Media Execs: Content Demand Never Higher

by Ieva Augstums, Business Writer - The Associated Press, http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070727/newspapers_outlook.html

In a July 27, 2007 article on the Yahoo Finance website, AP business writer Ieva Augstums shares highlights from a discussion panel of media executives convened for the annual meeting of the North Carolina Press Association. The executives were asked their thoughts on the future of the newspaper industry.

Augstums writes:

It started with the help wanted ads. Now real estate ads are tailing off. But as the shift in advertising from the printed page to the Internet continues, newspaper executives believe there's hope for their product."There has never been a greater appetite for news," said Reid Ashe, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Media General Inc. "People are consuming news voraciously."

Ashe joined Tom Curley, president and chief executive of The Associated Press, and a panel of the nation's top newspaper executives Friday at the North Carolina Press Association's annual meeting for a wide-ranging discussion about the future of the industry.

"The end of the world is not upon us," Curley said. "We are convinced that the market for content is growing."

There is no doubt the business faces a financial struggle. This week, Tribune Co. posted a 24 percent drop in real estate advertising. It was also down 9.9 percent at Gannett Co., and at McClatchy Co., where big losses in California and Florida led to a 19 percent decline...

...Scott Flanders, president and chief executive of Freedom Communications Inc., said a decline in housing, automotive and furniture store ads at The Orange County (Calif.) Register have led to a corresponding decline in revenue.But Flanders said newspapers have yet to take advantage of the ongoing shift in advertising from print to online. Industry analysts believe 30 percent of help-wanted classified ads now appear online, while the Internet's share of classified ads for real estate and auto, currently around 15 to 20 percent, is set to grow.

Flanders said newspaper companies are overcharging for their print advertising, while undercharging advertisers for space on the Web and other electronic media."For me, I don't see this as, the house is on fire," Flanders said. "But what concerns me as well (is that) I'm afraid we will become complacent."

The group of executives agreed the challenge facing the industry isn't selling customers on the news, which remains in high demand, but rather figuring out how to profitably deliver it...

Click here for Augstums' article in its entirety on the Yahoo Finance website.