What’s different about the two scenarios described in these articles in BtoB Online today?
New York Times Co. earnings fall in second quarter
I’d suggest that the big difference is in McGraw-Hill’s strength in vertical publishing. If you read these brief articles, you’ll see that both the Times and BusinessWeek suffered declines in print advertising. However, McGraw-Hill’s earnings were boosted by revenues in Aviation Week and other vertical publications.
This goes to the contrast between what’s happening in the newspaper world and everywhere else. Big, broad general-interest publications like newspapers — and including magazines like Time and Newsweek — are suffering from a profusion of alternative information sources. However, certain vertical industries aren’t feeling the pinch at all and are, in fact, growing.
If you pick up an issue of Cigar Aficionado or Brides magazine, you’ll see what I mean. These publications are as fat with advertising as they ever have been. In both cases, readers enjoy sitting down with an elegant print publication and leafing through it, looking at the beautiful pictures. Newspapers, with their awkward format, grainy texture and ink that rubs off on your hands, are a much less enjoyable reading experience.
Just one more reason why it’s not good to be in the newspaper business these days.
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This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 25th, 2007 at 12:57 pm and is filed under Fake News, Paywalls. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
