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Doing more than one thing at once is a necessity where being busy, busy, busy is a badge of honor. Nokia, the worlds’ major mobile phone handset manufacturer, studied 5000 people in 12 countries. The majority say they multi-task more with their mobile phone. (Read Nokia release here)
Unsurprising,Scandinavians and women champion multi-tasking. 75% of women cook while using the mobile phone. 56% of women admitted sending a ‘romantic or controversial’ text message to the wrong person.
Also unsurprising, people use the mobile phone for calls, calendars, email, and text messaging. The survey made no mention of watching TV on the mobile phone.
With its global reputation one might think the New York Times would easily have more unique visitors to its website than would the Guardian in the UK, but then one would be wrong.
According to the UK’s Audit Bureau of Circulations Electronic the Guardian recorded 18.4 million unique users in October compared to 17.5 million unique visitors to nytimes.com as measured by Nielsen/NetRatings.
October was a record month for both sites. The Times benefitted from its decision in September to stop its TimesSelect service that placed most of the newspaper’s favorite columnists behind a pay wall.
You may recall our feature last month on how Heather McCartney went on British TV to decry the horrible treatment given her by the UK tabloids in their coverage of her divorce from Sir Paul McCartney and, of course, the tabloids took her to task for that tirade and her publicist quit.
She is said to be seeking around £100 million for her five years of marriage, about double what McCartney is said to have offered, and she is also said to be refusing to accept a gag order as part of the divorce settlement because she wants to make money via a movie and personal speaking tour about the marriage.
So with that background , we note she is continuing with speeches that claims she is being mistreated by the press. At Trinity College, Dublin, this week she said, “If you look at every single person in the history of the world who has tried to make a difference, you’ll find a very long section of their lives where they were treated horrifically by the government or by the media.”
Comparing herself to human rights crusaders she said it was no fun hobnobbing with the rich and famous. “Sadly,” she told her audience, “you have to mix at a certain level of people to raise the level of funds you need to bring about the greater good…Those people who have lots of money, they’re either snobby or they’re stingy. If you have lots of money, you have to be stingy – because why would you want that amount of money.
So what does that make her if she gets the £50 million or £100 million?
After months of arduous negotiations accented by whinging critics the Eurovision Song Contest format will change for the 2008 event in Belgrade. Now, there will be more. (See Eurovision official release here)
The changes reflect several new realities, not the least of which is for an 'old' Europe country to place better... and maybe win. (Read about the whinging here) The good news is that the rule change will keep participation high. Let's hope the ESC can keep its focus on being a fun television event. (JMH)
The Association for International Broadcasting (AIB) annual global media awards gala paid tribute to radio and TV broadcasters from around the world. (Read complete list here)
Notable was an award for creative marketing concept shared jointly by SW Radio South Africa and France 24.
And, of course, popular BBC World and World Service journalist and (brutal) interviewer Lyse Doucet was named international television personallity of the year.(JMH)
An entire industry has sprung up in recent years, not just in the US and UK, for retired military officers appearing on radio and TV as experts. Turkey is trying to draw that to a halt.
The Turkish government has asked the media regulator RTüK to forbid television stations from having just ‘anybody’ on the air speaking as an ‘expert’ on terrorism, writes Daily Zaman (Monday November 19), quoting newspapers Aksam and Radikal. The move is seen, writes the newspapers, as part of campaign to keep retired military officers from talking publicly about their careers. Those who do are being denied access to ‘military social facilities.’ (JMH)
It’s the debate that has been going on between traditional media and new media specialists since before the first Internet bubble burst. The new media folks back in 1997 were absolutely sure that print newspapers would be dead in 10 years, and yet here we are in 2007 and print is still with us. So, give print another 10 years?
Tom Brokaw, the retired NBC news anchor who knows the news business as well as any media pundit, has his doubts whether print will be around in 10 years. “I was at The Washington Post earlier today,” he told a recent audience where he was promoting a book, “And in the lobby they’ve got a wonderful graphic describing how the printing press works and where it is …75,000 copies an hour it can turn out. Its last run is at 2:15 in the morning and it has an automatic paper roll that comes when they run out of paper and the ink is recharged. I looked at all that and I thought – ‘Ten years from now, will it be here’? I don’t know. Probably …if you would do a hardcore analysis – probably not. It’ll probably be digital 10 years from now.”
According to the report in Business and Media, one reason Brokaw thinks print’s time is limited is because of the disinterest by the young. “You talk to them about the tactile experience at the newspaper and they look at you, and it’s like ‘Man, what planet were you born on?’” he said.
Within the next five years, US online real estate advertising on the web will exceed the spend in newspapers, according to a new report from Borrell Associates.
The report says that real estate spending in print this year will decrease 6.8% (that sounds conservative since most newspapers are reporting double digit percentage drops in their real estate classifieds) and Borrell says there’ll be a similar 6.8% drop next year, followed by a larger 16% drop in 2009 and another 13% in 2010.
Online classifieds, however, are expected to grow by some 25% this year, and 12.4% next year. Because of the difference in the value of the print and the online spend the total real estate spend is expected to decrease in 2007 by some 3%.
The report says that by 2012, online will get $3.5 billion worth on real estate advertising while newspapers will be at $3.3 billion.
India now has 75 million cable and satellite homes accessing 312 television channels, with near half of those in the news and current affairs sector, the government has reported to Parliament. More than 40 new channels have received government permission to uplink and downlink in the past three months taking the total number of channels officially permitted in the country to 312.
Of the total, 255 channels are uplinking and downlinking from within the country, and 149 of those are news and current events stations. The other 57 channels are uplinked from a foreign country with permission to downlink in India.
Priyaranjan Das Munsi, Minister of Information and Broadcasting told Parliament in a written response that 123 of the 255 channels uplinking in India have Indian ownership whereas 132 have varying components of foreign equity in the parent company. Of the 57 stations uplinking from abroad, only two have Indian equity.
Last week the biggest US broadcasters bitterly complained to Arbitron’s CEO Steve Morris about the roll-out of electronic measurement, moaning specifically about sample sizes and technical flaws. After a deep breath, Morris called for a meeting to discuss a ‘trade-off.’ The radio CEO’s – mostly – screamed even louder.
Cox Radio President Bob Neil said ; "Arbitron doesn't get it. We don't need a meeting. We need a clear plan on how and when they plan on hitting their sample targets. The time for meetings, delay tactics and spin is over. It's about giving radio and agencies what they've paid for: Good data.
“I've had my share of meetings with Arbitron people over the years and each one has been a waste of time. They listen. Then they do nothing. If a slot machine takes your money and gives you nothing, you might try shaking it. But, talking to it is useless.”
Perhaps the people at Arbitron are distracted by other deals. The Wall Street Journal’s partner publication livemint.com in India reported (November 20) the company taking on a marketing firm in Hyderabad to sell the PPM service to Indian broadcasters.
But audience measurement in India is already very competitive with two large companies surveying listeners. Swiss company Telecontrol has provided electronic measurement equipment for television surveys since the beginning of 2007.
This feels almost like a death watch, but McClatchy hit a new low Tuesday, down 3.34% to $14.73. It had hit $14.07 during the day. Tuesday’s close puts the share price 72% under its price when it announced last year it was going to buy Knight Ridder.
You’ll recall the shares fell 4% Monday so followed by another 3% drop on Tuesday shows hardly any support. Monday’s drop was because Gannett reported rotten quarterly results so most newspaper shares fell in sympathy and then Tuesday McClatchy announced even worse results itself, saying Q3 revenue was down 9.9% from a year ago. Perhaps even more disturbing is that its online revenue also dropped by 4.1%. Most newspaper companies at least show an increase in online revenues but not McClatchy. Hamlet would feel at home there.
Incidentally, talking of Gannett, who could have imagined their shares at under $40? They closed up slightly on Tuesday at $37.73 but in after hours trade all of Tuesday’s gain was sold off with the shares showing at $37.43 as this is written.
Not sure what the institutional investors can really say to Gannett executives to improve shareholder value. After McClatchy’s debacle with Knight Ridder it’s very unlikely anyone would be interested in Gannett although the share price must surely be inviting for a private equity bid were it not for the credit crunch. Since the company is so heavily newspaper-oriented splitting itself into two – separating broadcast and television – won’t make that much of a difference, maybe even selling off television as the New York Times Company did with its broadcast division earlier this year. Perhaps in today’s financial world “much of a difference” may be preferred over no difference.
Recent figures showed that nytimes.com is by far the most visited newspaper web site in the US, followed far behind by USA Today and the Washington Post. But if the survey was not just limited to US newspaper sites visited by Americans, but rather any newspaper site visited by Americans then, according to Peter Preston in The Observer , the surprising news is that the UK’s Guardian comes in fourth in the US with just under six million unique users.
Yup, more Americans look at The Guardian’s site than they do the Los Angeles Times or The Wall Street Journal. The Guardian Media Group publishes The Guardian and The Observer so he has good reason to boast “Number four in the US is an in-house result to pause over and gently cherish.”
I may be alone in the world not being able to picture the radio spectrum discussed, voted on, praised and coveted. The EBU's Technical Department created a nifty graphic showing exactly where emerging and existing services live in spectrum space. This column space is far too narrow so look here and see for yourself. (JMH)
A 24 hour protest silenced the remaining Somali radio stations. Station directors at four privately owned Mogadishu radio stations took the action after the government – if it can be called that – ordered all broadcasters to register or face closure, according to VOA. The shut down began at 1500 local time Monday (November 19).
The government recently forced three broadcasters – Shabelle Radio, Radio Simba and Radio Banadir – off the air, accusing them of “giving propaganda” to insurgents.
Armed troops closed Shabelle Radio November 12 then Radio Simba and Radio Banadir the following day. On November 14th, Mogadishu’s mayor ordered on all broadcasters and journalists to register within 30 days.
“The closures are something to be avoided at all costs,” said UN Special Envoy for Somalia Ahmeduo Ould Adballah. “The media are helping people help themselves.”
About ten FM stations have been operating in Mogadishu. (JMH)
For the past three years USA Today has increased its advertising rates by 6% annually as if it was newspaper business as usual, but revenues just kept declining – this year each quarter has been down year-on-year anywhere from 1% to 8%. So even with circulation up a bit, poorer revenues mean the newsroom gets hit with layoffs – the newspaper wants some 45 of the 500 newsroom jobs gone.
“It’s unfortunate that we have to take these steps, particularly when our newspaper circulation is growing,” said Editor Ken Paulson in a staff memo. “Unfortunately, revenue has not kept pace and we’re now facing the same cutbacks that so many other news organizations have already experienced.”
USA Today, the flagship of Gannett, is the largest of 85 newspapers owned by the country’s largest newspaper publisher. It recently celebrated its 25th anniversary. Maybe celebration under the circumstances is the wrong word.
The reason for the firings may not be all down to USA Today itself but rather its doing its bit to improve corporate entity results. Gannett reported on Monday that total pro forma operating revenues in October declined 6.8% from a year ago, hurt by declines in newspaper advertising and broadcasting revenues. On a constant exchange rate – figures includes revenue from its Newsquest Group in the UK which has been doing better of late -- total pro forma operating revenues would have been down 7.9%.
And further bad news, the company said it expects lower TV revenues for the fourth quarter.
Just how far can a newspaper’s share fall? You may remember our story last week that explained how much McClatchy’s shares have fallen since it announced the Knight-Ridder purchase March 10, 2006. On that day its shares closed at $53.24. On Monday they dropped 4% to end the day at $15.25 – that’s down 71% since the announcement. The only good news is that the close was off the 52-week low of $15.07 it hit earlier in the day.
Reason for the big drop may be laid at Gannett’s doorstep (see story above) whose dismal figures did not please the market and hit other newspapers hard. McClatchy shares are down more than 60% on the year.
If ever there was a takeover target – if someone really wanted to buy a newspaper chain these days – then McClatchy would be it, but it has a dual share system with the McClatchy family’s shares controlling the company, so there’s no sale in sight. But surely the institutional investors, and the family, cannot be happy.
Apparently there was a good reason why there were no other bidders for all of Knight Ridder. Others apparently saw valuation issues that McClatchy may not have fully appreciated, very much to its peril. Can’t you just see executives in the boardroom at Gannett, for instance, saying thank goodness they didn’t touch it.
McClatchy said in its latest report that it cannot tell when things will get better.
Saturday midnight (November 17) was the official launch of MTV Arabia.
More often than not MTV launches new language or region-specific channels where they have next to no competition. Not this time; there are at least 30 music TV channels targeting the Middle East or Arabic-speaking viewers. Two-thirds of the regions’ population is under 30.
MTV’s partner is Arab Media Group (AMG). The programming, which will include an Arabic version of the famous ‘Pimp My Ride,’ will lean toward R ‘n’ B and hip hop. AMG recently launched an Arabic version of Nickelodeon and a franchise deal with Virgin Radio.(JMH)
DJs and newscasters on Israel public radio announced a ‘doomsday’ broadcast last Thursday (November 15) as the Israeli Treasury refused to pay a three month advance on salaries until ‘reforms’ are agreed. Those reforms are expected to include massive lay-offs.
Later in the day the Treasury said it would pay salaries until the end of the year but if agreement of reforms were not met they’d ask for their money back.(JMH)
Canalsat, part of Canal+, wanted to end its contract with the Fox Life channel back in April. Fox Life, the News Corp channel targeting women 30-40, took Canalsat to court…and lost last week. The French court decided that Fox Life is really an Italian channel and, so, not French.
News Corp executive Thierry Schluck said the without Canal+ carriage, the channel in France will “disappear.”
French TV viewers can, of course, catch the best of Fox Life with a satellite card for BSkyB.(JMH)
Cricket Australia (CA) and the International news agencies have struck enough of a deal that the international agencies say they are covering the second cricket Test Match between Australia and Sri Lanka. Regular Tickle readers will remember (and those who are not so regular can see below for more details) that the two sides were bickering over photo rights restrictions and the news agencies refused CA’s rules and boycotted (that is not a pun – Pommies will understand) the first match.
Now comes word that a provisional deal has been struck and the two sides are giving themselves until December 10 to cross the T-s and dot the I-s.
Both sides declined to give details but there are indications both sides gave a bit, in particular Cricket Australia no longer demanding a license fee for pictures.
The key quote comes from CA’s Peter Young, “We are keen to have as many media inside the ground as possible, and the important thing is that there is significant international coverage of the match.”
This marks boycott victory number two for the agencies. They boycotted pre-tournament activities at the Rugby World Cup in September and the rugby officials finally capitulated and now there is success with cricket. Last year, they put enough pressure on FIFA that it gave up its restrictions for the World Cup before any boycott was necessary.
The agencies, of course, keep crowing about how all of this is a protection of freedom of the press. It’s not. It’s all economics – the sporting authorities wanting the same rights they sell to television to be extended to still pictures, particularly usage on the Internet, and the news agencies fighting tooth and nail not to let sporting bodies so extend those “rights”. The way to fight an economic issue is via economic means – in this case basically a strike – and as usual that strategy works, as long as there is solidarity, and on this issue, at least, the news agencies are working as one – something very very unusual.
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