How long before Newspapers die?

Doc Holliday · Jul 8, 2015

FileNotFound said: ↑

The days of a newspaper being a money-making machine are over. I think we're comfortably past the point where we can say, "Well, the newspaper is still making money, just not as much as before." Especially in that medium tier, many newspapers are actually at that point where they are actually spending more to produce the paper than the revenue that's being generated.

Studies show that time readers spend with the print product is declining. More and more advertisers will start to question why they're advertising in it if nobody is seeing the advertising. In the medium tier (from small metros up), classified is D-E-A-D dead. Harping about inadequate sales people won't solve anything. Somebody trying to sell print advertising is like a car sales person hawking Crown Victorias in a Prius world. Those sales people face a formidable challenge.

However: Local newspapers' brand equity still exists. This is proven by watching local newspapers' web traffic vs. digital-only local news operations. In a comScore study cited in Matthew Hindman's report, "Stickier News," digital-only upstarts' traffic is a rounding error compared to the established local media company. (Read more here: http://shorensteincenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Stickier-News-Matthew-Hindman.pdf)

In the absence of being able to depend almost solely on advertising, how do you generate revenue? Some ideas:

Drastically raising the price of the print product. This actually has worked pretty well for The Dallas Morning News, among others (One on one- Jim Moroney, A.H. Belo Corp. - News & Tech: News Yes, people will grumble, but those who value the content and that format will continue to pay. Noted: This is not sustainable. That market does tend to skew older -- and not 40-and-older older, but 70-and-older older.

Digital paywalls. These haven't worked so well to this point, unfortunately, for newspapers other than The Wall Street Journal. Why? Because too many newspapers don't offer anything more for the money. It's just the same stuff. There is a market for premium content; sports junkies, particular, have been shown to pay for premium digital content. The success of the MLB AtBat app is a prime example. But premium content alone isn't going to do it, because that's the nichiest of niche markets.

Gathering data. Digital advertising alone will not support the modern media enterprise, but it still can be a component. However, you have to be gathering audience data. That data has value to the advertiser. Going to an advertiser and saying "I can put your ad in front of 300,000 pairs of eyeballs," that's one thing, but going to an advertiser and saying, "I can put your ad in front of 30,000 eyeballs whose registered identity and habits on our site suggest they have an interest in your product and live in this zip code" is another entirely. And the technology exists to do that.

Sponsored events. Yes, the revenue potential has to be there to outpace the costs. But many community events can be put on more cheaply than the nightly cost of printing and distributing the paper. Again, take advantage of that brand equity.

Loyalty programs, centered around digital registration/subscriptions. There's quid-pro-quo here: The newspaper rewards a digital reader's engagement with an offer from an advertiser looking for exposure.

So, hopefully, @Doc Holliday , that response is more satisfactory.

The tl;dr: There's no one solution, and what worked even two years ago might well be outdated now. Media companies will need to employ many different tactics to generate revenue in the future and continue to be viable. Costs can only be cut so far, and most newspapers are at the point where further cost-cutting is going to provide negative returns. The creative ones will thrive. The ones who want to continue to do it the same way they were doing it even 10 years ago, well, they won't.
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Now that's what I call a fucking response!

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How long before Newspapers die?

How long before the end of all daily newspapers as we know them in their current print format?

1 year

2 years

3 years

5 years

10 years

20 years

Newspapers must not, cannot and will not die!

Doc Holliday Well-Known Member

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How long before Newspapers die?

How long before the end of all daily newspapers as we know them in their current print format?

1 year

2 years

3 years

5 years

10 years

20 years

Newspapers must not, cannot and will not die!

Doc Holliday Well-Known Member

Share This Page

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