The random musical soundtrack has had a central theme: change. It started this morning with David Bowie's 70's classic "Changes", "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes" from Jimmy Buffett and (for me at least) the most memorable song from the "Jerry Maguire" movie soundtrack "Secret Garden" from Bruce Springsteen. That movie is a great movie on changing how you do business, and about sales.
Then I stumbled across a great article worth sharing about the changes in the newspaper business in 2013. It is definitely worth a read:
http://www.medialifemagazine.com/newspapers-time-fresh-ideas/?goback=%2Egde_157204_member_5816201666843676676#%21
2013 will go down as the year that newspaper companies aggressively went after consumer money. From raising print subscription pricing to raising pay walls, many publishers have helped their bottom line in 2013 from non-advertising sources.
That is a trend that will no doubt continue in 2014. The article for medialifemagazine.com written by Bill Cromwell estimates that one in three online newspapers are now behind a pay wall. By December 2014, I suspect that percentage will be substantially higher.
Newspaper companies are seeing some modest increases in digital revenue. Yet that money that they are bring in the digital door is not keeping up with the money lost through the traditional print door. Cromwell suggests that for every $15 lost in print, newspapers are only gaining $1 in digital revenue. It is very hard to continue with a business model based on that revenue projection.
The revenue projection in 2014 is similar to those predicted in 2013; a decline of 8% in newspaper revenue. While I'm optimistic about beating that projection, I don't expect to see a swing to the positive. I think there will be some political advertising gains in some markets that give newspaper publishers and advertising directors a chance to close that gap.
Comments