Vanishing Daily Newspapers, Drop in Newspaper Ad Spending, New Snapchat Partner Deal, Apple News Traffic Increases, TFP’s October Book Picks, Infographic Pick of the Week

Welcome to Technology for Publishing’s roundup of news and tips for media industry pros! This week, we’re sharing stories about the affect corporate ownership is having on local newspapers, a big drop in newspaper ad spend, a plan where Snapchat will pay Discover partners up front but keep all the ad revenue, how Apple News is driving big boosts in publishers’ traffic, and more.

newspaper-chart

  • Poynter reported on a just released study that examines how corporate ownership and digital disruption have impacted local newspapers in the U.S. In short, the study shows corporate investment and consolidation have created “news deserts,” with hundreds of newspapers either being shut down, merged, or reduced to weeklies as ownership changes hands. Poynter highlighted the following takeaways from the study: More than 33% of U.S. newspapers have changed ownership since 2004; the biggest newspapers are getting bigger; investment groups typically rely on cost-cutting and financial restructuring; and investors often aren’t in the newspaper business for the long term.
  • To add to that, The Wall Street Journal reported global newspaper print ad spending is expected to drop sharply this year. According to estimates by GroupM, spending will fall 8.7% to $52.6 billion in 2016, the biggest decrease since the recession, when worldwide spending plummeted 13.7% in 2009. That means publishers industrywide may have to “consider significant cost cuts and dramatic changes to their print and digital products,” the report said, noting The New York Times and WSJ will likely see layoffs, which have already occurred at the Guardian and the Daily Mail in the U.K., among others. Global magazine ad spending is also projected to decline 2.9% this year, it added.
  • Snapchat proposed a new deal whereby it will pay Discover partners a flat fee and keep all the resulting ad revenue itself—much the way TV networks buy programming, according to Recode. Previously, both publishers and Snapchat sold ads to run with Discover content, with sales splits based on terms of the deal. Now, the messaging app wants “full control over its ad inventory as it gears up for a public offering,” the report said. The offer is a double-edged sword, however: Publishers can create content for the app knowing they’re guaranteed a paycheck, but the arrangement also caps how much money they can make on their content, it said.
  • Meanwhile, a Digiday post said while Apple News is increasing traffic to publishers’ websites, monetization remains elusive. Since the mobile news app was updated as part of the iOS 10 rollout in September, including breaking news notifications and enhancements to its main “For You” section, some publishers are reporting that they’re seeing more traffic than that from Google’s rival mobile article offering, Accelerated Mobile Pages. The Atlantic, for example, said its traffic has doubled. The report added Apple has promised that better tracking and monetization options for publishers are coming.

On the Technology for Publishing Blog

Chart: Poynter/NewspaperOwnership.com

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Posted by: Monica Sambataro

Monica Sambataro
Monica Sambataro is a contributing editor and copyeditor for Technology for Publishing. Her publishing background includes work for leading technology- and business-related magazines and websites.
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