New York Times Local 2.0?
Take two significant announcements of the day. Mix. And let’s see what we get.
The first I’d call New York Times Local 2.0.
Scott Heekin-Canady, president of the New York Times Media Group, told the FT that the Times may take its local edition push into 10-15 cities relatively soon. “We’re in active discussions for five markets now,” he said. Why? Heekin-Canady “cited depressed local economics.”
The Times Company doesn’t have to look beyond its own balance sheets to see that depression, witness the second announcement of the day — the every-six-months’ report of FAS-FAX, the Audit Bureau of Circulation report from most of the country’s largest papers. Though the numbers are getting more like fruit salad, with fewer apples-to-apples comparison easy to make given changing standards, as well pointed out by E and P’s Mark Fitzgerald. Just up the road, the Times-owned Boston Globe took a deep dive, down another 18.8% on Sunday to 379,000 copies and an astounding 23% daily, to 232,000, dropping from the ranks of the nation’s top 25 dailies. Even the smaller market Sarasota Herald-Tribune — a New York Times Regional News Group paper — saw a 7.7% decline in daily circulation.
Overall, the numbers are still brutal — by historical standards. 8.7% daily decline overall, 6.5% Sunday decline overall. The only saving grace? Replace the word “bloodbath” with “strategy.” As in: keep pricing up the print paper, retaining a sizable (if much smaller) print audience willing to pay for the luxury, convenience, and portability.
In other words, the print paper is becoming the Starbucks buy, well up-market from the Dunkin Donuts of cheaper, free, digital media. Have no doubt: it is, in part, strategy. News companies have seen a future in which ad revenue growth, in fact, ad revenue stability, is problematic. So they want to shift their revenue mix, getting a higher percentage of it from readers, offline and online. Despite continuing circ declines, the New York Times Company reported a 3.5% increase in circulation revenue. The Times saw increases in through the recession; many other newspaper companies are following similar strategies, moving up single-copy and subscription prices by 50% or more.
Which takes us back to the connection between Heekin-Canady’s comments on NYT local expansion and the FAS-FAX report.
The Times’ local forays can be thought of as very 1.0, in three parts: 1) the local print editions, first in Chicago (partnered with the Chicago News Cooperative) and the Bay Area (soon to be augmented by Bay Citizen); 2) The Locals, in New Jersey and New York, soon to be joined by Jay Rosen’s East Village site; 3) the FWIX test, at the Times-owned Santa Rosa site. Each interesting unto itself, each not yet connected to the other two. Hence NYT Local 1.0.
The Times has learned that the local print editions do help with all-important print retention and small, incremental sales, though overall the NYT struggled in today’s FAS-FAX as well, down 5% on Sunday and 8.5% daily, while its nemesis Wall Street Journal — taking a discounting route — was up less than a point.
Now, as it approaches expanding to five or ten or 15 cities, here are four big points to keep in mind, to start:
1) What’s the Times sales pitch to local partners? It has talked with daily newspaper themselves, as well as start-up news sites. Regional dailies can certainly feel defensive, and maybe should, but the right deal with the Times might provide mutual benefits.
2) What’s the ad model? Can the Times pull together its print and online sales products and staffs to smartly sell national — and local. Print — and digital. I hear that’s a work in progress, and needs to be cinched together, if this is a multi-city strategy.
3) Does public radio fit, in a big or small way, in these plans? The Times tried to dance with KQED in Northern California, but any agreement has so far stumbled. With Vivian Schiller (ex: NYT) and Kinsey Wilson pushing forward strongly with the Public Media Platform — and NYT reporters NPR reporting go-tos for international coverage — what’s the play here that makes mutual business sense?
4) What about the Journal? The Journal is starting to move on local editions as well. Will it meet the NYT expanded challenge with local partnerships of its own?