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Social media, mobile devices and experimentation continues to take the stage within the media industry. But while the traditional industry appeared to remain stable throughout the year, a number of layoffs and consolidations indicate that the boat is still rocking.
Newspapers
Newspapers laid off hundreds between quarters two and three. Papers that consolidated staff include the Dallas Morning News, Las Vegas Sun, Orlando Sentinel, Los Angeles Times and Dayton Daily News, among others. The number of layoffs for Q3 is at least 100, while in Q2, Gannett laid off 700 alone.
Outlet launchings and closures nearly broke even. Like Q1 and Q2, online outlets made up the majority of the 23 launches. All 16 online sites to launch were Patch.com sites, which is consistent with past quarters where the Aol-owned hyperlocal sites made up the bulk of online launches then as well. Out of the 27 newspaper closures, 21 were weekly, including the New York Press and New York’s White Plain Times. Meanwhile, two online news organizations met their end, including the Seattle Post Globe, which was launched after the Seattle Post-Intelligencer folded in 2009. The nonprofit, volunteer-run site cited a drop in donations and little ad revenue as reasons the publication went under. One daily was lost when the Hartshorne Sun and McAlester News-Capital merged to form the McAlester News-Capital, a small daily in McAlester, Okla., with a circulation of approximately 9,052.
For newspapers, paywall experimentation has been prevalent in Q3. To name a few, New Jersey’s Press of Atlantic City, Colorado’s Greeley Tribune, North Texas’ Times Record News, the Boston Globe and Baltimore Sun all announced they would be instituting paywalls. Meanwhile, there continues to be a focus on community engagement through social media and other means such as the newsroom café, which was put into practice by the Register Citizen in Torrington, Conn. Recently, Canada’s Winnipeg Free Press joined the movement and opened its own newsroom café.
Magazines
Looking back to 2009 when magazine closures were greater than launches, new publications overtaking folds has become a positive trend in the last several quarters. And this quarter is no different with 36 launches and 24 closures. Out of the launches, seven were national, including Astonish, Makeshift and Pynke Magazine. Six magazines that debuted were regional, including Scooter and Owensboro Parent, while 10 of the launches were online magazines. Compared to this time frame in 2010, consumer launches are down with 18 this quarter from the 29 consumer launches in Q3 2010. Meanwhile, the trend in launches this quarter was toward home, parenting, lifestyle and business topics.
Out of the 24 magazine closures there were 10 consumer magazines, seven trade, four online consumer closures and three online trade magazine folds. Those magazines that folded include American Printer, High Gloss, World of Warcraft: the Magazine and Beverage World.
Television
While consolidating staff is not news, some stations are now moving main weekday anchors to work Sunday through Thursday or Tuesday through Saturday in order to cover weekends with less weekend-only staff, Vocus Media Researchers from the television team reported. Conventionally, weekend anchors report on the weekends, while weekday anchors never touched weekends. By doing this, not only are station owners able to eliminate some staff, but existing employees add flexibility to their schedule by no longer being restricted to only weekends or weekdays.
One example of this trend is at Milwaukee’s WITI-TV (Fox), where multiple staff like Ted Perry anchor both weekdays and weekends. Perry, for instance can be seen Monday through Thursday at 5 and 5:30 p.m., Sunday at 9 p.m. and Sunday through Thursday at 10 p.m.
Radio
According to Kyle Johnson, managing editor of the radio team at Vocus Media Research Group, radio is still the number one choice of listeners in their cars, despite the array of music-listening options. A September study from Arbitron and Edison Research backs this up, finding that 84 percent of all drivers and passengers reported using AM/FM radio compared to CD players at 68 percent. Meanwhile, the use of other digital choices like satellite radio and iPods may be small right now, but are on the rise. “Interestingly enough, one car manufacturer may be ready to drop CD players altogether. Ford recently announced that its latest Focus model would have a USB port allowing digital music players to be plugged in, rather than having a CD player,” said Johnson.
Internet-capable in-car stereo systems are expected to grow 83 percent over the next two years, noted Johnson. Citing a forecast from Consumer Electronics Association, Johnson said 410,000 aftermarket car radio systems with Web capabilities will be sold this year. By 2013, that number is expected to jump to 749,000.
Meanwhile, radio consolidation continues to be a trend. “Cumulus Media, the second-largest owner of radio stations in the country, bought Citadel broadcasting,” said Johnson. “Citadel was the third largest ownership group at the time of the merger.”
Conclusion
Although consolidations and layoffs are inevitable in a vastly changing industry, the media continues to embrace the digital. This is evident in the number of online outlets that launch each quarter, while experimentation with apps for mobile devices and paywalls dominate. Social media continues to play an increasingly significant role in the industry, which has begun strengthening its community engagement practices. The media industry may not be able to claim stability, but adaptation continues to be its M.O.
— Katrina M. Mendolera
