TAKEAWAY: The INMA Congress (International Newspaper Marketing Association) in New York City is now finished. Here are some interesting surprises that should make newspaper cash registers ring with happiness.
Turning the financial corner, perhaps
As I sat in the audience, following my own presentation, at the INMA Congress, I was happily surprised at least about three of the things speakers mentioned on the stage:
Surprise 1:
Roger Fidler, program director for Digital Publishing, Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute, University of Missouri, led a presentation about E-Readers and the IPad: Future of the Platform, Content, Revenue Options, mentioned that within five years, 25% of the revenue of publishing houses will come from E readers and tablets.
The moment he mentioned this you could see the happy faces of those in the audience, including me.
Surprise 2
Fidler also mentioned, as he showed a slide that included the black and white Kindle next to the very colorful iPad, that he foresees the E-Readers to be in full color by December. And, he added, “This is not based on any insider’s information, by the way, just intuition.”
Obviously, E-Readers in color will be better suitable to face up to the monumental competition that the four-button iPad poses.
Surprise 3
Members of a panel titled Content and the Value of Paid vs. Free presented data that supports the idea that many users are willing to pay for online information, even if , at first, they may appear resistant.
Some highlights of this panel: It is not the amount charged that determines how successful an online operation is in charging users for information; it has more to do with the content provided (not surprising, perhaps, as we know that it is all about content).
However, the content that people are willing to pay for seems to be more local, giving the very regional newspapers a big edge over their metropolitan counterparts in the area of pay for online content.
The panelists urged newspaper marketing people to look for information that their newspapers offer that is distinctively local and unique, emphasizing that the newspapers that report profits for online content payment cite “obituaries” as one of the most popular features that users will pay for.
Other content the panelists think people will pay for: career oriented local information, job seeking (classifieds), restaurant reviews and very local guides to entertainment/dining in the city.
Coming Monday
Interview with William Powers, author of the upcoming book, Hamlet’s BlackBerry: A Practical Philosophy for Building a Good Life in the Digital Age
The Harvard-educated Powers discusses why he thinks that paper is eternal, and what pushed him to write a book that he thinks will help everyone who feels too connected to the new technology—-which, of course, means most of us.
– IAC’s Diller: The iPad Is Going To Change “Many, Many Things”
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-iacs-diller-the-ipad-is-going-to-change-many-many-things/
– Hey, Google, Apple Just Got Into The Search Business!
http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-just-got-into-the-search-business-2010-4?
– USA: Phila. Newspapers sold to lenders
http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20100428_Bidding_finally_begins_to_Inquirer__Daily_News_and_Philly_com.html
-The Philadelphia Story: from philly.com
http://www.philly.com/philly/business/homepage/20100428_Creditors_buy_papers_for__139_million.html
– USA: What’s Next After Goliath Beats David in Philly Newspapers Fight
http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=123&aid=182387
– USA: Have Money? Arthur Sulzberger Wants A Deeper Relationship
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-have-money-arthur-sulzberger-wants-a-deeper-relationship/
– USA: Washington Post Unveils New Political Homepage
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/28/washington-post-unveils-new-political-homepage/
– FT.com launches new video platform
http://www.mediaweek.co.uk/news/999862/FTcom-launches-new-video-platform/
– Metro Expands in Brazil into Campinas
http://www.hugingroup.com/pr.asp?pr_id=115531&folder=201004&src=2
– Redstone Slams Murdoch’s Newspaper Focus, Says ‘Ink’ Business Is Dying Out
http://preview.bloomberg.com/news/2010-04-27/redstone-slams-murdoch-s-newspaper-focus-says-ink-business-is-dying-out.html