The weighted-average face value (WAFV) for free-standing insert (FSI) coupons increased 7.3 percent, to $1.34, in the first half of 2008 (compared with 1H07) - the highest WAFV on record, according to Marx Promotion Intelligence, a division of TNS media intelligence, MarketingCharts reports.
Most newspapers publish less national and foreign news than they did three years ago, and carry smaller news staffs, according to a study by the Pew Research Center and Tyler Marshall, former foreign correspondent for the Los Angeles Times.
email this
permanent link
Internet coupons have become of increasing interest to consumers, with 11 percent of households now obtaining coupons via the internet - an increase of 83 percent since 2005 - according to (pdf) a recent analysis by Scarborough Research, reports MarketingCharts.
email this
permanent link
Merger and acquisitions deal value in the first half of 2008 for media, information, marketing services and related technologies was down significantly, though the number of transactions was up slightly, reported the Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc. (JEGI) - via MarketingCharts.
email this
permanent link
The Wall Street Journal is raising its cover price by a third, from $1.50 to $2.00. After the paper boosted its price from $1 to $1.50 last year, average single copy sales slipped about 8 percent.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the latest paper to announce major cuts amid the current advertising slump. The paper will cut its workforce by 8 percent, or about 189 jobs.
email this
permanent link
Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post and Mortimer Zuckerman’s Daily News - bitter rivals for readers in the New York area - are considering making nice and combining some business functions to save costs.
email this
permanent link
Relish, the relatively new monthly food magazine distributed in newspapers, is increasing its circulation from 12 million to 15 million beginning with its January 2009 issue.
Yet another top executive is leaving the Los Angeles Times. Publisher David Hiller announced yesterday that he is on his way out, after less than two years on the job.
Ann Marie Lipinski, editor of the Chicago Tribune, announced in a memo to staff that she is resigning her post after seven years in the position.
Ad revenue for Spanish-language media grew 3 percent in 2007 over the previous year, a healthy rise when compared to the paltry 0.6 percent that the U.S. ad industry grew overall.
email this
permanent link
As expected, the Chicago Tribune is hacking away at its newsroom staff, planning to eliminate 80 positions by the end of August. Positions in other departments will be axed, as well, writes the Chicago Tribune.
Advertisers and agency media buyers are growing increasingly pessimistic about spending in all major media, according to Advertiser Perceptions‘ Media Economy Report, a survey of media-buying executives, reports AdAge (via MarketingCharts).
email this
permanent link
Gannett Co. has acquired full ownership of retail marketing and database services provider ShopLocal LLC, the Chicago Tribune.
email this
permanent link
Marcus Brauchli, former managing editor of The Wall Street Journal who left under pressure from new management, will become the executive editor of The Washington Post beginning Sept. 8. He succeeds Leonard Downie Jr., who is stepping down after 17 years on the job.
email this
permanent link
Pro Publica, the non-profit newspaper venture that plans to sell long-form investigative pieces to magazines and newspapers, has been poaching top talent from newspapers across the country. In its latest move, it has nabbed investigative reporters Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber, who won a Pulitzer in 2005, from the Los Angeles Times.
email this
permanent link
WSJ.com’s traffic soared an impressive 94 percent in June compared to the same month last year, according to the company’s internal traffic numbers.
Working at the Los Angeles Times could be seen as a health hazard. Between oft-occurring layoffs, secret changes in editorial staff and planning, too much turnover among top editorial positions in too few years, and occasional public frays between management and owners, the stress level must be unbearable. Now, after the latest round of cuts, there will be significantly fewer employees to endure the anxiety.
The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News will soon share more than the same owners, presses and website. A team of managers has been appointed to consolidate some functions, like photographers and copy desk, in a bid to cut costs.
The value of 11 newspaper groups that have traded publicly since 2005 plummeted a combined $23.7 billion in the first half of this year.
