What Happened to Our Newspaper?

What Happened to Our Newspaper?

I get to work with all kinds of businesses, new ones, old ones, online only and brick and mortar only along with many that are some kind of combination of all these factors.

This is the final few months for one of my favorite clients in Fort Wayne, a retail shop that has sold coins since 1976.  They used to also sell stamps and then switched over to jewelry along with the collectable coins and related supplies.  They were a big advertiser in the local newspaper when they began and only in the past decade have stopped their newspaper ads.

The reason they are closing is their business has changed.  Michelle is the youngest of the owners at 58 and her partners are 70+.  When their lease expires this summer, they will have liquidated all the gold, silver and collectables and either retired or picked up something else to do with their time.

The store closure is a sign of the times as many businesses have closed as the owners have decided to call it quits.  Some are sold to new owners, some are passed down to another generation, but those that last have made some changes over time.

Another client of mine recently completed an ownership transition as the previous owners sold the company to some of the management staff.  That company is over 70 years strong and will continue for a few more decades I predict.  They also used to run newspaper ads and don’t anymore.

Two decades ago when I returned to the radio advertising world in Fort Wayne Indiana, the major media sources that you could use to advertise with were radio stations, television stations and newspapers.  Fort Wayne had a pretty healthy newspaper business with both a morning paper and afternoon paper and it was filled with ads and local news.

This would have been 2003.  We had the internet, but MySpace was the primary Social Media platform until Facebook launched a couple years later and grew to be the dominant online site in the world.

Traditional media has made adjustments, as radio and TV have evolved and added services to keep and grow their audiences so businesses could continue to advertise and invite those viewers and listeners to spend money with them.

Newspapers however have not faired as well.

Earlier this month, on Facebook,  I posted a picture of the building that used to house our two daily newspapers.  All day long and for a few more days, people were commenting about how much has changed with the newspaper business.

For starters, the afternoon paper finally ceased publication a few years ago and more recently the morning paper dropped from publishing 7 days a week to just 6 with a combined weekend edition for Saturday and Sunday.

As I was sharing some of my insider knowledge about the reasons the newspaper has become so small with a fraction of the number of pages, I decided to also share some data that I received with actual numbers.

For a long time the Radio Advertising Bureau was able to provide me with personalized reports that were verified and audited for our local papers.  My access to this service ended in 2015 but the numbers tell the story.

In a snapshot in the time from 2009 to 2014, the number of households in our area climbed 2.6%.  That’s good.

Newspaper subscriptions to the morning paper fell by over 34% during those 5 years.  The number of subscribers to the afternoon paper declined by over 40% in those same 5 short years.  In an attempt to hang on, the newspapers increased their advertising rates on their rate card by 18.5 percent.  That’s bad.

If you were unable to cut a deal with the paper you were paying over 18 % more to reach between 30% and 40% less people than you had 5 years before.   That’s a spread of over 50% that is not in your favor if you were a newspaper advertiser.

This downward spiral of decreased subscribers which lead to decreased ad revenue (despite the attempted ad rate increases) has lead to less pages in the daily paper.  Less reporters too along with less people overall.  In short, that’s what happened to our newspaper.

The last set of circulation numbers for the afternoon paper was less than 13,000 and the morning paper 42,000. Population figures in my reports indicate there were over 300,000 people in our area back in 2014.

I tell this not to gloat about how great radio is compared to our papers.

While it is true we have more radio listeners to WOWO and our sister stations at Federated Media then the remaining paper has subscribers, and I can help you invite those listeners to become your customers…

… I am saddened by the demise of our local paper.  The journalists and the people who supported them are a type of news media that needs to find a way forward.  Long form investigative reporting along with seeing the news about your family or neighbor making a positive impact, that’s good news worth keeping alive.

The Demise of the Newspaper

The Demise of the Newspaper

I bought my local newspaper on a recent Monday and was saddened by how tiny it has become.

About 8 years ago, I was able to get custom circulation reports for the two local daily newspapers from my connections at the Radio Advertising Bureau.  I watched as the number of readers dropped and the advertising rates climbed to make up for the loss of revenue.

The numbers for the morning paper showed that between 2009 and 2014, circulation had dropped 34% while ads rates climbed 18% in just 5 years.  The morning paper has being delivered to only 25% of the households by 2014.

The numbers for the afternoon paper were worse.  In those same 5 years, their circulation dropped 40% while ad prices climbed over 18%. The afternoon paper was being delivered to just 8% of the households by 2014.

The reason all this sadden me is that my parents were big fans of the paper.  I was a paperboy as a kid, delivering my route after school.

Local journalism had it’s home in print.  Sure, we had broadcast media too with TV stations staffed with reporters and some radio stations had a decent news department also, but the newspapers, they were the ones that had the time and space to print the in-depth stories beyond headlines.

The reason the afternoon paper stopped publishing was revenue which was related to circulation.  My numbers show they had less than 13,000 subscribers in 2014 and even with the higher ad rates, they couldn’t sell enough to keep the paper alive.  I’m not sure how the morning paper stays alive these days.  I know the number of readers have continued to drop since 2014.  Those numbers are no longer available for me to research but it’s obvious by the size of the paper.   August 29th the paper had a total of 16 pages, divided into two sections. The first section had 4 advertisers, plus 2 pages of classified ads. The other section had zero regular ads, just a paid legal notice.

Why does advertising matter?  According to Media Landscapes, 80% of the revenue comes from ad sales, not subscriptions.  I paid $1.50 for my 16 page newspaper last month and even thought that is outrageous, it’s not enough to sustain them.

If your business was one of those that used to rely on print ads, you’ve likely switched to something else.  Digital ads or something online has been a favorite experiment for many.  And while I have used digital and bought because of online ads, unless you know what you’re doing, you can get lost.  Also the rules are always changing in the online world as they evolve.  I’ll save my thoughts on digital for another day.

I will however put a plug in for another old time media that is still going strong despite the repeated predictions of its demise.  I’m referring to radio. National numbers say 92% of the population tunes in to a radio station every week.  That’s a far cry from those 8% or 25% numbers I shared a few moments ago referring to newspapers.

My team at WOWO or myself can give you details on what’s been working for the businesses that advertise on WOWO  and create similar success for you too.  Just contact me, Scott@WOWO.com.

 

 

The Disappearing TV Audience

The Disappearing TV Audience

Not even a pandemic can save broadcast television.

As America opens up again after being told to stay home last year, we’re getting new data about some of the long term affects of the COVID-19 pandemic.  And since I’m a media and marketing dude, not a doctor, I’m going to focus on what I know about.  Get your health and wellness info from someone qualified to advice you.

I am qualified to talk about media and marketing because that is not just my passion but it’s been my livelihood for a few decades plus I have access to data that most of you don’t.

One of the predictions about 2020 was that media consumption habits were going to change due to our being stuck at home. Less people on the road would decrease radio listenership and TV would stop the slide in viewership that it’s been suffering for the past decade.

Well, radio listenership may have shifted a bit temporarily, it’s just as strong and healthy as ever.  Broadcast TV, that’s a different story.

Here in Fort Wayne, Indiana, we have had 5 major broadcast TV stations since I was a kid.  ABC was channel 21, CBS was channel 15, NBC was channel 33, PBS was channel 39 and FOX was channel 55.  Those were the channels my Mom watched 20 years ago without cable and people of her generation are still watching broadcast TV, but not as many or as much because they are dying off (80 to 90 year olds), or they’ve done what my generation and those younger are doing and watching TV from cable or streaming services.

We have a collection of restaurants run by the Hall’s family in Fort Wayne that a friend of mine predicted would be out of business in 10 years because all their customers were old.  He made that prediction 20 years ago and most of those restaurants are still here.  Why?  Because they keep making old people is my answer.

But there is more to this problem for broadcast TV because the TV networks are not creating shows that younger generations want to watch.  The younger generations are finding them online or on streaming services, not ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS and Fox.

MarketingCharts.com shared data that compares July thru September 2020 with the same 3 months of 2019 and except for those age 65+, the trend for watching less broadcast TV that has been going on for more than a decade, continued despite being told to stay home.

This continuing decline is because of the habits younger generations have formed that simply can’t be ignored.  Teens are now watching less than an hour of TV, that’s a drop of 21% in just the last year. The 18 to 34 year olds viewing habits dropped over 23% in the past year.  The only age group that didn’t lose viewers were those 65 and older and they barely retained the number of viewers and time spent watching TV.   It happened to the Yellow Pages of the phone book, it continues to happen to the newspaper industry as technology changes occur and consumer habits change, the decline continues and is happening to broadcast TV.  Not even a stay-at-home order in the worst pandemic of our lifetimes has been able to save the TV stations from losing viewers.

I have a couple of questions for you if you are a business owner that has relied on TV advertising to draw in new customers.

How is it working for you compared to years ago?

19 out of 20 business owners I asked this question to at the end of 2019 (before the pandemic) told me that they have seen a decrease in their return on investment on advertising on traditional local TV.  The other person had no idea because business was booming and he used multiple avenues to advertise.

The other question is would you like to see an alternative form of advertising that hasn’t become less effective, that can either work hand in hand with your other marketing and advertising or replace some of the advertising avenues that aren’t producing for you like they used to?  Contact me, Scott@WOWO.com and I’ll put you in touch with someone from my team to discuss what can be done to make your business successful and growing this year and for years to come.

Radio To The Rescue

Radio To The Rescue

What advertising and marketing medium should I use right now, is a question I hear all the time and especially now.

As you know, I have spent the majority of my life in the radio business, starting out as a teenage disc jockey and then 10 years later moving to the business side in advertising and marketing.  I also have walked away a couple of times and learned out to drive a forklift and run a plastics thermoformer for a living.

I also left the radio business a couple of times to work in the online world and know a thing or two about website development, social media and digital marketing.  I even have spent time in the print business working with newspapers and magazines.

In 2013 I joined WOWO radio in the advertising sales department and this year was named our stations General Sales Manager after a nationwide search.  I have a few other credentials but let’s get to what I really want to share with you.

During the stay-at-home orders that many states have mandated for the health and safety of our people, the common thought was people would be watching a lot more television. That was initially true with a growth of about 30% for broadcast and cable TV.  But then two things happened.

The TV studios ran out of shows as their seasons were cut short because of the social distancing rules and so fresh dramas, comedies and the reality shows had to either go on hiatus or create a version of their former selves.  Streaming services with no or limited commercials were the real benefactors.  Even the TV news networks are losing viewers due to Corona Fatigue.  With the change of seasons and warmer weather, more people are getting outside in a safe, social distancing manor.

The newspaper business has really been hit hard.  Locally we just saw the end of a nearly 200 year newspaper which was slowly dying over the past 20 years.  The afternoon newspaper in Fort Wayne at one time had 60,000 subscribers had shrunk to under 13,000 nearly a decade ago and finally ceased publication as a daily and became a one or two page insert in the morning paper and did an online version too.

Last month both papers used the Coronavirus as an excuse to furlough many of their staffs and pulled the plug entirely on the former afternoon paper.  As a former paperboy as a kid, it was sad to see.  Unless they figure out a way to make money fast, the morning paper will be history too.

So what about the radio business?  Like the newspaper business, if a radio station was struggling to stay afloat before the pandemic, that are really hurting for revenue now.  My station, WOWO radio was not in that position and is not now.  We have seen listenership increases and advertisers looking to increase their advertising if they are open or hold the course of they are not open.  Not all of our advertising partners but most of them, the smart ones want to stay connected to our listeners.

Here’s a quote from one national study:

The longer the coronavirus lockdown continues, the more people are spending more of their time with audio entertainment. That’s according to the media buying agency Mindshare, which has been tracking consumer behavior since the pandemic began sweeping the globe last month. The latest data finds nearly a third (31%) of Americans say they are listening to more radio than prior to the coronavirus outbreak.The new numbers, collected last week by Mindshare’s U.S. Consumer Insights team, also show the longer people are stuck at home, the more likely they are to be boosting their radio listening. In other words, the longer the stay-at-home orders disrupt typical media habits, the more the number of Americans who say they’re spending more time with radio than in the pre-pandemic period goes up.

Among Mindshare’s other latest findings:

  • 51% of Americans have limited their time on media because they don’t want to read any more news about COVID-19. That includes 70% of Millennials.

  • 80% of Americans are likely to support a brand that has taken action and helped communities impacted by COVID-19

And another report says:

Nearly 90 million Americans own smart speakers as of January 2020, a 32% increase from a year earlier and 85% higher than in January 2018.

I have seen WOWO radio’s streaming listenership surge during the pandemic and with a third of Americans now owning and using Alexa or Google Home, radio stations like WOWO are benefiting and that means you as one of our advertising partners will also benefit from this increased listenership measured in both more listeners and listeners spending more time listening to WOWO every week.

There are so many creative ways my team has been able to work hand in hand with our advertising partners, I invite you to reach out and let’s come up with ideas for your business to take advantage of the WOWO Radio Advantage during this special time.

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Why We Don’t Have Phone Books Anymore

Why We Don’t Have Phone Books Anymore

I could have titled this:

Dead Advertising Mediums.

Read this from Roy H. Williams:

Google is the new phone book. Like the Yellow Pages of yesterday, it is the principal resource for buyers who are currently, consciously in the market for a product or service and have no preferred provider. Like the White Pages of yesterday, Google delivers your telephone number, street address, (and business hours) to customers who have already chosen you as their preferred provider.

 

Customers who come to you through mass media will often be credited to your digital efforts due to the “White Pages” function of Google. They had already chosen you as their preferred provider, but were looking online for your street address, phone number, or business hours.

 

That is the 7th and 8th points from a newsletter that Roy H. Williams wrote earlier this year that I’m doing a series on right now as a ScLoHo extra.  Go here to read all 20 points.

Advertising in the phone book is a complete waste of money in the United States of America.  

I’ve been preaching this for years.

I have nothing against printed ads, it’s just, like Roy says, not needed at least in the phone book.

I have nothing to add to what Roy said, except an observation from earlier this month.

On Wednesday July 3rd, I was in the waiting room of a service department getting my car’s air conditioning back in shape for the 90+ degree temps and here’s what I observed.

About a dozen people ranging in age from about 8 to 80 were also in the waiting room.  One was reading a book, everyone else had a mobile phone or tablet that they were using.

A TV was on, but was being ignored by most everyone.

There were also two newspapers that sat untouched on a table until I opened them up.

The Wall Street Journal and our local morning paper the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette.

The Wall Street Journal had 28 pages total and an appropriate number of ads, but they could have had a few more.

But 28 pages, that is pretty slim for a national newspaper.  Kind of sad.

What was worse was the local paper.

24 total pages.  Maybe 4 pages worth of ads plus the classifieds.  They could not make money with this pitiful amount of paid ads.  This was the day before the 4th of July and a few decades ago it would have been stuffed full of ads for holiday sales and now… nothing.

Sadly for the future of these papers, no one cared to even read the paper.

As a kid, I used to be a paperboy, delivering every afternoon when I got home from school.

These days, no one seems to read the daily newspapers and with a lack of readers the advertisers ads are not getting seen.

Everyone sitting in the waiting room was watching and reading their own personal screens.

Is it any wonder that there are so few ads and so few pages printed?

Mass media isn’t dead, but certain mediums are.

Contrast the phone book and newspapers with the data about the mass media I work in.

Radio.  Surveys continue to show that over 90% of people in the United States of America listen every week.

We got the results for radio listening in Fort Wayne and my station, WOWO radio has the largest weekly audience with over 140,000 people choosing to listen to WOWO every week.  Unlike the newspaper that just sits there untouched.  Or the phone books that get tossed in the recycling bins the day they are delivered.

If you are paying to advertise in the phone book or a newspaper, let’s talk.  Email me: Scott@WOWO.com

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