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Lagardère proposes service cuts
Regulator and unions informed
Largardère Active Radio, one of the three big French national network operators, opened to door to local market service cuts for its Virgin Radio and RMF brands, reports Le Monde (December 17). Presentations to both the French regulator CSA and unions were made this week, though group CEO Didier Guillot said, “no decision has been made.” Consultant Jean Isnard made the recommendation to cut some local service and centralize operations in Paris.
The Le Monde article also mentioned that Lagardère, with the other major French network operators, has given up on digital radio because of cost.
That Didier Guillot would give this interview to Le Monde suggests an admission that the French national radio network system is beset with structural problems. Different license classes affect rules about local and national advertising. When French broadcasters made more money than they could count none of this was a problem. Now, it is. (JMH)
Radio Okey bumped for Evropa 2
Hasty ambition
The final moment for Radio Okey in Slovakia passed (December 12), replaced by Evropa 2. The hasty change by Lagardère Active brings Czech management, at least temporarily.
“Radio Okey, since April 2007, was long unsuccessful under the previous management team,” said Czech Evropa 2 director Petr Vladyka, in a statement. “Because Evropa 2 in the Czech Republic, Romania and Russia are steadily successful stations, the shareholder decided to bring this brand to the Slovak market.”
Vladyka said he expects to have Evropa 2 among the top three radio channels within a year. “Evropa 2 has the ambition to succeed in the Slovak radio market as it has so far managed to wherever it operates.”
The station targets 10 to 25 year olds. Radio Okey DJs began disappearing earlier in December. (JMH)
Hot FM to Vilnius
“minimal” voices
Hot FM will add a Vilnius FM frequency after a decision by the Lithuanian Radio and Television commission (December 16).
Hot FM’s owner ‘Harmony of Sounds’ was already awarded licenses in Klaipeda and Palanga. The stations will begin broadcasting in 2010.
Hot FM targets 25 to 34 year olds with an all-music format, a mix of current tunes and hits from the last 15 years, “in accordance with long-standing Western-music radio station programming experience,” said the company press release.
“We have removed one of the most risky elements of the radio, the human factor,” said station director Alexander Palivonas to Vakuru Ekspresas (December 15). (JMH)
Abrupt end for RFI in Bulgaria
Frequency sold to church-related company
Radio France International (RFI) broadcasts in the Bulgarian capital Sofia came to an abrupt end (December 15) replaced by Radio Focus, a commercial operator. RFI staff, apparently, was notified only moments before the change took place.
“From here onwards we do not know what we are doing,” said RFI-Sofia director Nelly Zyumbilova to Darik News (December 16).
The operator of Radio Focus has been a long time partner for RFI in Bulgaria. The new owner of the frequency is Renaissance Varna, owned by the Bishop of Varna. Bulgarian sources provide conflicting details; either the Sofia station will absorb RFI-Sofia staff and continue programming in French or the new owner intends a religious (Orthodox) channel. Incorporation documents for Renaissance Varna, filed in September, establish the company for “the realization and broadcasting of radio and television, including cable programs.”
According to public documents, the Renaissance Varna has contracted with Radio Focus to supply programming for about half each day.
RFI’s executive board announced in October 2008 eventual closing of all Eastern European bureaus, except in Romania. RFI-Sofia has broadcast on FM since 1994. Unlike in Romania, RFI applied for but was never able to obtain other frequencies in Bulgaria. The BBC World Service was forced off FM frequencies in 2008 after a long dispute with the Bulgarian government over foreign language broadcasting. Geerman international broadcaster Deutsche Welle continues to broadcast on FM in Bulgaria. (JMH)
Miami Herald Tries Begging To Make Money Online
“Hey, brother, can you spare a dime” – the old refrain from the depression days in 1930s America has basically been adopted by The Miami Herald as it tries to get some money for its online content
At the bottom of local stories is a link to a page to “support ongoing news coverage on Miamiherald.com.” Pay what you think is fair via credit card. The page goes on, “If you value The Miami Herald's local news reporting and investigations, but prefer the convenience of the Internet, please consider a voluntary payment for the web news that matters to you."
The McClatchy paper is anxious to bring in revenue however it can. Gone this year already are 175 jobs and it has announced another 24 cuts.
Vancouver Can’t Come Soon Enough
The Winter Olympic Games open February 12 and for NBC local affiliates that can’t come soon enough as they hope to pick-up big time with local advertising. That’s one reason why pundits are predicting that in the US next year there should be an uppick in US broadcast revenues, also bearing in mind that it is an election year, too.
A Gannett executive said last week at the UBS Media Week Conference, “Combining all of Gannett's assets with the strength of our twelve NBC stations, the winter Olympics in Vancouver will be a big opportunity for us." You can bet they’re pretty much betting the bank on that!
NBC, all of its affiliates, and probably Jay Leno will be looking no doubt in particular to how an Olympics lead into local news compares with the disappointing numbers that Leno is now providing.
AP Lifting Cancellations
Back in April the Associated Press said that about 180 US newspapers had filed cancelations, not because of the quality of the news and picture reports, but rather because of cost. Since then the AP has bitten the bullet, rewritten its rate card and it seems to have done the trick – some 50 of those cancellations have now been rescinded.
Among those lifted are a couple that made a lot of noise when they did cancel – The Minneapolis Star Tribune which is now fresh out of bankruptcy but still looking for more job cuts, and the New York Daily News.
Interestingly, the Star Tribune that must still be looking for savings wherever it can still subscribes to the so-called supplemental services such as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post which leads one to believe that those services are probably available these days for not much more than a wing and a prayer.
Murdoch’s UK Newspapers Have Big Circulation Dips…
The Sunday News of the World, the UK’s largest circulation newspaper for decades, slipped below 3 million circulation in November as did its tabloid stable mate, the daily Sun, but now The Sun boasts the UK’s largest circulation at 2,958,502 copies compared to the NOW’s 2,923,355. In its heydays, the NOW sported a Sunday circulation of more than 5 million.
And the bad news flowed into Murdoch’s quality newspapers, too. At the big money-losing The Times of London circulation dropped in November by more than 9.42% from the same month a year before to 564,262. At the Sunday Times, that makes boodles of money, circulation dropped 4.26% to 1,171,473.
It has been a hard long marketing year for the Murdoch tabloids. At the NOW, circulation had dropped below 3 million in April and May but it battled back above that psychological barrier. For The Sun where the marketing effort including selling the paper at big discounts in London and suburbs it marked the fourth time this year the newspaper had less than 3 million circulation.
So with the Times’ losses probably increasing, and less profits probably at the other three cash cows to support those losses at one of the most prestigious newspaper in the world, is it any surprise that Murdoch is now big-time into putting up pay walls on his Web sites?
…But UK TV Still Makes Big Money From Telephone Voting
The scandals of two years ago seem to be forgotten and telephone voting is once again the rage on UK TV – albeit with more warnings on not to vote when lines have closed and the like – and the public just seems to love choosing their favorites. And the TV companies love the public doing just that, for there’s big money involved.
At the weekend the terrestrial commercial ITV1 channel held its X-Factor pop talent show finals with some 19.1 million viewers turning in, and more than 10 million telephone votes were received over 24 hours at a minimum cost of 35 pence each and considerably more when made from mobiles. It’s estimated the telephone revenue was more than £5 million.
Over at the BBC next Saturday it is the final of its Strictly Come Dancing and it is looking for some 10 – 12 million viewers. But the Beeb, being a public broadcaster, charges just 15 pence for its telephone votes although mobiles cost more. But even at 15p a call it still could add up to some really useful revenue.
No wonder that telephone voting programs are all the rage once again.
Farewell Editor & Publisher?
Editor & Publisher’s own headline of its planned demise at the end of the year pretty much tells the story -- Media Cover Sudden Demise of 'E&P' -- Readers Express Shock and Broad Support -- Hope Remains?Owner Nielsen Company managed to offload most of its B@B magazines, but apparently no one wanted E&P and so the bible of American journalism is to close after more than a century’s service to the industry.
E&P Editor Greg Mitchell summed up his situation most succinctly, "We're part of a besieged industry, magazine publishing, and we're covering another besieged industry, newspapers, so it's kind of a double whammy.”
As usual with closing announcements, people are coming out of the woodwork with their best wishes and there are offers to take up subscriptions to show support and the like. But what the magazine really needs is for someone to take it under its wing as a non-profit. There’s still time.
Newsday’s Pay Wall Cuts Web Traffic Dramatically
Newsday’s web traffic dropped by 21% in November – from 2.1 million unique visitors in October before the pay wall to 1.7 million in November with the pay wall. And considering that a large percentage of Long Island, New York, where the newspaper is located, has free access either via a subscription to the print newspaper or a subscription to owner Cablevision’s Optimum Internet service the initial figures would indicate those who can access for free continue to do so and most of those who can’t, aren’t.
Newsday started October 28 charging $5 a week for its web access. It’s a hefty amount and the industry is watching closely to see what that fee does to traffic The site is advertising supported, so it all becomes a mathematical question of whether lower advertising income – because less eyes are looking at the site – can be made up by the subscription revenue.
Management’s line is that the web revenues aren’t so important – it hopes that by making a charge for Web access that those who want to know what is going on in Long Island will take out a print subscription. So, not only should we be watching the financial implications of the Web subscription, but also we should observe whether print circulation does indeed increase.
New revenue model “imposed”
revolutionary
Italian media is expecting a sharp blow to the face when official figures are released (December 15). A preview in La Repubblica (December 14) reports lower revenue in 2009 by 8% to 10% over 2008, about €1.5 billion.
The print sector’s revenue as a percentage fell from 42% in 2007 to 35% in 2009. Radio revenue fell from 3% to 2% across the same periods.
Web revenue rose to 5% in 2009 from 4% in 2007, reflecting low investments by advertisers along with stable access fees for consumers.
Television bucks the trend, at least in terms of percentage of revenue, with substantially more than half (56%) of all media revenue. The article also notes an increase in television revenue directly from consumers.
“This is revolutionary; switching from a model centered on advertising to one that instead revolves around paid content such as pay per view. For publishers this is an entirely new perspective that will also be imposed on the Web part of the press and on radio.” (JMH)
Big Spanish networks punished
Cadena SER still leads
It was a good day and it was a bad day for big Spanish radio networks. Such is audience ratings day. More people were listening and there were more changes than expected.
The February through November AIMC General Media Study, released December 10, revealed an increase in radio listening over the same period 2008; 55.3% penetration up from 53.1%. Biggest increases came from teens (15 to 19 years), women and 25 to 44 year olds.
Perennial winner Cadena SER kept first place in the national survey, dropping to 38.1% reach from 38.4% one year on. Pop music network Los 40 Principales, remaining in second place, dropped to 22.2% reach from 23.8%. (See top channels by reach share here)
Ranked number three is Onda Cero, which displaced Cadena COPE. Onda Cero, a general interest channel, posted its highest reach share 16.4%, up from 15.5% one year on. Cadena COPE, which has been on a slide, posted 14.2%, down from 16.1%. Spanish media watchers cite the loss from Cadena COPE of morning program host Federico Jiménez Losantos a few months ago.
Public radio RNE Radio 1 rose to 7th place from 8th in ranking by reach share, changes place with KISS FM. (JMH)
UK internet radio use grows
The personal is popular
Over the last six months, internet radio usage in the UK has grown more slowly, reports radio audience measurement service RAJAR (December 10). Still, one-third of the UK population 15 years of age and older say they’ve listened to radio services over the internet.
“Personalized online radio is the fastest growing internet delivered audio service, with 4.5 million people now claiming they have used such a service,” said RAJAR research manager Christel Laceze in a statement. “Listening to Podcasts and to the radio via the internet - live and using Listen Again services - also continue to grow, but at a reduced pace.” (See RAJAR release here)
Personalized online radio services are hot in many markets. These include last.fm, Spotify and Pandora, which have been around for a few years, and newer services like open.fm and Jellie. (More on internet radio here)
Typical UK internet radio service users are male and persons between 15 and 34 year of age.
The MIDAS survey is taken from the RAJAR audience survey sample. (JMH)
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