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The decline continues

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    #272
    Comhrá
    Registered Users Posts: 4,754 ✭✭✭Comhrá


    Muahahaha wrote: »
    I cant remember where I read it but apparently the Indo are soon to put some of their content behind a paywall.

    Fair play to them. They'll be doing the country a great service.


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    #273
    CeilingFly
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,378 ✭✭✭CeilingFly


    Rumour has it that the ODCE sent their inspectors into the Indo today on a fact finding mission.

    They left five minutes later and finding none. :D


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    #274
    JTMan
    Registered Users Posts: 5,535 ✭✭✭JTMan


    The Irish Daily Star accounts for 2017 are on the CRO website.

    Always provides a fascinating insight into how a company in structural decline is keeping its head above water.

    Turnover: Down from €18.8m to €17.4m
    Expenses: Cost of sales: Down from €11.3m to €10.9m
    Expenses: Distributing & marketing: Down from €3.8m to €3.1m
    Expenses: Admin: Down from €1.6m to €1.4m
    Expenses: Exceptional (possibly redundancies): €0.2m
    Profit: Down from €1.7m to €1.5m
    Dividends: Down from €2.0m to €1.1m

    How did they stay profitable?
    --> Staff cut from 58 to 50.
    --> Massive cut in distributing and printing expenses. INM paid €4.4m from prior €5.5m. (Northern and Shell still paid €0.4m for content).
    --> €0.2m cut from legal provision.
    --> Other small cuts.

    So Independent Star have pulled a Houdini again and in the face of ever declining newspaper sales and newspaper advertising revenue, they are still profitable. The ability to cut costs, and still produce a national newspaper, has limited bounds, but they keep finding more cost cutting measures, but this surely can't last too much longer.


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    #275
    NIMAN
    Registered Users Posts: 32,976 ✭✭✭✭NIMAN


    There's a link in the Indo's website today entitled "Who is the hardest working band in Ireland?".

    I clicked on it, expecting to see U2 or The Coronas etc listed, instead this is the story:

    https://www.independent.ie/storyplus/who-are-irelands-hardest-working-band-37357103.html

    The bloody Lotto band from the advert. It reads like a proper story and then the last line says:
    Note: The Celebrations is a fictional band, and all characters represented are fictitious.

    I'm not sure if this is meant to be funny, and no mention of it being an advert.
    But its a new low.


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    #276
    IRE60
    Registered Users Posts: 1,880 ✭✭✭IRE60


    NIMAN wrote: »
    There's a link in the Indo's website today entitled "Who is the hardest working band in Ireland?".

    I clicked on it, expecting to see U2 or The Coronas etc listed, instead this is the story:

    https://www.independent.ie/storyplus/who-are-irelands-hardest-working-band-37357103.html

    The bloody Lotto band from the advert. It reads like a proper story and then the last line says:
    Note: The Celebrations is a fictional band, and all characters represented are fictitious.

    I'm not sure if this is meant to be funny, and no mention of it being an advert.
    But its a new low.

    It's not a new low - it's prostitution! See the little logo at the bottom of the story : sponsored by the national lottery!


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    #277
    An Ciarraioch
    Registered Users Posts: 5,798 ✭✭✭An Ciarraioch


    Comhra wrote: »
    Muahahaha wrote: »
    I cant remember where I read it but apparently the Indo are soon to put some of their content behind a paywall.

    Fair play to them. They'll be doing the country a great service.

    Much like the Telegraph's "premium" content!


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    #278
    expectationlost
    Registered Users Posts: 11,753 ✭✭✭✭expectationlost


    NIMAN wrote: »
    There's a link in the Indo's website today entitled "Who is the hardest working band in Ireland?".

    I clicked on it, expecting to see U2 or The Coronas etc listed, instead this is the story:

    https://www.independent.ie/storyplus/who-are-irelands-hardest-working-band-37357103.html

    The bloody Lotto band from the advert. It reads like a proper story and then the last line says:
    Note: The Celebrations is a fictional band, and all characters represented are fictitious.

    I'm not sure if this is meant to be funny, and no mention of it being an advert.
    But its a new low.

    did it not have the "Sponsored by: Lotto logo" thing at the end.

    it should have one at the top too.


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    #279
    CeilingFly
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,378 ✭✭✭CeilingFly


    This is how far the indo has fallen.


    Today has seen a horrendous tsunami in Indonesia. Hundreds, probably thousands have died.

    The tragedy is headline news around the world.

    The indo is leading with some utter garbage about nurses being tired.

    And they wonder why they are failing.


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    #280
    L1011
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 67,618 Mod ✭✭✭✭L1011


    #sponcon is keeping news media going at this stage really. Most papers would be dead without it; lots of online wouldn't even exist. Should be easier to realise what it is though - the Irish Times puts a box around it in print at least.


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    #281
    Heres Johnny
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,738 ✭✭✭Heres Johnny


    Most publications are an absolute basket case these days. I said it before, but when you get better thought out arguments on boards.ie, even in after hours forum, than in what used to be respected media outlets topical issues the system is broken and it's game over.
    The coverage in Irish media over some topics recently has been a disgrace and amateurish at best. Spelling mistakes, no fact checking, sensationalist claims....good riddance. I'm probably talking about the indo here to be honest. It's no better than journal.ie and other derivatives at this stage. Bye bye.


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    #282
    NIMAN
    Registered Users Posts: 32,976 ✭✭✭✭NIMAN


    IRE60 wrote: »
    It's not a new low - it's prostitution! See the little logo at the bottom of the story : sponsored by the national lottery!

    I'm fine with adverts being sponsored by companies or lotteries etc, but at least tell us they are adverts, don't hide them in their standard content to make it look like its a real story.

    If the Indo was to go paid for service, I think they might fail miserably. Who would honestly pay for what they have to tell us?


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    #283
    JTMan
    Registered Users Posts: 5,535 ✭✭✭JTMan


    Article on what happens when newspapers kill print ...
    or American daily newspapers, the story of the last decade-plus hasn’t been about mass closures — it’s been about mass shrinkage. The pace at which newspapers are shutting down isn’t much different from what it was in the late 20th century. Instead, just about every daily paper has gotten smaller — smaller newsroom, smaller budgets, smaller print runs, smaller page counts — year after year after year. It’s death by a thousand paper cuts.

    But shrinking can only go so far. In the second quarter of 2018, McClatchy’s print advertising revenue dropped 26.4 percent year over year; Gannett was down 19.1 percent, Tronc 18 percent. They’re not making new daily print newspaper subscribers anymore
    There’s no Zeno’s Paradox to prevent newspapers from eventually deciding one one of two courses of action: going online-only or shutting down entirely.


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    #284
    IRE60
    Registered Users Posts: 1,880 ✭✭✭IRE60


    is there a borris effect in here?!


    https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/oct/03/telegraph-to-put-politics-business-and-rugby-news-behind-paywall


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    #285
    Loafing Oaf
    Registered Users Posts: 16,006 ✭✭✭✭Loafing Oaf


    JTMan wrote: »
    Article on what happens when newspapers kill print ...

    Something similar must be true of Irish papers. I would have bet my life savings there would have been at least one more national newspaper coverage within five years of the Tribune yet they're all still here. It seems close to miraculous that the Examiner and the SBP can keep going at less than 30K sales...


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    #286
    IRE60
    Registered Users Posts: 1,880 ✭✭✭IRE60


    JTMan wrote: »
    Article on what happens when newspapers kill print ...

    It's a very interesting article and I hadn't checked in to Nieman Lab in some time! But it's not jaw dropping stuff. The engagement with a physical product that you put your hand in your pocket for will always surpass a free online offering. So no revelation there.

    They majored on the fact that the Independent (print) readers didn't migrate online to the digital product - but were they ever - were they the right profile in the first place to be enthusiastic about the digital offering?

    I think a telling stat emerged in the FF policy document on their theory how to keep the forth estate alive. [While it was blurred in parts and there were questionable parts - it was a start]. A print reader is worth €140 p.a. to a publisher - the digital 'user' is worth €17. However, there was no mention of the costs to the publisher to each market!


    And @Loafing Oaf - I'm totally surprised that something else didn't go to the wall - and won't be if a publication does. In the immoral words of someone or other 'size isn't everything' - the SBP is (I believe) profitable and the Examiner will probably will be under the wings of the Irish Times Trust.

    Edit: anyone interested in the 'production' end - this is a really interesting article. A bit like the beginnings of Amazon where there was mass fragmentation in parts. Likewise, in the slightly unclear path for publishers, there may be some clarity
    http://www.niemanlab.org/2018/09/newsonomics-the-washington-posts-ambitions-for-arc-have-grown-to-a-bezosian-scale/


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    #287
    JTMan
    Registered Users Posts: 5,535 ✭✭✭JTMan


    Loafing Oaf wrote: »
    Something similar must be true of Irish papers. I would have bet my life savings there would have been at least one more national newspaper coverage within five years of the Tribune yet they're all still here.

    I was for a long time surprised to that more newspapers have not gone to the wall until I realised how 'easy' it is to cut costs in the newspaper industry. Journalist numbers keep dwindling, pages in papers keep decreasing, copy and paste journalism from other sources keeps increasing, the number of print presses is declining, distribution is consolidating ...

    The cost of producing a newspaper has declined significantly but so has the quality but some people (elderly mainly) will keep buying regardless.
    Loafing Oaf wrote: »
    It seems close to miraculous that the Examiner and the SBP can keep going at less than 30K sales...

    The SBP is boarderline profitable and has had significant reductions in revenue in recent years to just 7.1 million EUR per year in the last set of accounts. Rich owners have helped keep it alive. It would seem that the scope for further cost cutting at the SBP is getting limited.


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    #288
    JTMan
    Registered Users Posts: 5,535 ✭✭✭JTMan


    Reech (Express, Star and Mirror) results are out.
    - Total revenue down 7%
    - Advertising revenue down 20%
    - 70 editorial jobs to be axed
    - 2m in cost cutting this year
    - 20m in cost cutting by 2020
    - Profit for the year will be around 132m

    Yet again cost cutting keeping a newspaper groups head above water.

    More here.


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    #289
    JTMan
    Registered Users Posts: 5,535 ✭✭✭JTMan


    Owner of The Scotsman Johnston Press hangs up 'for sale' sign

    https://news.sky.com/story/owner-of-the-scotsman-johnston-press-hangs-up-for-sale-sign-11523226
    Johnston Press, the company behind a string of newspaper titles including the i, The Scotsman and The Yorkshire Post, has put itself up for sale.

    The company, which like many rivals has struggled financially amid declining print readerships and ad revenues, took the decision after a strategic review of its business which began last year.

    The review took place ahead of a looming deadline for the repayment of £220m in loans.

    The announcement of a sale was the only option it revealed in its statement to the market.


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    #290
    JTMan
    Registered Users Posts: 5,535 ✭✭✭JTMan


    3-4 Month Consultation at the Sunday Business Post Might Lead to Print Closure

    https://www.independent.ie/business/media/sunday-business-post-buyer-hints-at-digital-tv-future-37405930.html
    Galway businessman Enda O'Coineen, the chairman of Kilcullen Kapital Partners, which recently acquired the 'Sunday Business Post' says he does not know if the Sunday newspaper will cease to print following a strategic review of the title.


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    #291
    IRE60
    Registered Users Posts: 1,880 ✭✭✭IRE60


    the ABC 'metric' is probably redundant at this point -

    https://mumbrella.com.au/news-corp-pulls-from-amaa-audit-shifts-focus-to-readership-489248


    maybe more to follow


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    #292
    JTMan
    Registered Users Posts: 5,535 ✭✭✭JTMan


    Any good print advertiser will want independent sales stats, not, often bogus, readership numbers that are based on surveys.

    ABC still have a role to play.


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    #293
    IRE60
    Registered Users Posts: 1,880 ✭✭✭IRE60


    JTMan wrote: »

    ABC still have a role to play.


    Absolutely. It's a definitive metric. But I think that the progress of cross platforms means that this data has to be supplemented/augmented with other data.


    I see our friends on Newsbrands Ireland who published this article 'The Future of Media Planning is Integrated' are seriously on the ball! Article written in December 2013!
    http://newsbrandsireland.ie/the-future-of-media-planning-is-integrated/


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    #294
    JTMan
    Registered Users Posts: 5,535 ✭✭✭JTMan


    Voluntary redundancies at the Irish Times (Linked to the Landmark acquisition) ... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/ireland/newspaper-group-looks-for-voluntary-redundancies-bnclw0r8t


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    #295
    IRE60
    Registered Users Posts: 1,880 ✭✭✭IRE60


    Jaw dropping story on front of SBP in the INM data breech


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    #296
    JTMan
    Registered Users Posts: 5,535 ✭✭✭JTMan


    This is going to eventually lead to INM paying out large sums of money to those who's data was breached which would include sources. This has a phone hacking compensation ring to the whole story.


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    #297
    IRE60
    Registered Users Posts: 1,880 ✭✭✭IRE60


    I'm told that the redundancies in the Indo will be announced tomorrow. A reduction of 35 bodies will go through by the end of the day.


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    #298
    JTMan
    Registered Users Posts: 5,535 ✭✭✭JTMan


    Yeah, it was reported on the press.


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    #299
    IRE60
    Registered Users Posts: 1,880 ✭✭✭IRE60


    I see the 'press' aka the Indo press release suggested they would get 25 voluntary..... not the case on the ground!


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    #300
    Muahahaha
    Registered Users Posts: 19,610 ✭✭✭✭Muahahaha


    Interesting by the Sunday Times to drop their subscription fees from €21 a month to €5. Would imagine they are picking up a lot of new subscriptions because of it.


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    #301
    JTMan
    Registered Users Posts: 5,535 ✭✭✭JTMan


    The latest ABCA UK newspapers in Ireland numbers are here. 10% YoY decline. The decline continues.

    Separately, anyone any thoughts on what happens to these UK newspapers, well the ones that are imported, post a hard Brexit? Will distribution continue?


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