[2009 trends] Print media's 2009 jitters

"There is no doubt that 2008 [was] a difficult year for the print industry as a whole. Even those categories that have reflected growth in circulation have not been able to avoid spiralling input costs," Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) VP Gordon Patterson told Bizcommunity.com.

Patterson pointed out that while it is true that consumers are cutting back on spending as the crisis worsens, circulation declines should not only be ascribed to consumer activity, but must be seen in perspective.

Prepare to cut costs

As magazines and newspapers prepare to cut costs by reducing marketing budgets and retrenching journalists, subeditors, photographers and graphic designers and other workers, Patterson said that publishers have started focusing on growing core circulation and restricting it in order to protect profits.

"The growing input cost pressures have resulted in many titles reducing their print runs and thus reducing distribution to those outlets that are economically viable," he stated.

"From an industry perspective, this year the composition of title circulation will become more important than merely the total."

"Circulation as a currency will become more critical as the industry realises that we plan on readership but buy circulation. The cost-saving initiatives implemented by publishers will have improved title efficiency, which over the next 12 months will make a more meaningful contribution to the bottom line."

Furthermore, Patterson is hoping to see more responsible use of third party bulk initiatives to add value to third parties but at the same time gain title trial.

He explained: "Currently, this form of circulation is often viewed as a soft way to boost overall circulation performance. PMIE (print media in education) circulation fulfills a critical role in developing the next generation of readers, but there are unsubstantiated suspicions that this could be abused to again boost total circulations. Hopefully this is not the case.

"Signs of a slowdown"

"The custom magazine category now has a total circulation larger than consumer magazines, but has shown signs of a slowdown. In a similar vein, the growth in free magazine circulation has slowed."

In this digital era when print advertising has lost its sparkle, print media outlets are flexing their muscles by throwing their weight behind online advertising.

But, with SA's online advertising still in its infancy and representing just a small fraction of the R20 billion industry and the World Bank predicting a gloomy year for SA, many observers believe that the struggle is set to continue and victory might prove elusive.

Nevertheless, other players remain optimistic. Patterson said: "As far as rationalisation is concerned, we know that one of the main print organisations has publicly stated that their future is in digital media, which makes the future for this publisher a self-fulfilling prophecy. Over time this will happen."

However, when all strategies fail, there will be no choice but to close shop as others did in 2008 and what Patterson predicted. "There is no doubt that more titles will close down in 2009 - even with two major sporting events on the horizon," he concluded.