Will 7-day-a week newspapers disappear in the next two years?

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Within the next 18-24 months, there won't be any newspapers printing seven days a week, Gordon Borrell, CEO of Borrell Associates, predicted at SNPA's News Industry Summit in Savannah. 

While he said small dailies might be OK, he expects that larger dailies will become weekly magazines within the next two years.  "It's just headed that way," he said.

"I think the proof is going to be in the pudding two years from now," he said,  warning that the economics are just not there to replace revenue that is currently being brought in by circulars.

"I think that if you own a major daily newspaper above 50,000 circulation," Borrell said, "you're in trouble.  You're in really big trouble."

He also predicted:

  • Yellow Pages books will disappear altogether.
  • Local broadcast TV will enter a "death spiral" in 2017.  He predicted TV will continue to be fat and happy for the next 18 months thanks to political advertising, followed by layoffs and the sale of many stations.  This, he said, presents a big opportunity for newspapers.  He encouraged newspapers to stop preying on the weak, and – instead – go after radio and TV advertisers.
  • Half of all radio stations will disappear by 2025.
  • And, nearly all viewing, reading and listening content is going to be digital.

"I think the successor companies are the ones that are going to serve the new marketing needs of old media's customers," he said.

He cited some statistics showing that business advertisers spent 22 percent less in 2014 on advertising than they did in 2005.  During that same time, he said they spent 73 percent more on promotions.  He defined promotions as everything a business spends to market itself over and above its spending on traditional advertising (coupons, discounts, rebates, contests, events, sponsorships, signage, printing and digital marketing).

When 3,000 businesses were asked, "What drives new business for you?" he said they cited the following (with multiple responses from given advertisers):

65%   Referrals from other customers
59% Their own company website
55% Referrals from friends and family
38% Social media
36% Events
33% Professional referrals
32% Print newspaper ads
23% Email marketing
21% Direct mail
17% Online ads
17% Other print media ads
16% Radio ads
13% Industry organizations
11% TV ads
11% Yellow Pages
10% Outdoor/Billboards
4% Mobile campaigns

"It's not that newspapers aren't up there; they're pretty high up there," he said.  "They're above email marketing.  They're above online ads.  Newspapers are still in play.  But this is a new environment that we're in."

While 59 percent credit their own websites as driving new customers, the big question Borrell said is: What drives traffic to that website?  "That's where you come in."

In looking at 37 companies, Borrell said the average digital growth rate for traditional media companies was 4.9 percent, compared to 23.4 percent for pureplay digital companies.  The reason newspapers aren't gaining a bigger market share, he said, is that they keep going back to the same customer base over and over.  Unfortunately, he said that also serves to erode the print budget a little faster.

Radical times call for new approaches, he said.  Among the success stories that he encouraged newspapers to watch:

  • Advocate Digital Media, a digital agency formed by the Victoria (Texas) Advocate.  This family-owned company is going after new business.
  • Sunshine Media in Metaire, La. Also privately owned, this digital services company provides data services and marketing, cloud hosting, a cable company, telephone company and more.
  • Calkins Media, Levittown, Penn.  In addition to TV and newspapers, each of the newspapers has a television channel (OTT Channels).
  • The Dallas Morning News, Dallas, Texas.  He said the paper is working hard to be the best in marketing for that area.  The paper acquired SpeakEasy, offers native advertising, acquired an ad agency, sells refrigerator magnets, does events, etc.
  • TownSquare, Greenwich, Conn.  This diversified media, entertainment and digital marketing services company owns and operates market-leading radio, digital and live event properties across the country.
  • Woodward Communications, Dubuque, Iowa.  The company owns newspapers and radio stations, as well as a vertical marketing company called Two Rivers.
  • SNJ Today, Millville, N.J. He said this privately owned "all from scratch" company owns an AM radio station, local access TV channel, weekly newspaper and digital-centric ad agency.

To be successful in the future, Borrell told newspapers they need to:

  • Consider incremental and radical change.
  • Use new people to leverage assets.
  • Maintain a startup mentality.
  • Have a vision that includes a superlative.

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