The Disconnect Between Media Reach and Revenue PLUS Digital Strategies at The Evening Standard and Gannett: Far Enough, Fast Enough?

July 08, 2021

A good roundup of various strategies by Gannett in the US and the Evening Standard in the UK as they hunt for revenue and sustainability. In 2020, the name of the game was survival. Economic growth in the US might be as good as it will get this year, and it will be interesting to see if newspaper groups like Gannett can benefit from that. In the UK, the economic news is less bullish, but for newspapers like the Evening Standard, it will be interesting to see if it can restore its events business and other revenue pillars as the pandemic eases.

There is also a really interesting study out of the UK that shows how audience reach remains disconnected from revenue. That has really been the case for print publications since 2008, and it has never been restored. What is very difficult is to see the shoestring budgets and revenue for small publications. It's a huge and difficult challenge.

Press Gazette has been reporting on British journalism without fear or favour since 1965. Our mission is to provide a news and information service which helps the UK journalism.

After a tough year (for all publishers), I think we'll have to look to this year and beyond to see if the digital transformation is actually taking root. The paper had issues before 2020 and hasn't turned a profit since 2016. They are betting on events and branded content, which feel a bit dated as a strategy. Like so many publications, it's an effort of surviving long enough to see if they can run their digital transformation strategy.

Press Gazette has been reporting on British journalism without fear or favour since 1965. Our mission is to provide a news and information service which helps the UK journalism.

Dr Clare Cook, senior lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire who co-authored the report, said: “Digital open access publishing tools have created a myriad of opportunities to create new public interest news media, but finding a way to be remunerated with a corresponding slice from the digital economy remains a challenge.

“Many are lean operations generating sustainable but small incomes of less than £20,000. Advertising still makes up a significant part of the revenue mix, and the transition to reader revenues is small.

The marketplace for online news has thus far rewarded (a) premium quality and (b) local connection. USA Today's digital subscription offering seems likely, in its current form at least, to fall between those two stools.

Josh Benton says: " Personally, I would have argued for a tie-up between local and USA Today subs. People’s attachment to their local daily is far stronger than to the paper they used to read at the airport La Quinta, and local digital subs are the single most important factor in Gannett’s future success or failure."

I think that this might have made sense for a digital sub to USA Today bundled with the local offering. But Gannett has denuded so many of its local properties that the value proposition there is weak.

Since launching a subscription bundle for its titles in May, active lifestyle publisher Outside has seen 40% of new subscribers choose the Outside+ bundle.

“This is an example of a publisher that is throwing a lot of things into the mix in an effort to sell a magazine subscription and keep up their rate base,” said Melissa Chowning, founder and CEO of audience development and marketing firm Twenty-First Digital. “It is hard to sell a magazine subscription alone to an audience under 40 these days, and if that ad revenue is still a primary source of revenue, their print rate base matters a lot. So it seems like they are spicing up the offering to make the magazine a more attractive sell to the consumer.”

Newspaper-heavy Gannett looking to expand its digital reach by bolstering its product-review website, Reviewed.

Gannett has the scale to build this property, but while I've heard of and use Wirecutter, I had never heard of Gannett's service. But they are slowly building up digital revenue streams.

What listening behaviors, show preferences and listener profiles looked like during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has — and forever will — change the way we live…

Pre-pandemic, top listening hours aligned with peak commuting times, which have been replaced by a shift to lunchtime/early afternoon (11 a.m. — 2 p.m.). Similarly, household chores and gardening have replaced commuting as the primary activity that listeners do while listening to podcasts.

A Meditation on the Role of Data

On Technology & Change

This feels a little like an elegy for serendipity by a poet against the tyranny of quants, but there is a good point, which is all data analysis needs context. And everyone who uses numbers for analysis - and I do - knows the limits of quantitative data.