AMMC Event, Media General Deal, Measuring Distributed Audiences, The Economist’s Messaging App Rollout, TFP’s Infographic Pick of the Week, Adobe Digital Publishing Solution v2016.1 Release
Welcome to Technology for Publishing’s roundup of news and tips for media industry pros! This week, we’re sharing stories about the lineup at MPA’s AMMC event next week, the end of the road for Meredith’s merger deal with Media General, publishers struggling to make sense of platform metrics, a new Economist offering on messaging app Line, and more.
- In case you missed the announcement, Michelle Obama will be making an appearance at the MPA’s American Magazine Media Conference in New York next week (Feb 1-2), along with a long list of publishing industry A-listers and other media influencers. The First Lady will join More magazine EIC and panel moderator Lesley Jane Seymour, actors Lena Dunham and Julianne Moore, and others to discuss humanitarian topics in a “Media with Purpose” panel, according to the Association of Magazine Media site. Other sessions will focus on innovation and achieving balance, the business of selling celebrity news, the challenges of election coverage, native advertising and content marketing, the 21st century media agency, transformation, and more. There will also be a CEO panel and breakout sessions on everything from leveraging video and social media to growing digital audiences and revenue. TFP CEO Margot Knorr Mancini will be at the event as well—stay tuned for live updates!
- It’s official: Talking New Media reported Meredith’s merger with Media General is dead with the announcement that Nexstar Broadcasting Group will buy Media General in a $4.6 billion cash and stock deal. The agreement will combine the assets of the two local broadcast leaders to create one of the largest local TV station operators in the country—without adding any print properties to the new company’s portfolio, as Meredith brought to the table. For its troubles, Meredith will receive a $60 million break-up fee. “While we still believe in the strategic and financial benefits a merger with Media General would have created, we are pleased with the financial benefits of the termination agreement and the shareholder value created,” Meredith CEO Stephen Lacy said in a statement.
- It’s all about distributed content strategies today, but deciphering the jumble of audience metrics coming in from various channels is no easy feat for publishers. As Digiday pointed out, platforms differ on frequency of reporting and definition of “exposure,” and there’s no single third-party measurement tool out there. “Apple News is going to measure differently because it’s a different audience and use case than Snapchat and Instagram and messaging apps and watches,” explained CNN’s Meredith Artley in the article. While some publishers are frustrated with a “lack of targeting and thinness of metrics” from platforms like Snapchat, others focus on “content views” to determine not just pageviews on their sites but also engagement with their content across other channels. “Clients are more interested in total exposure,” said Bleacher Report’s Rory Brown, though he agreed that without a standard way to measure audiences across platforms, publishers will continue to have a tough time monetizing social.
- Despite that challenge, social media now plays a big role in every publisher’s content strategy. Question is, where is it going next? The Economist is betting on messaging apps, announcing a plan to start publishing charts and other content on messaging service Line. In a Nieman Lab report, The Economist’s Tom Standage said the publisher selected Japan-based Line over WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger because the app’s audience is “complementary” to The Economist’s Facebook and Twitter audiences and “supports both bots and conversational interfaces, which is something we plan to experiment with this year.” As of the end of the year, Line had 215 million monthly active users, 67% of whom are in Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia, Nieman said. The app also brought in 2015 revenue of US$1.02 billion from sales of items like stickers, books, and games, as well as advertising.
On the Technology for Publishing Blog
- TFP’s Infographic Pick of the Week: Our latest infographic pick delves into the science behind why we respond more readily to compelling storytelling over other methods of presenting information. See how you can more effectively cut through the noise and hold readers’ attention.
- Adobe Digital Publishing Solution Tip: Check out Monica Murphy’s recent post on how to simply drag and drop image files for required assets like icons and splash screens.
- Adobe Digital Publishing Solution Update: Get highlights of all the new features, enhancements, and bug fixes in Adobe’s just released v2016.1.
Image: Association of Magazine Media website
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Posted by: Monica Sambataro
