Newspaper Revenue Research Articles

How the Internet Changed the Market for Print Media

Combining rich data from the Norwegian media market with exogenous variation in the availability and adoption of broadband internet, this paper provides causal evidence on how the internet affected traditional print media. Broadband internet adoption triggered large reductions in print readership and circulation and equally large increases in online news readership. Despite strong substitution from print to online news consumption, newspaper revenues fell dramatically. Newspapers responded to this adverse technology shock along multiple dimensions, including cutting costs by reducing labor inputs and the physical newspaper size and changing the print product available to customers by reducing tabloid content share. (JEL D24, L13, L25, L82, L86, O33)

Digitally facilitated newspaper consumption and value co-creation

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to provide insights into value creation within a newspaper consumption community, adding to current information research by demonstrating how an atypical consumption community can co-create value in ways different from those identified in extant research. The upheaval of the newspaper industry’s business model and value chain in the face of digitalisation has led to significant decreases in newspaper revenue. To stay successful in the modern digital climate, it is essential for newspapers to utilise the interactive features of Web 2.0 to find new value sources. To do so, it is necessary to focus not just on tangible financial value but also symbolic value. The study supports the notion that consumers collectively co-create value through consumption community practices.Design/methodology/approachThrough the conduction of a netnographic exploration of active consumers on the Guardian website and interviews with passive consumers, the study’s aims of understanding co-creation in digitally facilitated newspaper consumption environment were achieved.FindingsThe findings have opened up new ways in which newspapers can harness value through consumption communities as well as suggesting the future scope of research. This study indicates that newspapers foster an atypical environment for the creation of a cohesive consumption community – something that has failed to be appreciated in extant information research – because their diverse content influences the formation of multiple community pools with members who do not always share the same beliefs. In addition, the study reveals that the Guardian’s online consumption community co-creates value without strict adherence to the prescribed contingencies set out in current literature. The findings uncover new patterns in community behaviour proving value to be created not just through their co-consumption but also through individual consumption.Originality/valueThis study contributes to discussions on how communities co-create value and how this differs with different article subjects (lifestyle and political and types of participants, both active and passive).

Reducing Publication Decreases U.S. College Newspaper Revenue

This survey of U.S. college newspapers finds that reducing the number of days the paper publishes does not save money. Instead the newspapers' financial data suggest that cutting the days of publication leads to substantial loss of advertising revenue.

Paywalls

This commentary explores the ramifications of declining newspaper revenues due to a growing percentage of readers who use the internet to access news content. The author explores the ramifications of the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Newsday and Popular Science adopting a paywall. He also discusses The Daily, a newspaper which exists exclusively on the iPad. Another model discussed is that of Apple’s iTunes and its potential for newspaper content distribution. Paywalls are put forward as a possible means of redress for this problem. ©Journal of Professional Communication, all rights reserved.

The Impact of Newsroom Investment on Newspaper Revenues and Profits: Small and Medium Newspapers, 1998–2002

This study used Inland Press Association data from 1998 to 2002 for newspapers with less than 85,000 circulation and found a positive relationship between newsroom investment and circulation revenue per copy, advertising revenue per copy, total revenue per copy, and gross profit per copy. The strongest relationships were between newsroom investment and total revenue per copy and advertising revenue per copy. For both variables and for all five years, newsroom investment accounted for at least 20% of the variance in these financial performance variables.

Selling news and advertising space: The economics of Dutch newspapers

This article presents an analysis of developments over the period 1968–1991 on both the reader and advertising markets of Dutch newspapers. We are interested in the characteristics of both markets and in the interactions between the two markets. Our analysis shows that newspaper revenue is mainly influenced by macroeconomic developments. A negative influence of TV advertising on revenue from the advertising market exists, but is fairly limited. The newspaper industry as a whole seems to be able to deal with these threats to their revenue by raising the real prices they charge for their products.

Music in Advertising: An Analytic Paradigm

A is the means by which one party attempts to convince or entice another into purchasing a particular product or service. It differs from the sort of one-on-one sales pitch an individual might encounter at the point of sale in that it addresses a larger, more general audience. Advertising therefore differs substantially from persuasive conversation insofar as it relies entirely on mass media and consequently on widespread social meanings rather than personal or idiosyncratic motivations for purchasing. Historically, advertising was first introduced in print media. Early newspapers were short broadsheets entirely filled with text; newspaper revenues came only through reader subscription. The advent of newspaper advertising created a dual revenue system in which income was gathered from both subscribers and advertisers. The advertising message was piggybacked on the stories. Newspapers consequently sold two commodities: to the subscriber, they sold stories; to the advertiser, they sold access to a market of a certain sort. With the advent of photography and photolithography, the illustrated news broadsheets gave birth to the modern magazine. While retaining a partial orientation, the magazine fostered review, biographical pieces, analytic features, and photo spreads. More important, technical innovations permitted more sophisticated advertising—employing eye-catching full-page photographs. Approximately two-thirds of newspaper and magazine revenues are now generated from the advertising. A magazine's primary market has thus shifted from readers to advertisers.