prices too far may carry unintended consequences, including driving readers to free news Web sites, said Tom Corbett, a media analyst at Morningstar Inc. in Chicago. Most publications have suffered declining readership as consumers seek more news from the Internet or television.

[classicman]

The Washington Post daily newspaper is to shut its bureaux in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.
Executive editor Marcus Brauchli told staff that although the posts of six correspondents in the offices were safe, three news aides had lost jobs.
In a memo, he said the national paper would focus more on political stories and local news coverage in Washington.
Like other US media, the paper has seen a decline in advertising revenue and circulation in recent years.

Pressures

The offices are due to close at the end of the year.
The paper has a circulation of more than 582,000 copies during weekdays and 822,000 on Sundays, with most papers distributed in the Washington area.
This is seen as its latest attempt to cut costs.
The newspaper division lost $166.7m (£100.5m) during the first three quarters of this year.
However Mr Brauchli tried to reassure his staff that the paper would continue to provide its readers with national stories.

He wrote: "We will continue to cover events around the country as we have for decades, by sending reporters into the field."

[Clodfobble]

Maybe nobody wants to buy their paper because they insist on giving words like "bureaus" an ancient-ass wannabe French spelling.

[monster]

The online replacement for the Ann Arbor News makes sucking donkey balls seem like an attractive option.

[classicman]

The Washington Times will lay off 370 employees, reportedly around 40 percent of its workforce, as part of a major overhaul that will also see the paper distributed for free in some places.

In a statement, the Times' president and publisher, Jonathan Slevin, said the cuts were part of a strategy to transform the paper into a 21st century media company.

"We have developed plans to secure our position and advance our vital role in an evolving media marketplace and through challenging economic times," he said.

Acknowledging the tough times being experienced in the media industry and economy as a whole, Slevin said future plans had to be constrained by "current marketplace realities."

"In this regard, the company is aggressively working to achieve efficiencies of scale that must include significant staff reduction of its 370 personnel."

Politico newspaper reported that the figure represents around 40 percent of the Washington Times workforce.

The announcement also included a new circulation model, under which the paper will be distributed for free to
"targeted audiences in the branches of the federal government as well as at other key institutions."

Link

Thats an interesting thought - NOT.

[classicman]

The newspaper industry is suffering "market failure" and the government will need to help preserve serious journalism essential to democracy, an influential US congressman said Wednesday.

"The newspapers my generation has taken for granted are facing a structural threat to the business model that has sustained them," said Representative Henry Waxman, a Democrat from California.

"The loss of revenue has spurred a vicious cycle with thousands of journalists losing their jobs," he told a meeting on journalism in the Internet age hosted by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Waxman, who chairs the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which has jurisdiction over the FTC, said the "depression in the media sector is not cyclical, it is structural."

"While this has implications for the media it also has implications for democracy," he added. "A vigorous free press and vigorous democracy have been inextricably linked.

"We cannot risk the loss of an informed public and all that means because of this market failure," he said.

Without endorsing any proposals, Waxman noted various proposed remedies, including new tax structures for publishers, providing non-profit status, changing anti-trust regulations or eliminating a law that bars owning a newspaper and a television station in the same city.

Acknowledging that talk of government support for the press raises "red flags," Waxman stressed it is not the job of Congress to "deny the evolution of media."

But "as we look at these various solutions, government's going to have to be involved in one way or the other," he warned.

"Eventually, government is going to have to be responsible to help resolve these issues and our whole society depends very much on reaching some resolution of the problem."

US newspapers are grappling with declining print advertising revenue, falling circulation and the migration of readers to free news online, while several major US publishers have declared bankruptcy.

[classicman]

Gannett Co. posted its largest profit of the year in the fourth quarter as cost-cutting efforts were aided by a lessening decline in advertising sales. But shares of the biggest U.S. newspaper publisher tumbled after company executives didn't offer any hope for an upturn in newspaper advertising this year.

The report released Monday showed that newspaper and magazine ad revenue plummeted by almost $1.2 billion, or 28 percent, from 2008. Print advertising remains Gannett's biggest source of revenue despite efforts to bring in more money from the Internet and other media.

Fourth-quarter ad revenue at Gannett's publications, which include USA Today and more than 80 other daily newspapers, fell 18 percent, or more than $172 million. That followed year-over-year declines of 32 percent to 34 percent in each of the first three quarters.

Newspaper ad sales have been deteriorating for several years, but the erosion widened dramatically beginning in the summer of 2008 as the economy headed into its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

The fallout has driven at least 14 U.S. newspaper publishers into bankruptcy protection. Although Gannett isn't among them, questions about the company's financial stability caused its stock to fall as low as $1.85 early last year. Those worries have faded now that the ad slump isn't getting any worse.

Link

I call BS. The fourth quarter is by far the best for papers as virtually every major retailer increases their spending astronomically. The first quarter of this year will tell a more accurate story.

[monster]

Nah, they all did their seasonal advertising online. No-one looks for Black Friday deals in the newspapers anymore -online is faster and easier to compare.

[classicman]

You'd be amazed, Monnie.

[monster]

No, I wouldn't.

[monster]

I've watched from the inside through my friends who are the business editor, the retail correspondant and the advertising sales manager of the locals rags. The ones that only exist online now.... with increased revenue q4 because their ads were cheaper and more navigable by the punters.

[classicman]

Well after spending 20 years in the business, the 4Q by far generates more revenue than any other and in some cases more than two or all of the others combined.
Speaking of online sales . . .

Print advertising remains Gannett's biggest source of revenue despite efforts to bring in more money from the Internet and other media.

[xoxoxoBruce]

In the 4th quarter the Philly paper was loaded with sale supplements, but I don't know if the ads in the regular printed sections were up to normal.

[classicman]

Those inserts are big money makers, but ROP has the highest profit margin. Page counts have been so down for the last year++ The news to ad ratios have also been skewed over the same period. From those I spoken with and what I've seen, the 4thQ was a much needed shot in the arm for the industry.

I find it interesting that the stocks went up rather nicely and then dropped almost right at the end of the season as well. I believe those in the know were taking profits when they could and then got out.

[monster]

OK, clearly you know way more about it than I do, so I'll leave you to your quotation from other sources thread.