Two of McClatchy's largest newspapers, the Miami Herald and the Sacramento Bee, have seen a large circulation drop on the past 6 months, based on the most recent figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Here are the numbers that have McClatchy executives shaking in their boots:
Miami Herald:
Daily circulation as of 3/31/08: 240,223
Daily circulation as of 9/30/08: 210,884
That is a drop of 29,339 daily subscribers in the past 6 months.
Sacramento Bee:
Bee circulation as of 3/31/08: 268,755
Bee circulation as of 9/30/08: 253,249
That is a drop of 15,500 daily subscribers in the past 6 months.
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The numbers are unbelievable. I don't see how a newspaper company can survive with a trajectory like this.
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11 comments:
Needs more obits, blog excerpts and urinal stories. That'll turn things around.
what those numbers don't show are the traffic to those newspaper's websites.
The Herald now derives 10% of its income from the web.
Media types, especially at newspapers just love to try mitigating a dying subscription base by attempting to add online traffic to their circulation numbers. It is smoke and mirrors, because online advertising is far less effective, and in no way making up for the lost revenue. Online traffic also doesn't account for the number of visits from people who hate them, want to complain, want to cancel their subscription or those that already did.
The research firm, Borrell Associates, is projecting a growth rate of 7.8% in 2009 for local interactive media -- off from a 47% increase in 2008.
Spending on standard formats that local newspapers use; like banners, pop-ups and general display ads is expected to decline. Formats like Direct/e-mail, Paid search, Streaming audio/video are the expected increases.
McClatchy has neither the vision, technical expertise, and now - capital, to hold pace with the database marketing evolution.
1:13 - Online also has a fraction of the overhead of print. It may not be a one to one comparison but it's not just smoke and mirrors.
Online ads can be either ignored or blocked. Hard copy ads can only be ignored.
Support choice. Support change. Support diversity.
It is smoke and mirrors when papers attempt to replace the term "circulation" with "viewers" or "readers". It is fraud on the same level as when they lie about their total circulation to boost their revenues.
There is no way on earth without legislative assistance in silencing free speech and shutting down alternative information (Net Neutrality) that the big three and the AP cartel will ever be able to extract cash online in the same manner as they were with print. The very fact that it is cheaper is their undoing. They cannot erect the same barriers to competition that they are so famous for.
Does anybody ever read an online ad? I can't hit the skip key fast enough.
Newspapers web sites really aren't needed at all. Use TV sites and have AP post there. Forget the papers completely. Yea!!!!
The KC Star has all these blog sites they want you to visit then they can call that a hit...how do you think they get the numbers they have? It's not for their news content.
I don't know. They got one from me, but then I saw the first five stories all started with Obama so I blocked the site entirely and dumped the bookmark.
sounds like someone who was fired
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