Monitor move doesn’t spell end of print

Scrapping the print edition of the Christian Science Monitor may be the right thing to do for that publication, but the strategy would not be viable for most other newspapers. The plan to stop printing the Monitor this spring makes sense for it, because its audience is geographically dispersed and the continued cost of printing and mailing a physical paper is prohibitively high for a title whose

Circulation: Worse than you think

American newspapers have lost nearly a quarter of their subscribers since the industry's average daily circulation hit an all-time high of 63.3 million in 1984.Circulation has dropped by 23.6% over the last 24 years to 48.4 million today, according to the most recent figures provided by the Audit Bureau of Circulations and the Newspaper Association of America. In the same period, average Sunday

Voodoo newspaper economics

The formidable problems of the newspaper industry won’t get solved if industry leaders substitute voodoo economics for rational discourse. So, let’s dispense with some of the bad juju we have heard in the last couple of days.Voodoo Economics 101Not once, not twice but five times, Gary Pruitt, the chief executive at the McClatchy Co., told stock analysts that the sagging sales and profits at his

Fat newspaper profits are history

Despite mounting declines in sales and circulation in recent years, most newspapers today still generate profits surpassing those of many Fortune 500 companies. But the fat profits are coming to an end, because newspapers are running out of ways to cut costs.After producing operating earnings at an average rate of 27.3% between 2000 and 2007, the industry’s margin this year may average no better

Credit rescue too late for many advertisers

The global effort to revive the credit market isn’t working fast enough for newspapers, which are losing many traditional advertising accounts as retailers and auto dealers go out of business.Given the growing dominance of big-box merchants like Wal-Mart and Costco – which tend not to advertise in newspapers – it is highly doubtful that new merchants will emerge to replace the departing retailers

Online CPMs fell 46% since January

The average online advertising rate plunged by almost half in the first nine months of the year, according to an industry survey.Demonstrating that even interactive advertising is not immune to the deterioration of the economy, PubMatic, a company which helps publishers optimize their revenues, reports that the average rate for 1,000 ad impressions (also known as CPM for "cost per thousand") fell

$7.5B sales plunge forecast for newspapers

Unless the global economy miraculously turns around on a dime, newspaper advertising revenue may plunge some $7.5 billion in 2008, according to a new projection attempting to assess the impact of the meltdown on the industry.Should this forecast prove to be correct, sales would tumble by 16.5% to $37.9 billion from last year’ s depressed level and the industry will have lost a staggering 23.4% of

A way to stay alive on weak ad days

With desperate times demanding desperate measures, a growing number of newspapers are considering the most desperate measure of all: Skipping print editions on the days of the week when ad sales are the weakest.It already has happened in McPherson, KS; Mesa, AZ; Gilroy, CA, and Cambridge, MD, according to Peter Zollman, who has been tracking the trend at Advanced Interactive Media Group (formerly

Presidential picks, American Idol-style

For all the care newspapers put into their presidential endorsements, a mere three out of 10 people are likely to pay them any heed, according to the Pew Research Center for People and the Press.If editors and publishers can overlook this seeming repudiation of their wisdom, they can build valuable new engagement with their readers – and non-readers – by taking a cue from American Idol.Rather

Youth-inized ChiTrib jolts core readers

The new Chicago Tribune is a dumbed-down dud in the opinion of a passionate and dedicated group of core newspaper readers back in my hometown.There is an admitted bias to the critics, as each of the eight members of this impromptu focus group happens to be a journalist old enough to be a fellow alumnus of the Chicago Daily News, which ceased publication in 1978.But these friends and former

Beware false hope on newspaper sales

Do you think the economy will be better in 2009 than it was in 2007? Me neither.So, how could the Newspaper Association of America predict that total advertising sales for the industry will drop by “only” 5.5% next year when they fell by 7.9% in 2007?Assuming newspaper sales follow historic trends, revenues this year are on track to slide to $39.9 billion, an unprecedented 11.5% plunge that would

Strib default: What’s next

The sheriff is unlikely to show up soon to padlock the doors of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, which reported today that bankruptcy is one of its options now that it failed for the second quarter in a row to pay the interest on its debt.As long as the newspaper generates enough sales to cover its operating expenses, it is safe to bet its lenders will forbear for one simple reason: They don’t have