The Times, They are A-Changin’
And by “Times” I mean the The Los Angeles Times, the Seattle Times and even the Roanoke Times. According to another Times, this one from New York:
Papers Facing Worst Year for Ad Revenue
“For newspapers, the news has swiftly gone from bad to worse. This year is taking shape as their worst on record, with a double-digit drop in advertising revenue, raising serious questions about the survival of some papers and the solvency of their parent companies.
Ad revenue, the primary source of newspaper income, began sliding two years ago, and as hiring freezes turned to buyouts and then to layoffs, the decline has only accelerated.
The primary long-term threat to newspapers is the Internet’s siphoning away of ad revenue, a trend that has been under way for more than a decade, but one that has picked up speed in the last year. Advertisers have vastly more choices online than on paper, so newspaper Web sites win only a fraction of the advertising that goes digital, and it pays much less than advertising in print.
The Internet still accounts for less than 10 percent of newspaper ad revenue.
Declining sales of printed papers and rising newsprint prices have also hurt the business.”
View the complete story here.
Online Migration
As a previous post to the Water Cooler pointed out, the Internet has changed everything. I can remember a time when I’d get home from school, grab the newspaper and start scanning for the days most interesting and relevant stories. Now, I simply log onto my customized news service, pick and choose my targeted topics and spend less time becoming more informed.
It’s no surprise ad revenue is down and continuing to decline at newspapers, who still generate the majority of their revenue through print advertising and paid subscriptions. What is surprising is that it has taken so long. We have yet to see a major shakeout in the industry, although many forcast it soon. With more people relying on broadcast media, Internet sites and the blogosphere for their news, newspapers face a daunting task if they are to survive.
While readership at many newspapers has actually increased, it has been the influx of online readers that have skewed the numbers. Print circulations have been slowly declining for the better part of two decades.
If newspapers are going to survive, they will need to adapt, embracing their local expertise. By shifting their model to create an interactive online community, newspapers can prepare now for a day when the printing presses stop completely.
June 24th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
My favorite thing about Brad’s posts, aside from their relevancy, are the hilarious hyperlinks he includes. Seriously, I vote for “blogosphere” for the hyperlinked image of the decade! Kudos my friend, kudos.