Here's what's going on in the world of media right now...
The next trend aimed at stemming the decline in newspaper readership is the “pay wall”. It’s essentially an online subscription with several newspapers have experiencing gains or more modest losses after establishing pay walls. These include the Norwalk Reflector (+2%) and the El Dorado News-Times (-1.8%). In many cases the appeal is for former residents keeping up with hometown news. The average net loss for papers comparable in size was -6.5% and -9.4% for larger papers with 50,000 circulation. Many in the industry believe that small market papers will need to live online to survive. Others question if general news content can attract and maintain a subscriber base. Papers in markets such as Lancaster, PA, Bend, OR and Lima, OH will begin testing the concept this spring
We’re covered: According to the Nielsen Company the markets with the highest percentage of healthcare coverage in the U.S. are Juneau, AK and Honolulu, HI. Others in the top 20 include Washington (#4), Boston (#6), Baltimore (#10), Philadelphia (#11) and New York (#18). Top activities among the highly insured markets include golf, gardening, treadmill and classical music
On the tube: Have you checked out the HBO WWII miniseries “The Pacific”? Amazing television. Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg have my Emmy already….. Comcast will significantly increase their on-demand library beginning in Philadelphia, this in advance of NBC merger….Law & Order R.I.P: despite the efforts of many to save the original NBC franchise—it appears they’ve tried their last case—the courtroom drama lasted for 20 years. The franchise will live on with L&O SVU and a new show, L&O: Los Angeles. Final thought on TV: Americans are watching more and more, especially homes with DVR’s. In 2009 the average home viewed 8 hours and 18 minutes of TV per day (Nielsen). Not in your house though, right?
One big store: 1Q revenue from internet ad sales rose 7%, making the second consecutive quarter in a row with an increase. Revenue of $5.9 billion is a record according to the IAB…… Mmmm: A 2009 joint American Association of Advertising Agencies/Association of National Advertisers & Bellwether Survey of 122 marketers cited “inadequate metrics” as the most powerful obstacle in refining media mixes. Quotable: From the 4A’s “Transformation” Conference, Arcature’s Larry Light: “In a world that is drowning in data, knowing what to ignore is as important as knowing what to consider…Over-reliance on metrics is stifling marketing. Do not use metrics to justify, use metrics to guide continuous improvement”
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