Mather Report with David Clinch
David Clinch
#MediaRevenue Consultant at MGP. VP Partnerships - Mather Economics. #MediaRevenue
I mentioned last week my interest in the emergence of "Live Journalism" as a model for TV and digital news organizations covering breaking and developing news stories, as well as live events in entertainment and sports verticals.
I have heard from a number of you that this is a model your news organizations are adopting as TV News and Digital News outlets compete for the same audiences during big stories. The importance of keeping audiences engaged and then finding ways to convert them into loyal viewers and readers is becoming a top priority for news organizations of all kinds.
It is interesting to see CNN now move away from "hyping" breaking news while at the same time looking for ways to beef up its digital coverage post CNN+ to provide them more ways to keep audiences engaged during big stories. It seems this is a move towards highlighting, perhaps even "hyping," the journalism that they do to create a deeper relationship with their audience, even if they don't have a subscription model anymore.
As I mentioned before, we have now launched the "Mather: Strategies" consultancy service to support media organizations that are moving to the "digital transformation 2.0" stage of their development and aligning their technology, content and newsroom strategy to optimize for consumer revenue.
We are about to announce some very big additions to our strategic consultancy team and will be expanding our work with newspapers and magazines to include other kinds of media and even non media businesses. Stay tuned!!
Always let me know on Twitter if you spot any #MediaRevenue stories I may have missed. If you have any questions or comments about these updates, please get in touch .
Here is this week's curated selection of #MediaRevenue news:
"Maribel Perez Wadsworth, already in charge of USA Today and the regional USA Today network of 250 newspapers and sites, becomes president of Gannett Media, the publishing division. Kevin Gentzel, the top advertising and revenue officer for the last seven years, and Bernie Szachara, who had been president of U.S. publishing operations — are leaving the company."
"Vice Media is looking to cut costs and had brought in consultancy AlixPartners in recent weeks to help review its business as it explores a sale of its studio arm or the entire company, according to people familiar with the situation."
"Dotdash Meredith plans to possibly add more print titles to some of its flagship brands, CEO Neil Vogel told me in an interview at SABEW's annual conference for business journalism. Moving forward, print brands will be "smaller in circulation and much more luxury.""
"NPR conversation with incoming NYT executive editor Joe Kahn. Incoming 'New York Times' Chief Joe Kahn Says Reporters Must Show Their Value In Paper, Not Social Media."
"The move shows “60 Minutes” continuing to explore opportunities to reach a new set of viewers through digital means."
Recommended by LinkedIn
"Cinemark, one of the nation’s three largest theater chains, on Wednesday said its $10-a-month Movie Club subscription offering now has 1 million active members, marking a significant milestone for the Plano, Texas-based company. It has more than 3,000 members per theater across its U.S. circuit."
"The Economist’s monthly podcast listeners are now more than double its print subscriber base – and the audio products are paying their way despite being outside the publication’s paywall. But The Economist’s director of podcasts John Prideaux told Press Gazette that offering may not be free forever."
"The Independent’s new app aims to use its combined subscription and ad revenue model to help the newspaper hit four million registered users by the end of 2022."
"As NBC News bets on streaming's future with News Now, it also faces the question of whether grabbing viewers on streaming will cannibalize the mothership's bread-and-butter business of cable distribution fees."
"The deal, brokered by a billionaire’s charity (Minderoo) on behalf of members of the Public Interest Publishers Alliance, was facilitated by Australia’s divisive News Media Bargaining Code."
"HuffPost is now profitable. It operated profitably last year after the acquisition closed that February, BuzzFeed says. Now BuzzFeed is seeking to further grow HuffPost's revenue through investments like Voices, along with video and shopping."
"On top of the 220 million people who watched Cannes-related content on Brut’s different platforms, an estimated 150 million were reached by the posts of content creators at the festival with Brut."
"TikTok to Launch Subscription Comedy Docuseries With Pearpop. It will cost TikTok users $4.99 to watch."
---------------------------------------------------