March 2016 Newsletter
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Print's dead - but so is digital
In a way, it might be good news to have at least clarified the point that digital is not the future of the news business. And to acknowledge that, in some farsighted new thinking, print might have some striking advantages - such that ads can't be blocked. Of course, the bad news is to have realized this well after the digital promise has all but destroyed the business. But better late than never.
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Five top analysts on newspaper ad spending
Five top forecasters offer their predictions for 2016
This article is part of a Media Life series "Reinventing the American Newspaper."
Click here to read other stories in the series.
It's certainly no secret newspaper ad spending has plummeted over the past decade, peaking around $50 billion in 2006 and dropping below $20 billion last year.
The real question is when, if ever, spending will stabilize, never mind start going back up.
And the answer...
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What's Being Done to Rein In $7 Billion in Digital Ad Fraud?
Long a dirty little secret of the digital media business, the topic of ad fraud has been thrust front and center in discussions among agency executives, advertisers and publishers over the last three years. Bot traffic, or nonhuman digital traffic, is at its highest ever, and recent projections from the Association of National Advertisers have more than $7 billion in advertising investment wasted.
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Digitally weary users switch to 'dumb' phones
In January, British actor Eddie Redmayne made headlines around the world as he became the latest in a growing band of smartphone refuseniks.
"It was a reaction against being glued permanently to my iPhone during waking hours," he explained, turning instead to an old-fashioned "dumb phone" handset that could only make and take calls.
He is not alone. There is a small but busy market for phones that are simple and cheap at a time when smartphones are becoming ever more complex and expensive.
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Guess Who's Winning in Digital
Here's a stunning revelation: A single newspaper in any market tends to sell more digital advertising than any other entity in that market. By a factor of five.
Unbelievable? Consider the fact that daily newspapers tend to have the largest single ad-sales force in a market - more than any local TV station, radio station, and yellow pages company - and certainly more than any local pureplay Internet company, which often has no in-market reps. And newspapers tend to have more content to work with (including their most important content, advertising).
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Revealed, the real American newspaper
It is a small paper, smaller than you might think. It's also faring better.
This article is part of a Media Life series "Reinventing the American Newspaper."
Click here to read other stories in the series.
If you were to ask your big city newspaper reporter to describe the typical American newspaper, he or she might say The Chicago Tribune or perhaps The New York Daily News. Journalists, regardless of their abilities as reporters, tend to see the world that's in front of them, not much beyond.
But ask a media buyer the same question and you're likely to get similar answers. That makes sense, since most of their newspaper buys are going to be in top 10 or top 20 markets.
But the reality is far different.
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Cable TV: The big new worry: Cord shaving
Never mind cord cutting. The move to skinny bundles could be real hurt.
Cord cutting, or canceling pay television services in favor of watching TV by other means such as online, has been a concern among media buyers for years.
But a new worry is emerging that may be an even bigger threat to cable networks. It's cord shaving, which involves the same concept - saving money by cutting back on pay TV - but a different execution. With cord shaving, pay TV subscribers cut their subscriptions to the least possible number of channels. These so-called skinny bundles offer just a handful of networks that people really watch, instead of the 150 or so that come with a standard package, many of which don't get viewed.
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As of today, Google, Apple and Amazon won a big battle to bring you cable TV
Big Cable has just been dealt a big - and maybe mortal - blow.
If you are a Comcast or Time Warner Cable subscriber, you're familiar with that trapped feeling: you don't really have any options to get cable besides your set-top box, and the customer service pains and high costs that go with it.
On Thursday, the U.S. government took its first big, official step to end that system.
The Federal Communications Commission has adopted a series of proposed rules that would allow customers to begin using cable boxes from companies other than their cable provider.
In fact, consumers will be able to get cable TV from a multitude of devices, when the technology catches up. That could include Apple TV, Fire TV, Android TV and Roku boxes.
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Key Trends Which Are Transforming The Advertising Industry In 2016
Digital advertising is transforming dramatically, and now that we're a month into 2016, we wanted to take a step back and look at some major trends.
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Digital initiatives are mainstays of revenue at San Francisco Chronicle
Five years ago, San Francisco Chronicle faced financial struggles. But a smart strategy, including clever cost cuts and digital options to replace traditional print display advertising, helped bring the media company back into the black.
To keep up with an evolving industry, the San Francisco Chronicle is pioneering game-changing digital strategies for not only those who read the news, but also for advertisers.
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Digital
Advertising Strategist
Need help developing a digital strategy for your publications?
to review back issues of this newsletter.
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