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The newspaper industry has a gloomy future, according to new forecasts from Merrill Lynch analyst Lauren Rich Fine and Deutsche Bank analyst Paul Ginocchio.
The two new analyses, based on poor third-quarter results from a range of newspaper companies, indicate that newspapers’ efforts to revitalize print ads and expand online operations may not be enough to stem the tide, according to MediaPost.
The third quarter results indicate flat revenues for the quarter, disappointing after a promising first half which showed a 2 percent growth. Worse, the results are part of a longer trend, both analysts believe.
Ad spending on newspaper websites is not making up for lost print advertising, and the classified ad market - one of the most successful areas of online monetization for newspapers - seems to be softening. Hiring and the housing market both show signs of slowing, which could have a serious impact on recruitment and real estate classified revenues.
New growth may come from the Newspaper Next project, which encourages newspaper publishers to offer new and innovative ad formats and campaign structures, Ginocchio points out, but the ad industry’s culture, which tends to avoid risk, may prevent it from embracing new layouts.
All sectors of the media business will suffer from the weakened economy in 2008 and 2009, with a slump in local advertising particularly hurting newspapers and local TV, according to a new projection from Goldman Sachs.
Broadcast nets will experience…
The New York Times is shuttering its International Herald Tribune site; NYTimes.com will soon host the international news normally reserved for its sister website.
The move is not about cost savings, but rather about growth, NYTimes.com general manager Vivian Schiller…
Unilever’s Vaseline set forth on an unusual research project in a small town in Alaska. Setting up a storefront, the company began giving away free bottles of lotion and asking recipients to name the person who had recommended they come…
Meet the Press, the show hosted by Tim Russert for 17 years before his death last June, is beginning to slip in ratings.
Last month, CBS’s Face the Nation pulled ahead of Meet the Press for the first time in two…
Bloggers collectively create nearly one million blog posts each day, and half of bloggers believe blogs will be a primary source of news and entertainment in the next five years, according to Technorati’s 2008 State of the Blogosphere Report, MarketingCharts writes.…
Wal-Mart and Costco reported same-store gains in September, with sales rising 2.4% and 9% respectively. Sales at Target stores open at least a year fell 3%, writes Retailer Daily.
Below, fiscal results from the discount retail giants:
Sales of food and…
