The answer to the question: "Are newspaper reading habits changing?", is yes. The nature of the modern publication has changed dramatically over a span of very few years. This change has not only been limited to the publication.
The obvious answer to this question is no. Of course not. In the United States alone, over 56 million newspapers are sold daily and over 60 million are sold every Sunday (Newspaper Association of America). However, since you opened this blog post, you’re probably interested in knowing more about the current state of the publishing industry.
At Visiolink Insights Day 2015, Dr Mario Garcia, an acclaimed media guru who works on more than 700 media projects a year, gave his insights to what the future of digital publishing holds. He specifically spoke about the industry in two terms. Then and now. In Garcia’s opinion, the publishing industry needs to be more agile to readers’ needs and start looking forward. First, let’s have look at the industry “then”.
VISIOLINK INSIGHTS DAY 2015
60 participants, 27 media houses and 10 countries represented. We will in the coming weeks tell you much more about the content of this event. But let us start with a visual of the day.
At Visiolink, we fully understand that digital e-papers are not the primary source of income for many news publishers. At the moment, an e-paper is doing remarkably well if it has even 10% of the printed newspaper’s circulation. However our data shows that certain e-papers in Europe are dangling at around 3% of the circulation of their respective printed newspaper.
This might not seem as much, but in terms of revenue it makes a substantial difference, and it tells us that some news publishers are not taking full advantage of their digital potential. With a higher e-paper penetration comes more digital readers, and with more readers comes the possibility for higher and new ad revenues – revenues that can be used to invest further in digital solutions, and thereby assist in securing the future of the newspaper or magazine.
Viby J, Denmark: Based on a growing demand from media companies currently ‘navigating without a compass’, a new group of industry experts has formed the Business Intelligence and Consulting company, visiolab. By focusing on data analysis and digital strategy, visiolab specializes in Knowledge Based Decision Making and the optimization of Audience Growth and New Ad Revenues in e-papers.
App development is getting lots of attention today, and rightly so. Mobile and handheld browsing has grown explosively in recent years, and more and more users are making the switch to handheld devices. The ease and accessibility of handheld devices make them an obvious choice for reading the daily news.
We are proud to reveal the name of our second keynote speaker at the Visiolink Insights Day 2015 on 8 June: Associate Professor Nils Randrup. This keynote speech will cover the current situation in the newspaper business and the challenges faced by media houses in Europe. Nils Randrup has vast experience in marketing, advertising and e-business, including in media companies.
OK, I’ll admit it – I’m a gadget owner. In my arsenal of devices you’ll find:
And all of these digital devices are a huge part of my daily life (okay, Garmin, not you just now, I get it!).
Adjusting for the future is a constant process at Visiolink, and therefore a natural need for reinforcements and internal changes often present itself. Earlier this year former Visiolink COO Kenneth Boll was introduced as the new CEO of the digital publishing solutions provider.
Media publishers all over the world are rapidly realising that digital archives carry great value. However initial costs to establish an archive can be quite high due to the process of scanning large amounts of pages. Therefore many historic publications remain unavailable to the public. Still, there are a range of possible ways to raise capital for a digital archive, and a unique opportunity is to reach out and involve the readers.
This is a good and fair question. As digital publishers, we are all busy with our daily tasks and with focusing on creating value for the companies we work with. We therefore also need to know that we are investing our time in the best way possible.
The e-paper is a great way to present newspapers on the different digital platforms, such as smartphones, tablets or PCs.
Moreover, the e-paper is also is a cost-effective and convenient platform that can extend the digital services of media houses. For example, a media house could utilise the platform to release tomorrow morning’s newspaper the night before or to send out evening editions, or alternatively, to readers with a later 2nd edition (e.g. during big sporting competitions).
