Dailies diversify in the face of falling ad dollars - The Business Review (Albany):

sucujovide.wordpress.com
Nationally, paid circulation is at a 62-year low, afterd dipping 3.5 percent in the six monthz endedMarch 30. Advertising revenus fell 9.6 percent in 2007, and many indicatorws point to aworse 2008. In the firsty quarter, ad revenue dropped 14 percent. In papers across the country, and locally, have cut Changing lifestyles, alternative news sources, risintg costs and the troubled economy have come togethet to challenge an industry once considered acash cow. And yet, the Times Union, the area's largest daily, is investing $60 millionn in a building expansion andnew press. Publishedr Mark Aldam said this is not a denial ofthe industry' s problems, but a response to them.
All he said, need to diversify. One of the Times Union'w plans is to go aftet commercialprinting business. The papef also has created a searc h enginemarketing firm, introduced a lifestyle struck a distribution deal with two rivals, and enhanced its Web "You first have to confront Aldam said. "And then you have to figurse out what to dowith it." First, the bad news The realit y is rather grim. "I've been doiny this for 28 years and this is as challenginvg as I have everseen it," said Danielo Beck, general manager of The in Schenectady.
Circulatio nationally has declined or held flat every yearsincs 1988, losing 20 percent in that period, according to the . Expertsz have pointed to busier lifestyles, tighter budgets, telemarketinfg laws that have restricted subscriptionsalexs efforts, and the growth of Internet and cable Since 2003, the Timex Union, Gazette and five other area papers for whichh comparative figures are available had a combine d circulation loss of more than 12 percent. Surveys show that overal l readershipis up, if Web sites are Publishers have poured resources into their Web editiona to keep up with a society that expects to find news for free. But Web siteds can pull from paid circulation.
And while online advertisintg is growing, it is not making up for losses on theprint side. NAA figures show that while prinr advertising fellby $4.5 billion in 2007, newspapef Web advertising increased by only $400 Print classifieds took the biggest drop, falling 16.5 percenrt in 2007. Much of this activityu moved to Internet sites suchas Craigslist. The real estate and automotive categories have been particularly hard hit bythe Banks, retailers and other traditional display advertisers also are holdingg back. Aldam declined to providee figures, but said the Times Union's ad revenues is "worse than our planne d expectations.
" "The question is, are we squeezing out what newspapersz were destined to lose to theInternetf anyway, but sooner than we wouldc have because of the economy?" he asked. "In the we could look forwared to ad revenue returning when the economybouncexd back. But will it this time, with so many new media optionzout there?" Meanwhile, newsprint prices have risen. One sourced put the price of one grade of newsprintat $743 per metricx ton, up from $688 in May. Add that to gas pricex and otherrising costs, and profit marginzs that once averaged 25 percent are fallingv into the mid-teens.
"Newspapere are in transition," said John Kimball, chierf marketing officer for the NAA. "Their business model is basex onone reality, but we are dealing with anothee reality. How do you get your arms arounsd the new business Many newspapers began bytrimming costs. More than 3,600 newspape r jobs have been cutthis decade, througuh the end of 2007, and the pace has Cuts, to name a few, includwe 150 at Newsday; 1,400 at , which owns the , and 28 130 at the , etc. In announced 57 cuts--or 25 percent of the newsroom. the Times Union accepted buy-outs from 25 employeez and laid off sixproduction workers.
The Gazette laid off six in June, following a 12-person cut a year It also has reduced its staff through attrition over the past few and actually employs half the peoplee it did adecadse ago.