The stages of grief, including denial, anger, and acceptance, are often used to understand loss. It’s clear that many in the media industry are still grappling with the decline of print. While printing itself isn’t dead – desktop and laser printers are thriving – print media, specifically newspapers and magazines, faces an undeniable decline. If you resist this shift, your business could suffer.
While enjoying a Sunday newspaper seems harmless, clinging to outdated advertising methods can be detrimental. Historically, printing emerged in China with woodblock printing (xylography). Johann Gutenberg’s innovations in Europe around 1450 revolutionized printing, leading to nearly six centuries of dramatic global change. The evolution continues, with modern desktop printers exceeding the capabilities of 1950s print shops.
Print media struggles to maintain its grip as subscriber and advertiser bases shrink rapidly. Newspaper readership peaked in 1987, and decline has accelerated. Despite population growth, readership fell from 62.7 million in 1988 to 54.6 million in 2004. Magazines face similar challenges. Publications like Wired, The New York Times, TV Guide, National Geographic, and House & Garden all experience print decline. Overall magazine subscriptions have declined to 1994 levels. Consider these advertising page losses between 2004 and 2005:
TV Guide -20%
Country Home -12.7%
Fortune -10.2%
Fitness -16.1%
House & Garden -11.4%
National Geographic -17.4%
Newsweek -14.8%
TIME -17.5%
Wired -12.2%
Stock performance in 2005 further illustrates the trend:
Belo (BLC) -11.6%
Fisher (FSCI) -3.1%
Gannett (GCI) -24.2%
Gray (GTN) -38%
Hearst-Argyle (HTV) -6.9%
Media General (MEG) -17%
Meredith (MDP) -2.4%
New York Times (NYT) -30.7%
Tribune (TRB) -24.8%
Young (YBTVA) -80.2%
Source: Magazine Publishers of America (MPA), October 6th, 2005.
Some publications have raised prices to compensate for declining readership, effectively charging more to reach fewer people. This strategy is unsustainable. Businesses should shift their focus to online advertising, which offers boundless space, multimedia capabilities, and interactivity to reach vast audiences.
Internet advertising is booming. Banner ad sales rose by 10% in 2005, and Google’s keyword ad revenue soared by 96%! This growth comes at the expense of print, radio, and TV. Online advertising is projected to surpass $10 billion, with 30% growth. Companies like eBay, Yahoo, Match, and Google demonstrate the power of online advertising.
The Internet impacts radio and TV as well. Radio listenership is at a 25-year low, and major TV networks have lost a third of their viewers since 1985. Online news consumption, shopping, and selling are increasing. Researching information, buying products, and selling items (as demonstrated by eBay’s success) are all faster and more efficient online.
Consider vehicle sales: online ads reach millions with unlimited space, color photos, and email communication, offering a far more effective solution than small, costly print ads. The same principle applies to various goods. Websites can display entire product lines with interactive elements, whereas magazine ads are limited and quickly discarded.
Comparing costs, a local magazine charges $3,000 for a full-page color ad reaching 35,000+ readers – about $85.71 per thousand impressions. A banner ad on a city portal reaching 1,000,000 monthly visitors costs about $41.66 per month, or less than $0.05 per thousand impressions. Print ads can be 8,000 times more expensive per potential impression. To thrive online, aim to create a comprehensive website. For example, a baseball retailer should provide any information a customer might need, presented professionally. Users expect easy navigation, extensive information, and engaging content.
Print media is dying. Accept it to succeed. Newspapers and magazines are fading. As resources become scarcer and advertising demands increase, the handwriting is on the wall. Like businesses that embraced the typewriter, those that adapt to the digital age will survive.