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Short fuse in Poland
Not ashamed
The relationship between Poland’s politicians and its media is the stuff of mythology. Try as they might the country’s political leaders just can’t quite bring the media to heal. One broadcaster has told everybody they’re not ashamed.
A little background: last weekend Poland’s Law and Freedom political party (PiS) was handed a bit of a slap from voters. Head of the party Jaroslaw Kaczynski has not been the most media-friendly of politicians. Not long ago he was Prime Minister of Poland. His brother Lech Kaczynski is President of Poland. Under their rule the public radio and television broadcaster TVP and PR have fallen under political control. The media regulator has lost its independence. It’s so weird even Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation left town.
Wednesday (June 10) Jaroslaw Kaczynski faced reporters at a press conference. Eager they were to hear his views on the PiS election losses. One reporter, from Radio Zet, asked the question. Mr. Kaczynski lost it. “What is it about your station? It is embarrassing. I would be ashamed to work for Radio Zet.”
Needless to say, the crowd hushed.
Nimble Radio Zet, however, seized the day. The reporter, Mariusz Gierszewski, said he was not ashamed and that became, within hours, the station’s slogan. Every hour a variation on that theme has been broadcast.
The coup de grace came when Sports Minister and member of the PiS party Elizabeth Jakubiak was photographed wearing a shirt emblazoned with “Not ashamed of Radio Zet.”
"I understand that President Kaczynski’s words on Radio Zet were uttered under the influence of emotions,” said Radio Zet President Robert Kozyra. “As a good leader of the party he should, in my opinion, focus on strengthening their program and not abuse the free and independent media.”
Media watchers of the public sphere have oft called private sector broadcast media redundant, at best, in the cause of political criticism, preferring State media and institutional print media. Perhaps it is a hearing problem, too long in the dark place. (JMH)
Craigslist Grows Revenues 23%
Ever wonder just how much money Craigslist makes, having decimated print newspaper classifieds? Would you believe it is forecast to earn around $100 million this year, a 23% increase over last year at a time when US newspaper classified revenue dropped by 30%, the worst drop in newspaper history.
Peter Zollman, who runs the Aim Group, says that Craigslist, that earned just $7 million in 2003, is now on course to earn $100 million this year. And when one considers that a large part of the Craigslist listings are at no cost to users (how can newspapers compete with that?) then that growth is phenomenal.
As for Craigslist, they say they are a private company and don’t give out such financial information.
World’s Largest Advertiser Still Dropping Its Spend
Procter & Gamble, the world’s largest advertiser, dropped its US spend by 17.8% to $674 million in Q1, according to TNS Media Intelligence. That may not necessarily mean less spots, but rather more bang for their bucks as rate cards tumble.
And the largest advertising sector in the US – automotive – cut its spend by 28.4% to $2.3 billion with dealers halving their budgets. With GM and Chrysler dumping dealers it’s doubtful there will be a return to the good old days. GM itself cut its Q1 spend by 19.1% to $424.2 million.
Overall US advertising dropped by 14.2% to $30.2 billion for the quarter. In Q4, 2008 the drop was 9.2% so things are getting worse even if some advertising executives are saying they believe the market has bottomed out. We’ve heard that before!
Sports rights key to Setanta crisis
And Murdoch, too
Pay TV sports broadcaster Setanta is on the ropes as its board negotiates for a financial solution. All reasonable offers are, apparently, being considered. Setanta missed a €3.5 million (£3 million) payment to the Scottish Premiere League Monday (June 8). Due next week is a €35 million (£30 million) payment to the English Premiere League.
American sports broadcaster ESPN made an offer last week that Setanta rejected. Reports suggest that offer is being reconsidered. Setanta founders Michael O'Rourke and Leonard Ryan with investment bank Goldman Sachs are trying to strap together €50 million to save the broadcaster from bankruptcy. Setanta is based in Ireland, facing a subscription shortfall and finding few friends.
The Scottish Premiere League is also in a bit of a panic, saying at least two teams will face bankruptcy because of Setanta’s non-payment. If Setanta fall into bankruptcy rights would be returned to rights holders who could reasonably expect far lower prices. Advantage: Murdoch.
Wednesday (June 10) BT Vision, IPTV carrier of the Setanta sports channel, suspended new sign-ups. That was one day after BT Vision CEO Dan Marks abruptly resigned, “frustrated” by the failure of regulators to blunt BSkyB’s market dominance and a very slow road to approvals for Project Canvas, the BT, ITV and BBC IPTV joint venture.
“What is happening to Setanta is a pretty good example of the challenges that are faced by everybody in this marketplace which is so profoundly dominated by BSkyB,” said Marks on his way out.
Setanta and BT recently took up the digital TV multiplex in Ireland abandoned by Communicorp and Sweden’s Boxer. (See that story here)
Talks between Setanta and BSkyB to re-write rights, temporarily, for football matches apparently came to a screeching halt. Setanta offered BSkyB retail rights and wanted €60 million in advance. In true Murdochian form BSkyB’s response was “we’re a broadcaster not a bank.”
BSkyB demanded UK media regulator OFCOM investigate Project Canvas, to which it quickly complied. (JMH)
Fun Radio Bratislava begins 2nd decade
I am the Fun
As the 1980’s ended so did State broadcasting monopolies. Slovakia’s Fun Radio began broadcasting June 10, 1990 shortly after the country’s divorce from the Czech Republic. Through much of its history the station has remained among the top three in audience surveys. (See Slovakia national radio audience here)
Fun Radio is a contemporary music station. The name is borrowed from RTL’s French radio network. That and the logo are the only relationship with RTL as the station is locally owned. The station’s current slogan is “I am the Fun Radio.”
Across Eastern and Central Europe many of the early entrants have held significant market share, particularly those influenced or operated by foreign broadcast groups. Over the last two decades a considerable competitive shake-out has removed the less experienced and less well financed of those inspired by the end of State control. It is no surprise that radio’s share of advertising in these countries tends to be higher than in much of Western Europe. (JMH)
Newsprint Prices Take Big Weekly Price Drop …
We had predicted that with the AbitibiBowater bankruptcy filing that US newsprint prices would start to fall dramatically and this week we now have the proof. Standard 30lb newsprint dropped to $564.83, that’s a whopping 8% drop from last week, according to FOEX Indexes. In the past 10 weeks the price has dropped by $110 – that’s down 16%.
According to AbitibiBowater Chief Financial Officer William G. Harvey in bankruptcy court papers, the current economy is causing an unprecedented decline in newsprint demand” (probably helped along the way by newspapers cutting down on their newsprint needs.) “Negative trends in advertising, electronic data transmission and storage, and a continued expansion of the Internet, have exacerbated downward pressure on revenue,” he told the court.
AbitibiBowater has received court approval to accept $600 million in financing which Harvey said was “sorely needed.”
… But At Any Price Is Newsprint A Feasible Newspaper Commodity?
Much is being made by an analysis from Moodys on how money is spent producing a print newspaper. There seems to be considerable shock that 70% of a newspaper’s cost goes on printing, distribution and corporate functions whereas only 14% gets spent on creating content and 16% goes for advertising functions.
Those kinds of numbers give ample reason why so many newspapers today are making printing and distribution deals with their neighbors (and competitors).
And whereas most of the publicity over the years has been on how newspapers have had to cut editorial costs, those Moodys numbers would indicate the problem is not really editorial at all, but rather in the back shop and delivery, but once again the industry was too late in attacking the problem where it really counted.
Now, if people can be persuaded to read a newspaper online or via digital delivery on equipment like Kindle for the same subscription cost as for print, and a newspaper didn’t have newsprint, printing presses or trucks to worry about, then why shouldn’t newspapers at some point return to their 20% plus margins of old.
Now That’s Convergence!
The Fox Business Channel (Murdoch) ran a great interview Monday with Rupert Murdoch (that must have been a hard “get”) and the banner display ad at the top of the page was for the Wall Street Journal (Murdoch) at 80% off. Now that’s all what we really call convergence!
The WSJ offer is kinda interesting. It gives you the choice of the digital WSJ for $1.99 a week, the print WSJ for $2.29 a week, or both for just $2.69 a week – the latter being 37% off the standalone price for both when priced separately, but 80% off the digital price assuming the print newspaper is sold at full rate.
Now how the accountants actually book this only they know, but if they do it the way the ad reads then it means print continues to be sold at full rate and the 40 cents charged for digital is indeed 80% off the digital standalone rate. Is that the true worth of the WSJ digital service?
Publishers and their marketing folk should take a close look at this. Dow Jones is apparently saying its digital service which one has to admit is really quite complete for general and business news is worth standalone about $2 a week. Is that where publishers should be pitching their digital sites? Note the price is less than print’s subscription. But the most bang for the bucks is a combo offer which really prices digital at just 40 cents a week on top of the full price of print.
Since newspaper publishers have held at least two supposedly clandestine meetings to discuss how to charge for digital then maybe they should probably take a close look at this Dow Jones model.
Murdoch Says Newspapers Will Continue, Just Not Necessarily On Paper
That Murdoch interview we mentioned above has media’s elder statesman saying that he believes newspapers will continue well into the future, but there may well come a time when they won’t appear on paper.
“I can see the day – and it may be 20 years away – where you don’t actually have paper and ink and printing presses,” he said. Does that mean he’s already thinking of moth balling his three new UK print sites which cost around $1.2 billion?
He said that within 10 years he expects most newspapers to be available digitally, whether on the PC or mobile devices like Kindle. “It’s going to be something quite mobile that you can take around with you. We are moving into a digital age and it’s going to change newspapers,” he said.
Well, just as long as it’s toilet-proof!
Radio promotion Russian style
Reduce stress
Creativity is often a matter of frame and canvas, so to speak. And every media culture has theirs. Russian media, if you excuse the mixed metaphor, often goes the extra mile… literally.
In Moscow last week (June 3) Megapolis FM and streaming TV portal YATV took their “mobile tele-radio show” on the road in a customized Hummer H2. The afternoon drive-time show (1700-1900 Moscow time) is called No Stress. The Hummer is equipped with a mobile DJ studio and a full-time comedian. “Stressful situations in traffic jams are now cancelled,” says the promo. (See recent Moscow radio audience survey here)
Way over in the Russian east, Radio Sibir offered a different “mobile” competition. As part of a local Tomsk festival, the station sponsored a mobile phone tossing contest (June 6). I sense a commercial hook to the idea of throwing away old mobile phones. The winner – throwing more than 77 meters – got a new one. (JMH)
European Parliament file sharing vote
Avast, me hearties
By most accounts, weekend voting rates for European Parliament seats fell. Snap analyses are as numerous as reporters. The Swedish participation rate was, however, 6% higher at 43.8%, reports Dagens Media (June 8). Slovenian voters lost the dishonor of the least voter turnout. That went to Lithuania at 16% with Slovenian turnout at 19%. Belgians, it seems, turned out for their biggest employer at more than 80%.
The European Commission spent considerable time, talent and money on get-out-the-vote campaigns. Much of that effort was funneled through local agencies. “The mandate of the Parliament was to get more people to go and vote,” said Mattias Andersson of Scholtz & Friends Agenda, the agency selected to develop an information campaign aimed at creating interest in the election. “The message got through in Sweden, regardless of which party you prefer.”
The Swedish vote had a decidedly local hook. The right-wing Pirate Party, as the most recent count has it, will send two representatives to the EP. Among Swedes under 30 the Pirate Party may have received about one in five votes.
The Pirate Party’s agenda may, if heard, unnerve some of the old Brussels hands, like every fringe party. It has, essentially, one message: keep internet file-sharing legal. Founders of the Pirate Party and bitTorrent file-sharing portal Pirate Bay are one and the same. (JMH)
Somalia war claims another broadcaster
Radio Shabelle suffers
Somalia is the worst of the worst environments for broadcasters. Sunday morning (June 7) Shabelle Radio and TV director Mukhtar Mohamed Hirabe was gunned down by “unknown” assailants, according to local reports. Program Director Ahmed Tijar was also shot and was taken to hospital in critical condition.
Two Radio Shabelle reporters were killed this year in separate incidents. Hirabe survived a February assisanation attempt in the same Bakaro market district of Mogadishu that claimed the life of Radio HornAfrik director Said Tahliil Ahmed. (JMH)
Culture Ministers Swapped
Digital plan still on track
As the UK government of PM Gordon Brown totters, a cabinet shuffle swapped Culture and Health Ministers (June 5). Minister of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Andy Burnham has become health minister. Ben Bradshaw, a former BBC journalist, is now Culture Minister.
What, ho; they asked? At first DCMS spokespeople said the omnibus Digital Britain report, referred alternatively as the Grand Unifying Theory or the octopus, is still on track for release June 16th…or there about. Then, said another spokesperson, things might change.
One day before the political stroke (June 4), Burnham told a music industry conference he’d not be supportive of a “three strikes” policy on internet downloaders, similar to one pushed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Cutting people off, he said, was not the governments “preferred option.” Recently Burnham appeared to support an investigation into the treatment of a reality-talent show participant by broadcaster ITV and the shows’ producer.
A DCMS spokesperson suggested (June 6) that policy statements made by Burnham were subject to change as Bradshaw assumes the dossier.
Communications Minister Stephen Carter, once head of regulator OFCOM, is leading the charge for Digital Britain, with the joint sponsorship of DCMS and the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulators Reform (DBRR). One UK source described the Digital Britain plan as arriving while the UK government discovered its favored money source, the financial sector, drying up. But, then, we wait to see of the Brown government lives another week. (JMH)
EBU Names New DG
will succeed Jean Réveillon
Ingrid Deltenre from Swiss German public television Schweitzer Fernsehen (DSF) was named to replace Jean Réveillon as Director General. (See EBU release here)
Ms Deltenre has been Director of DSF since 2004 and previously Director of Publisuisse, the advertising arm of Swiss public broadcasting SSR-SRG.
Réveillon previously announced he'd not been seeking reappointment. EBU DG's and most department heads serve six year terms which are often - but not always - renewed.
Jean-Bernard Münch, currently Chairman of the Board of Directors at SSR-SRG, served two terms as EBU DG from 1990 until 2002. Münch was succeeded by Jean Stock from French public channel TV 5, who served less than a full term. Réveillon, also from French public TV, became DG in 2004.
Ms Deltenre's appointment to DSF caused a bit of grumbling at the time as she came with no background in journalism. (JMH)
Truce declared in football battle
Harmony to follow
Heavily in debt Spanish media company Sogecable/Prisa reached a peace accord with rival Mediapro in the painful battle over football broadcasts, reports El Mundo (June 6). The agreement concluded Thursday night (June 4) after 23 hours of continuous negotiation sorts out football rights. Wrapped around Spain’s dismal economics, media barons who hate each other and government attempts at solving everything, the media war continues over deteriorating spoils.
The much expected merger of television and radio operations also is taking a step forward. The agreement give the companies 30 days to negotiate just how a new holding company might be formed with Prisa’s pay TV Digital+, free-to-air Channel 4 (Quatro) and four Portuguese channels and Mediapro’s Imagina operation, which owns a majority of free-to-air La Sexta. (See more on Spanish TV here)
The football agreement covers the next three seasons and, essentially, returns scheduling to pre-war lines. Digital+ will broadcast matches on Sundays.
A bit of blood was extracted. Blamed for the war Sogecable CEO Javier Díez de Polanco, nephew of Prisa founder Jesús de Polanco, offered his head a month ago (May 4), which was immediately accepted. Concluding the agreement is seen as necessary for Prisa, which also owns dominant radio network Cadena SER and newspaper El Pais, to extract itself from Digital+, presumably for a mountain of cash.
Prisa owes banks €5 billion. (JMH)
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