What do Craig's List, Greer's OC and Townhall.com all have in common?
Each is a mortal threat to newspapers.
Craig's List ( http://www.craigslist.com ) which provides free and comprehensive classified advertising in most major cities of the US and does so for free. It is overwhelmingly the choice of young web users, an classified ad revenue for newspapers is as a result an endangered species of profit.
GreersOC ( http://www.greersoc.com ) is a micro-marketing site and newsletter pitching high end retail in the OC. (Greer's a friend of mine as is her husband, facts a lefty blogger thought it outrageous that I didn't mention when I posted about her site on my blog.) She's already sold six months of ads to the biggest names in the OC because they know hers is a high touch marketing ploy, as opposed to the low or non-existence touch rate for newspaper print ads in this era of declining circulation.
And Townhall.com is not only a one stop shopping center for news and opinion, it is now home --in its third week-- to more than 1,000 new blogs, a blog community that will grow and grow as Townhall.com penetrates further and further into the reading demographic that also wants to participate, but not according to old media's rules or who can no longer endure the MSM’s many left-wing biases.
But don't believe me. Believe the numbers.
Here, thanks to Aabria, an intern of extraordinary patience and diligence, is a circulation chart of the Los Angeles Times that compares, at six months intervals, the circulation of the paper (daily and Sunday) and the population of the region:
|
1970 |
975,491/1,308,710 |
982,075/1,317,220 |
7,041,980 |
|
1971 |
982,075/1,317,220 |
1,009,519/1,208,209 |
7,085,000 |
|
1972 |
1,009,519/1,208,209 |
1,026,499/1,210,556 |
7,065,000 |
|
1973 |
1,026,499/1,210,556 |
1,026,499/1,210,556 |
7,034,000 |
|
1974 |
1,036,911/1,226,132 |
1,036,911/1,226,132 |
7,021,000 |
|
1975 |
1,045,497/1,236,066 |
1,045,497/1,236,066 |
7,086,000 |
|
1976 |
1,037,963/1,244,713 |
1,037,963/1,244,713 |
7,160,000 |
|
1977 |
1,020,479/1,289,183 |
1,020,987/1,309,677 |
7,240,000 |
|
1978 |
1,020,987/1,309,677 |
1,034,329/1,332,875 |
7,315,000 |
|
1979 |
1,034,329/1,332,875 |
1,057,611/1,344,660 |
7,380,000 |
|
1980 |
1,057,611/1,344,660 |
1,057,611/1,344,660 |
7,477,421 |
|
1981 |
1,043,028/1,289,314 |
1,043,028/1,289,314 |
7,571,000 |
|
1982 |
1,036,522/1,290,194 |
1,081,050/1,340,743 |
7,679,000 |
|
1983 |
1,081,050/1,340,743 |
1,072,500/1,358,420 |
7,830,000 |
|
1984 |
1,072,500/1,358,420 |
1,064,392/1,331,666 |
7,962,000 |
|
1985 |
1,064,392/1,331,666 |
1,076,466/1,346,343 |
8,092,000 |
|
1986 |
1,076,466/1,346,343 |
1,103,656/1,368,105 |
8,249,000 |
|
1987 |
1,103,656/1,368,105 |
1,127,607/1,411,000 |
8,419,000 |
|
1988 |
1,127,607/1,411,000 |
1,136,813/1,421,711 |
8,556,000 |
|
1989 |
1,136,813/1,421,711 |
1,118,649/1,433,739 |
8,650,000 |
|
1990 |
1,118,649/1,433,739 |
1,225,189/1,514,096 |
8,863,160 |
|
1991 |
1,225,189/1,514,096 |
1,242,864/1,576,425 |
8,988,200 |
|
1992 |
1,242,864/1,576,425 |
1,164,388/1,531,527 |
9,115,600 |
|
1993 |
1,164,388/1,531,527 |
1,138,353/1,521,197 |
9,208,100 |
|
1994 |
1,138,353/1,521,197 |
1,104,651/1,502,120 |
9,280,600 |
|
1995 |
1,104,651/1,502,120 |
1,058,498/1,457,583 |
9,327,300 |
|
1996 |
1,058,498/1,457,583 |
1,021,121/1,391,076 |
9,369,800 |
|
1997 |
1,021,121/1,391,076 |
1,068,812/1,361,988 |
9,470,900 |
|
1998 |
1,068,812/1,361,988 |
1,095,007/1,385,373 |
9,603,300 |
|
1999 |
1,095,007/1,385,373 |
1,098,347/1,385,787 |
|
|
2000 |
1,098,347/1,385,787 |
1,111,785/1,384,688 |
9,519,330 |
|
2001 |
1,111,785/1,384,688 |
1,111,785/1,384,688 |
9,662,859 |
|
2002 |
1,006,130/1,376,932 |
1,006,130/1,376,932 |
9,828,805 |
|
2003 |
934,758/1,386,107 |
934,758/1,386,107 |
9,979,361 |
|
2004 |
961,990/1,359,593 |
961,990/1,359,593 |
10,107,451 |
|
2005 |
905,107/1,272,187 |
905,107/1,272,187 |
10,226,506 |
|
2006 |
852,000/1,213,000 |
852,000/1,213,000 | The numbers tell us many things.
First, owning Tribune stock is not a good idea for as long as the company owns the Times but refuses to manage it.
Second, the decline of the Times predates the rise of the internet, but the internet has accelerated the descent. The Times circulation, both daily and Sunday, peaks in 1991 and begins to erode in those years before the internet delivery of news and information via online editions and blogs was even a small cloud on the horizon.
Continued... |