Already this year we have the considerable news of the closure of Network Services, the closure of Cleo magazine and Dolly magazine cutting half its issues. Now there is speculation of the sale of the Sunday Times newspaper in Western Australia to Seven West Media.
I have been told many times over the years by News Corp. stalwarts that the Sunday Times held a special place in Rupert Murdoch’s heart. If it was sold there would be some Murdoch watchers who see the move as prescient.
Disruption and consolidation is to be expected in the continuing print media circulation declines. The last quarter of 2015 is among the worst I have seen for magazines – more on that in the next couple of days.
On newspapers, we must be very close to a decision by some publishers to cut the number of days they print or to cut the print product altogether. My understanding is falling ad revenue is the key factor in such consideration.
The consolidation we have seen already and that anticipated ought to drive newsagents to work harder and faster on their own future as too many still rely on print product for much of their traffic and relevance.
The changes we are seeing should not worry us or cause newsagents to question closing their businesses. Rather, they are opportunities to re-define our businesses for a brighter future around the points of difference we wish to drive. Indeed, the changes are not unexpected.
I absolutely agree. The challenge is to drive customer numbers for non print items faster than losses for print. Churn is term used by other industries, it needs to be positive. The good news is that most of the alternatives revenue streams are more profitable than print. Let’s hope that card sales hold up post the $1 stamp.
Colin re card sales – I think newsagents need a well thought out strategy to address this.
Life without Newspapers????
Sounds like we could to get a sleep in…..!!!