NEW YORK TIMES: …Almost two weeks ago, The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, which is owned by Advance Publications, announced that it would cut back its print schedule to just three days a week. Within hours, its sister publications The Birmingham News, The Press-Register of Mobile and The Huntsville Times followed suit. Four days later, Postmedia announced that three of its papers, The Calgary Herald, The Edmonton Journal and The Ottawa Citizen would all eliminate their Sunday editions…
By cutting back on print publishing, newspaper executives are betting they can wean loyal customers and advertisers from their daily print newspaper habit, while at the same time driving them to their own Web site. Some industry analysts warn that readers raised on a daily newspaper appearing at their door will lose a sense of loyalty if it arrives only a few days a week. It is like having CBS and NBC going dark on nights when they do not sell much advertising…
Newspaper executives argue that printing and delivering newspapers only on certain days will sharply cut costs while at least preserving some of the paper advertising, which remains far more lucrative than digital ads. Harold Vogel, a media analyst and author of “Entertainment Industry Economics,” estimated that costs like ink, printing and delivery, make up at least 30 percent of total costs for the paper…. (more)
