Publishers somewhat more optimistic than the past two years

Responses to the Fall 2017 Publisher Confidence Survey conducted by Cribb, Greene & Cope indicate publishers continue to be encouraged about the short-term future, and are somewhat more confident than they were a year ago. One hundred and twenty-four newspaper publishers/executives completed the 2017 survey with 71 percent of respondents owning daily or daily/weekly newspapers and 29 percent owning primarily weekly publications.

Fifty-four percent of respondents continue to be interested in buying a newspaper which is below last year, but 66 percent might or would recommend their children seek a newspaper career, which is up slightly.

The percentage of publishers who think their local economy is improving is 39 percent, which is up from 36 percent in 2016. Forty-three percent feel their local economy is staying about the same and 18 percent say it is declining.

Publishers who feel their profit will be up next year increased to 45 percent compared with 41 percent in 2016. The target for digital advertising as a percentage of total advertising has a clear majority of 55 percent indicating that 0-10 percent is the goal. Thirty-six percent feel the target is 10-20 percent of revenues and 9 percent are looking for over 20 percent.

The conclusion for this year's survey is that publishers remain confident about future performance – and are a little more confident than they were last year.  

For the full survey results, click here.