Interesting story from the New York Times last week on how Esquire Magazine reinvented itself in the face of increasing competition and eroding revenue. Story here

Great idea- 

Full story here

Why Not A Reverse Pay Meter?

By Jeff Jarvis, BuzzMachine

So try this on for size: Imagine that you pay to get access to The Times. Everyone does. You pay for one article. Or you pay $20 as a deposit so you’re not bothered every time you come. But whenever you add value to The Times, you earn a credit that delays the next bill.

»  You see ads, you get credit.
»  You click: more credit.
»  You come back often and read many pages: credit.
»  You promote The Times on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or your blog: credit. The more folks share what you’ve shared, the more credit you get.
»  You buy merchandise via Times e-commerce: credit.
»  You buy tickets to a Times event: credit.
»  You hand over data that makes you more valuable to The Times and its advertisers (e.g., revealing where you’re going on your next trip): credit.
»  You add pithy comment to articles that other readers appreciate: credit.
»  You take on tasks in crowdsourced journalistic endeavors: credit.
»  You answer a reporter’s question on Twitter and the reporter uses your information: credit.
»  You correct an error in a story: credit.
»  You give a news tip or an idea for an article The Times publishes: credit.

Maybe you never pay for The Times again because The Times has gained more value out of its relationship with you. If, on the other hand, you hardly do any of those things, then you have to pay for using The Times.

I’ve been thinking about this, too, in light of a few other trends I’ve seen with newspapers online. First, some that are trying meters are finding that very, very few readers ever hit the wall (which papers are setting at anywhere from 1 to 20 pages). That so few hit the wall is frightening. It means that most readers don’t use these sites much. That’s nothing to brag about. Engagement is criminally low. Second, I’ve seen many sites that get a surprising proportion of their traffic from out of their markets—traffic that is valueless (or even costly, in terms of bandwidth) to sites that sell only local ads. This comes from following a goal of pageviews, pageviews, pageviews—brought in with search-engine optimization—rather than valued relationships.

After hearing a few such stories, I suggested that a site with a meter might want to reward local readers by giving them more free content and charge out-of-market readers by charging them sooner.

You see, that values the local reader over the remote reader. My idea for the reverse meter values the engaged reader over the occasional reader — and even rewards greater engagement. And therein lies, I think, the key strategic skill for news businesses online: understanding that all readers are not equal; knowing who your more valuable readers are; getting more of them; and making them more valuable.

Now I’ll tell you why my reverse meter won’t work: When I spoke with all our journalism students at CUNY about their business ideas on Friday, I asked how many had hit the Times pay wall — many — and how many had paid — few. Abundance remains the enemy of payment. There’s always someplace else to get the news. The Times can make its present meter work because (a) it’s that good [the Steve Jobs exception that proves the rule], (b) it’s still sponsoring—that is, giving a free ride—to its most valuable readers, though that is supposed to end soon, and (c) its engagement is still too low and thus many readers don’t even confront the wall (that needs to change).

So never mind the idea of the reverse meter, but retain the lesson of it: Value should be encouraged, not taxed. Readers bring value to sites if the sites are smart enough to have the mechanisms to recognize, exploit, and reward that value, which comes in many forms: responding to (highly targeted and relevant) ads; buying merchandise; contributing information, content, and ideas; promoting the site….

The key strategic opportunity for news sites is relationships — deeper, more valuable relationships with more (but not too many) people. Engagement.

This post originally appeared on Jeff Jarvis’s BuzzMachine.

 

According to the Annenberg Center for Digital Future in five years there will be four newspapers left. Of course, they are the Center for DIGITAL Future, so take their prophesies under consideration.

Full story from New York Times here.

Newspapers: Going...Going...Gone!

By Bruce Watson

For anybody who has followed the news over the past few years (and, let's be honest, you were probably reading it on a computer), the long-awaited demise of newspapers shouldn't come as much of a surprise. But on Wednesday, the bell tolled once again for the printed word when the University of Southern California's Annenberg Center for the Digital Future offered some prophesies for the future of media. High on the list was a chilling prediction: Within five years, the report claimed, only four major daily papers will continue in print form.

According to Jeffrey I. Cole, director of the center, the four survivors will be The New York Times (NYT), The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post (WPO) and USA Today. It's worth noting that two of these papers -- the Times and the Journal -- already charge for online content. Within the next year, USA Today also plans to start charging, which will leave The Washington Post as the only one of the big four offering its content for free.

Post executive editor Marcus Brauchli and publisher Katherine Weymouth both emphasize that the newspaper has no plans to erect a paywall in the foreseeable future. It's worth noting that the Post has weathered its financial storms better than most dailies: Its Kaplan educational subsidiary has remained largely profitable, helping to stabilize the paper's finances. Coupled with major cutbacks -- the Post has closed all but two of its regional suburban bureaus and almost halved its reporter corps -- this has sufficed to stem the loss of revenue.

Part of the reason for the Post's relative success is that it is one of the rare national papers that also has a strong local audience. In his discussion of the future of newspapers, Annenberg's Cole offered a caveat: "We believe that the only print newspapers that will survive will be at the extremes of the medium – the largest and the smallest." In many ways, the Post is both -- a paper with a huge national readership that is also widely read by its hometown crowd. As Politico recently noted, the Post has 30% market penetration in the Washington D.C. area; by comparison, The New York Times' hometown readership percentage numbers are in the single digits.

For media watchers, the demise of newspapers has become a grim joke; one website, Newspaper Death Watch, keeps a running commentary on the bleakness of the print media wasteland. While the increased online presence of many papers offers some hope for the future, lingering questions remain about what the death of papers will mean for the news. As Cole asks, "How will the changing delivery of content affect the quality and depth of journalism?" Stay tuned.

 

Report from MarketingCharts.com shows spending and consumption down year over year in print from 2010 to 2011. 

From MarketingCharts.com. Full story here

Total US advertising expenditures in the first 9 months of 2011 increased 1.5% from a year ago, finishing the period at $104.7 billion, according to December 2011 data from Kantar Media. Spending growth slowed during Q3, up 0.4% compared to last year, after rising 4.1% in Q1 and 2.8% in Q2. Spending among the 10 largest advertisers in the first 9 months of 2011 was $11.8 billion, representing a 1.4% decline compared to a year ago. Procter & Gamble maintained its top-ranked position with spending of $2.1 billion through September, down 5.6% compared to last year, although its Q3 spending was flat compared to the previous year.

Meanwhile, expenditures for the 10 largest categories grew 3.1% in the first 9 months of 2011, to $59.5 billion. For Q3, the aggregate increase was 1.8%, although quarterly growth rates for 7 of the 10 categories trailed their year-to-date average. Automotive was the top category with $9.9 billion of spending during the 9-month period, up 7% from 2010. However, the bulk of the gain came early in the year, and from April through September automotive budgets have grown just 1%.

TV Ad Spending Rises

Most forms of TV displayed spending gains in Q3: expenditures on cable networks rose 6.5% during Q3, while year-to-date outlays grew 9.9%. Network TV registered its first quarterly gain of the year, as Q3 expenditures inched up 0.2%, although year-to-date expenditures remain down 5.7%. Kantar insight suggests higher budgets from movie studios and consumer package goods marketers accounted for the Q3 increase for network TV, while the year-to-date decline can be attributed to the loss of marquee college football and basketball programming to cable networks in Q1.

Meanwhile, ad spending in Spanish Language Television jumped 18% during Q3 2011 compared to Q3 2010, while syndication TV was also up 14.8% for the period. The only TV segment to lose ground was spot TV, where spending fell 5.7% year-over-year in Q3, and was also down 2.7% for the year-to-date.

Overall, compared to the corresponding periods in 2010, TV ad spending grew 2.3% for the year-to-date, and 3.2% for Q3.

The top 10 TV advertisers, led by Procter & Gamble, spent $7.3 billion in the medium during the first 9 months of 2011, up 0.1% from a year ago. The group accounted for 15% of total TV expenditures by all advertisers.

Most Other Media Also Post Gains

Outdoor spending slowed during the third quarter, but still registered gains of 3.2% for Q3 and 8.6% for the first 9 months. The pace of spending in radio media was more muted, but remained steady, up a modest 1.1% in Q3 and 1.2% for the year-to-date, driven by over 2% growth in local radio and network radio advertising.

Magazine media spending declined 1.2% for Q3, but rose 1.5% for the year-to-date. The top 10 magazine advertisers invested $2.7 billion in the medium for the year-to-date, a decrease of 2.8%. As a proportion of total magazine ad spending by all advertisers, the top 10 accounted for 17.1%.

Although the internet sector posted a Q3 drop of 2.9% compared to last year, overall expenditures for the year-to-date are up 2.8% compared to a year earlier. Display ad expenditures soared 15.8% in Q3 and 10.1% for the year-to-date, offsetting paid search drops of 14.4% and 2.1%, respectively. The 10 largest internet advertisers, led by General Motors, invested a total of $1.8 billion in paid search and display campaigns, up 11.1% versus a year ago, and accounting for 10.8% share of all internet ad dollars.

Newspapers Fare Poorly

The newspaper sector posted the worst figures of all media, experiencing a 3.7% decline in spending in Q3 2011 compared to Q3 2010, and 3.8% decrease for the year-to-date. Local newspapers, despite robust budgets from local auto dealers and an uptick in financial advertising, saw a 4.4% spending decline in Q3, and were down 3.9% year-to-date.

Print Media Get Spending, Lack Consumption

Meanwhile, according to December figures from eMarketer, although newspapers account for 15% of all US ad spending in 2011, they hold just a 4% share of adults’ daily media time. Magazines also hold a much larger share of ad spending than daily media time, at 9.7% and 2.8%, respectively.

By contrast, eMarketer estimates that mobile accounts for 10.1% share of adults’ media time each day, but less than 1% of ad dollars. TV (42.5% vs. 42.2%), internet (25.9% vs. 21.9%), and radio (14.6% vs. 10.9%) all also display a higher share of adults’ daily time than share of US ad spending.

eMarketer notes that time spent with the internet excludes internet access via mobile, but online ad spending includes mobile internet ad spending. As such, the total of the ad spending share for all the media adds up to more than 100%.

 

 

Interesting story from AdAge

Why It's Getting Harder to Find a Good Magazine Newsstand

Problem Partly Began When Convenience Stores Dropped Skin Titles

by Nat Ives
Published: January 19, 2011

Magazines' retail outlets in North America sank by 18,000 between December 2007 and this month, an 11.3% decline to 142,000 in just three years, according to the Magazine Information Network, or MagNet, which tracks magazine sales. In the United States magazine retail outlets declined 11.4% to 117,000, MagNet said.

And you can blame some of that decline on convenience stores' decisions to stop carrying skin mags. But more on that in a moment.

Although subscriptions comprise the vast majority of most magazines' circulation, newsstand sales are crucial for the impulse purchases that can lead to subscription commitments.

And single-copy sales have been experiencing a long swoon, falling 5.6% in the first half of 2010 from the first half a year earlier, 9.1% in the second half of 2009, 12.4% in the previous six months and 11.1% and 6.3% in the halves before that, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

After the 'men's sophisticates' go...
There are plenty of reasons for the sales declines, but a falling number of retail outlets for magazines doesn't help. Convenience stores that sell magazines have declined significantly, partly because many decided to ditch magazines like Playboy, Hustler and Penthouse, according to Gil Brechtel, president-CEO of MagNet.

"A lot of convenience stores no longer sell the 'men's sophisticates,'" Mr. Brechtel said. "It's really when they were popular or when they were selling men's sophisticates, their volume was enough that wholesalers could go to them and make a profit. When you eliminate men's sophisticates, probably 70% to 80% of their volume was removed and made everything less profitable for wholesalers."

Even as specialty retailers such as Home Depot and Linens 'n Things have increasingly stocked magazines, meanwhile, big box stores such as Walmart have been driving smaller superettes and local drug stores out of business.

Smaller volume at Linens 'n Things
Walmart has been giving less prominence to magazines in its own stores, moving the big magazine racks to the back, Mr. Brechtel said. And Linens 'n Things just doesn't generate the same newsstand sales as a traditional store with a wide selection of titles.

So are the declines impossible to slow or stop?

"The other factor has been the economy," Mr. Brechtel said. "When the economy improves we will see a steadying of single-copy sales. I would think that there will probably be a continual decline, but perhaps not as quick as previously."

Follow Nat Ives on Twitter.

 

From MIN:

Flipboard Offering Publishers Magazine-Like iPad Feed Experience
Monday, December 6, 2010
Steve Smith

How ironic that a start-up that aggregates and formats simple social media and RSS feeds onto the iPad is helping magazines look more magazine-like on the tablet platform. But the buzz-fueled aggregation app Flipboard is doing exactly that with inaugural partners Bon Appétit, Washington Post Magazine and Lonely Planet. In an effort to ‘iPadify’ shared content from major media partners, Flipboard is creating a more sophisticated layout framework for articles that are fed into its app. Flipboard offers a unique system that it calls a ‘social magazine,’ which turns RSS, Twitter and Facebook feeds into neatly laid out illustrated pages that literally flip to advance and pop-up fuller article excerpts in a window with accompanying image. The new partnership wit media companies takes that elegance to the next level. When a user double taps on an article from a partner like Bon Appétit or ABC News, the reader gets a multi-page rendition of the article in a magazine-like layout, including full page ads.

“We believe the timeless principles of print can enhance the social media experience, not only to make content more discoverable but also to make it easier to read,” says Flipboard CEO Mike McCue. Flipboard had been rumored to be in conversations with media companies about ways to help them monetize the feeds that Flipboard uses to populate its product. Flipboard is working with ad agency OMD to test the full page ads that occupy these enhanced articles. Initial sponsors include Pepsi, Gatorade, Infiniti, Showtime and Levi’s.

In our use of the featured Flipboard pages, the system did produce very readable and engaging page designs. The excerpts click through to a richer environment that is closer to the typical magazine app than it is to a Web site, to which Flipbook pages often link. The full-page ads generally have been well-tuned to the touch and feel strengths of the platform. Best of all, Flipboard does all of this while retaining its signature snappiness. The app has always done a very good job of caching the most likely next pages a user will tap and so creating a more seamless flipping experience.

Overall, Flipboard appears to be making good on its earlier promise to give something back to the media partners on whose content its app relies. This is an interesting new way to syndicate content into a touch-based tablet ecosystem that lets publishers keep a handle on the ways in which their content is presented, and keep their fingers in the revenue stream it might produce.