News You Can Use
August 2, 2008 – 10:33 pm
As we’ve discussed here before, newspapers are struggling. We all know that. The question is what, if anything, will save them? Most pundits tend to point to a two-fold solution: (1) get serious about leveraging the natural local advantages newspapers hold; (2) and find away to do so online as quickly as possible before they lose the bulk of the local online ad market to other competitors. This is why there’s a lot of talk these days about turning traditional papers into “hyper-local” web portals for their communities. Of course, there’s no guarantee that will work, especially in light of changing attitudes about “media localism.”
But let’s assume that that is indeed the best path forward. Will it really save newspapers? As eMarketer reports in today’s newsletter on “Can Local Web Ads Save Newspapers,” it’s a bit of a good news–bad news story:
The good news is that newspaper site ad revenues are growing along with other online ad spending, especially for local news sites. Local newspaper online ad revenues are predicted to reach $3.7 billion this year, according to eMarketer calculations based on Borrell Associates data.
The bad news is that this spending will not make up for print ad losses for some time, according to Lisa Phillips, senior analyst at eMarketer. Ms. Phillips noted that advertisers still pay more for print readers than for online readers. “This is a transition that will take several years,” she said. “Local advertisers are paying attention to the shift in reader behavior, but it will take a while for everyone to adjust.”
And so we will have to wait to see how it all plays out. But I am highly skeptical that traditional newspapers operators will be able to make up anywhere near the amount of revenue online that they are hemorrhaging over on the print side of the business. There’s just too much other competition out there online already for our eyes and ears. The age of “protectable scarcity” is dead and that means newspapers just don’t have the lock on local or regional markets they once did.
In this week’s episode of the /Filmcast, Kevin Smith joins us to geek out about the new Watchmen and Terminator trailers, and Kevin offers some reflections on the old Tim Burton Batman films. We also review The Dark Knight (SPOILERS INCLUDED). Have any questions, comments, or suggestions? Want to sponsor or advertise with the /Filmcast? Feel free to e-mail us at slashfilmcast@gmail.com. You can also reach our voicemail number at 781-583-1993.
Join us next week as we broadcast the /Filmcast live on TUESDAY (NOT Monday) night at 10 PM EST / 7 PM PST to review the new X-Files film.
To hear the entire episode, you can download it here or play now:
To hear just the segment where Kevin Smith reviews The Dark Knight (WITH SPOILERS), you can download it here or play now:
The /Filmcast will be having some more great guests to review some amazing movies this summer. To make sure you don’t miss an episode, subscribe to the /Filmcast using the following links:
What Have We Watched
Kevin Smith: (1:00) Burn Notice and The Closer
Film News
- (1:48) Darren Aronofsky to Direct Robocop Sequel
- (9:49) Watchmen Trailer
- (28:30) Terminator Salvation Trailer
Featured Review
- (36:53) The Dark Knight (SPOILERS INCLUDED)
Credits
- Our music comes from Point 22 courtesy of the Podsafe Network, and Brad Sucks
- If youd like advertise with us or sponsor us, please e-mail slashfilmcast@gmail.com.
- Contact us at our new voicemail number: 781-583-1993
Related Stories:
Microsoft has had enough to see Apple communicate (negatively) about Vista: they have launched an initiative that aims to “educate” customers on the current state, but also the benefits of Vista. First, there’s some recognition that things went well (honesty) then they move on to the Vista “good stuff”. The thing is – it’s not going to work, because this campaign is poorly designed:
Microsoft cannot fight funny 30 seconds videos making fun of its product with pages of (boring) text.
Finally, let’s be honest: Vista gets (some) IT people excited because it will eventually make their life easier. For consumers, there’s really not a lot of compelling reasons to upgrade. Eventually, we’ll have to upgrade because support for new features won’t make it into XP, like DirectX 10.
Source article | Add a comment
As we’ve discussed here before, newspapers are struggling. We all know that. The question is what, if anything, will save them? Most pundits tend to point to a two-fold solution: (1) get serious about leveraging the natural local advantages newspapers hold; (2) and find away to do so online as quickly as possible before they lose the bulk of the local online ad market to other competitors. This is why there’s a lot of talk these days about turning traditional papers into “hyper-local” web portals for their communities. Of course, there’s no guarantee that will work, especially in light of changing attitudes about “media localism.”
But let’s assume that that is indeed the best path forward. Will it really save newspapers? As eMarketer reports in today’s newsletter on “Can Local Web Ads Save Newspapers,” it’s a bit of a good news–bad news story:
The good news is that newspaper site ad revenues are growing along with other online ad spending, especially for local news sites. Local newspaper online ad revenues are predicted to reach $3.7 billion this year, according to eMarketer calculations based on Borrell Associates data.
The bad news is that this spending will not make up for print ad losses for some time, according to Lisa Phillips, senior analyst at eMarketer. Ms. Phillips noted that advertisers still pay more for print readers than for online readers. “This is a transition that will take several years,” she said. “Local advertisers are paying attention to the shift in reader behavior, but it will take a while for everyone to adjust.”
And so we will have to wait to see how it all plays out. But I am highly skeptical that traditional newspapers operators will be able to make up anywhere near the amount of revenue online that they are hemorrhaging over on the print side of the business. There’s just too much other competition out there online already for our eyes and ears. The age of “protectable scarcity” is dead and that means newspapers just don’t have the lock on local or regional markets they once did.
Click here to receive mediabistro.com’s Daily Newsfeed via email.
TiVo and Amazon Team Up (NYT)
TiVo, the Silicon Valley company that introduced millions to the joy of skipping television commercials, is trying to crack a decades-old media dream. It wants to turn the television remote control into a tool for buying the products being advertised and promoted on commercials and talk shows.
Couric: Viewers Are Afraid of Change (Haaretz)
“I have no doubt in my heart that I made the right move, accepting the CBS offer,” said CBS anchor Katie Couric. “I would have regretted it otherwise. It’s true that the pressure was immense and the expectations almost impossible. One person cannot perform such miracles and transform a whole network on his own.”
CBS: 46% of TV Audiences Watch Network’s Shows Online (Mediaweek)
According to a new report issued by CBS Interactive, less than half of the network’s online audience (46 percent) primarily views their favorite shows online, and most say that the wide availability of these shows across the Internet does not impact their TV viewing. 35 percent of the nearly 50,000 streamers surveyed reported that they are more likely to view shows on the network as a result of having been exposed to content on the Web.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media
Remote Controller
Pc Controllers
Amtech Stepper Motor Controller
Impulse Trailer Brake Controller
Domain Controller
