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Third Quarter even tougher on Free Papers
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Revenue surveys of free papers for the third quarter indicate that is even tougher than the first two quarters of 2008.
Only 26.4% of free papers indicate that they are up more than 1% in the third quarter compared to 39.2% and 32.6% in the first two quarters, respectively. After a tough year in 2007, continuing downward trends are tough on the industry.
Particularly hard hit are the west coast, northeast and southeast. The west coast region reports only 14.3% of publishers are ahead of last year with 20.0% of northeast publishers and 24.2% of southeast publishers exceeding a year ago. The midwest and mid-atlantic regions had shown gains over a year ago earlier in the year, but are now pacing behind last year.
Although newspapers are faring slightly better than shoppers, both are significantly behind last year and worse than they were in the second quarter.
Urban markets are performing a little better than suburban and rural markets; however, all are down from a year ago.
While these amounts are bleak, the future does show some opportunities. Many publishers are experimenting with online revenue streams and are starting to show gains, albeit small in comparison to their print losses. In addition, strictly online players are increasingly feeling pressure to show earnings rather than simply rely on significant growth in market share.
The Technology School at the 2009 AFCP Conference & Trade Show in Myrtle Beach will showcase several areas where publishers can increase online revenues making this a "must attend" event.
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SRDS acquired by ad agency; no big changes expected
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WPP Acquisition of SRDS Leaves List Executives Underwhelmed
The acquisition of Standard Rate and Data Services (SRDS) by the
advertising agency conglomerate WPP Group is unlikely to have any
substantial impact on list brokerage and management companies,
according to list industry analysts. London-based WPP
announced on Tuesday that it would be acquiring SRDS in a deal that's
expected to close by the end of this year. It's part of larger swap of
assets between Nielsen Co. the owner of SRDS and WPP.
The
SRDS list directory services used by list brokers and managers
represent only a portion of the media services offered by SRDS.
Moreover, this highly specialized sector is like a blip compared to
WPP, an ad agency holding company with a presence in 100 countries and
in excess than 100,000 employees.
WPP
owns some the biggest names in the agency world. Its holdings include
Grey Global Group, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, Young & Rubicam
and JWT. The list of advertising and marketing services companies owned
by WPP is nearly three pages long. Read more...
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