Newspapers Report Drop in Ad Revenue
If you are still investing in daily newspaper ads, be aware that their business continues to slip. According to the Washington Post:
Newspaper advertising revenue continues to edge downward, with first-quarter declines reported yesterday at three of the industry’s largest companies — including Tribune Co., which is counting on cash flow to help pay down $13 billion in debt associated with its ongoing sale.
All traditional media are struggling to retain consumers and advertisers, but newspapers have been particularly hard hit in recent years, as many companies have moved their advertising to non-newspaper Web sites and other platforms.
And our friends at Gannett are feeling the slip, too:
At Gannett, the nation’s largest newspaper company whose holdings include USA Today and 89 other papers, first-quarter ad revenue slipped 1.9 percent.
Comment by Phdavis222 on 25 April 2007:
Tom,
I’ve often wondered why the newspaper companies are having such a hard time. I don’t understand the details of how their business model works, but you’d think that if they took their content online and sold advertising online then they’d make just as much if not more money.
Newpaper agencies have the best infrastructure to deliver news. So what if the media is changing? Are these companies just being sluggish in adapting? Google is partnering with traditional media, which could help them see the possibilities of the future. I think the future of the news agencies is incredibly bright, but I think they have to radically change the way they think and operate.
If direct mail and variable printing is the new hot technology, why can’t they incorporate this? My personal opinion is that these conglomerates are hampered by Wall Street and the managers of the papers are scared shitless to try something that might bring their stock down. It’s always easier to fire people and contract rather than to take risks and innovate.
I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts on this.
Comment by TomBritt on 26 April 2007:
Good questions. I’ve chronicled most of my thoughts on this blog under the category of “newspapers”, but I probably encapsulated it best in the post entitled “Why Newspapers are Dying a Slow Painful Death“. The Internet came like a wildfire to the newspaper industry and they waited too long to adapt. Free classifieds through CraigsList.com and other sites have been like a cancer to an industry that relied heavily on these revenues. While I agree, there will always be a place for print, I don’t think that newspapers will ever make themselves as relevant as they once were. People just don’t have the time anymore to sit and read a daily newspaper. I woke up this morning like most God-fearin’ Americans and checked my email, my Google alerts, and got caught up on the latest Anna Nicole Smith news in my pajamas. Yes, the newspaper is in my driveway, but that is an eternity away from my laptop.