Two newspaprs in Detroit are reportedly looking at cutting home delivery to a few days a week. There are close to 400 stories online about this, just the prospect is sending shockwaves through newspapers and those connected with their distribution in the US. Just the prospect of the plan, which does appear to have some meat to it, is enough to make a business connected to newspaper home delivery in the US have concern.
I don’t see any logic in a plan to cut home delivery days. It says the print model is in trouble and shrinking. It would push newspapers into a spiral they would find it hard to exit. The better alternative in tough times is to beef up home delivery: make it more valuable and deliver a truly differentiating product.
Is anybody starting to see the parallel between car manufacturers in the us not seeing far enough into the future with their model plans and perhaps the current newsagency print model? I hope not.