Crikey published this story today (sourced back to The Australian) – suggesting that Fairfax is about to do in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth what News did earlier this year in Perth with it’s online Perth Now news site. Such a move by Fairfax into capital cities where it does not publish today makes sense, unfortunately for newsagents.
We have been insulated from the print media disruption seen in the US and Europe because of our strong home delivery position. This play by Fairfax and the earlier by News will take the shackles off and speed up disruption.
It all comes down to monetisation. The publishers can see the income stream. Fairfax Editor in Chief of Online Mike van Niekerk said as much in his presentation entitled Cashing in on Digital Success at the Beyond the Printed Word conference I attended in Vienna last month. Fairfax has optimised its sites for financial return. They know what they will make with local editions in these new states.
News will respond to the Fairfax move into these new markets. The more the publishers compete online the less they will focus offline. They’d disagree with this if you ask them but it’s true – you only have to see what has played out overseas to see what will happen here.