It's time for more marvellous media updates! Enlightenment follows.
This is progress
September 16th saw the launch of 45 new websites in Northcliffe's "This Is" network, increasing the publisher's digital offering to 151 sites as it overtook for the first time the number of regional newspapers the publisher prints. A great deal of these new sites are hyper-local offerings, providing news updates at the local level in areas already covered by Northcliffe's newspapers and by its larger, regional websites. Burghers of Beeston, habitants of Hucknall, citizens of Sherwood and, um… people who live in Long Eaton, for example, can now get news of their local area from their own suburb's individual This Is site, and then catch up on wider Nottingham news from the larger ThisIsNottingham site: the digital arm of the Nottingham Evening Post.
Captain Kickback says: "Digital media are one area that regional publishers still seem keen to invest in: relatively low production and overhead costs and the sharing of newsrooms and journalists between print and online publishing mean that the smallest of areas, whose potential revenues might never support their own printed newspaper, can now have their own local web publication."
This is Troubling
While workers at Trinity Mirror's midland branch have cancelled at the last minute a planned two-day strike, ITV has announced that it will shortly be making 1,000 journalists redundant. Workers at Trinity Mirror's Midland Weekly Media, Coventry and Birmingham offices had planned a walk out on October 7th and 8th, but plans for industrial action were shelved in return for their employers' agreement that there will be no mandatory redundancies in the near future. Meanwhile, following de-restriction of the amount of public service broadcasting that ITV is required to provide, and in light of falling advertising revenues, the broadcaster has announced plans to save money by reducing the amount of local news it broadcasts, and will accordingly be laying off journalists all over the place.
Mobile Mayhem Afoot
There have been advances aplenty in the mobile advertising arena recently: I hardly know where to begin! News in brief:
- Google has launched its own mobile phone, a rival to the Iphone.
- Nokia has unveiled a mobile television channel available online to users of Nokia handsets, capable of showing 96-second programs (or "Mobisodes") and giving access to the BBC's catch up service, iPlayer.
- The five largest UK mobile phone operators have banded together to work with the Internet Advertising Bureau to develop and publish research into mobile advertising and form a steering group to develop this nascent sector's massive advertising potential
- Google are busy preparing to launch a UK version of their Google Maps for Mobile with Streetview, which is already available in the USA. This fantastic bit of gadgetry will doubtless prove extremely useful to the property industry among many others. Visit YouTube to see how it works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IXC5A1ZoV4
Captain Kickback says: "the ways of accessing consumers through their mobile phone handsets are manifold and of varying worth. Even though the medium is still in its infancy, there's potential here for the latest technologies to be used creatively to good effect in both response-driven and awareness campaigns."
Independent Goes Colour
Having moved to new print presses in Watford, Oldham, Glasgow and Belfast, the Independent has reshuffled its supplements (including the moving of property from its own supplement to an in-paper section), and is now printed in full colour throughout. Other changes included the replacement of the old "Extra" section with the new "Independent Life" supplement.
Captain Kickback says: "For such a trendy young newspaper The Independent has always had a hefty preponderance of stuffy old mono pages. No More!"
Five News
Following The Independent into the barbers this month, terrestrial TV channel Five has also announced a bit of a re-design, the first for the brand since it dropped the "Channel" from its moniker and replaced the "5" with the more grown up "Five" back in 2002. Also unveiled was a new strap-line, "We Are Five", which must have taken a marketing agency somewhere a good couple of minutes to think up: presumably they were still puzzling away at it by the time the office junior got back from the old rope shop.
That's your lot for another month. Reply to this email or contact your Space and Time Team if you'd like more information on any of the stories covered this month.
See You Next Time!!
Captain Kickback
Wednesday, 8 October 2008
Friday, 22 August 2008
Watch this Space Issue 38
Another batch of marvellous media news for you all. Enjoy.
Don’t worry: it’s not just you
If it’s any consolation, media owners’ pockets are also being hit hard this summer. The slump in the property market as well as a similar downturn in the motors market, fueled (sorry) by rising prices at the pumps, have both put a substantial dent into revenues from papers’ classified sections. With less money in peoples’ pockets, revenue from circulation is also dropping off. Evincing financial strife as worrying as any other publisher, Trinity Mirror recently announced a 15% year on year decline in revenue.
On the national level, The Sun has announced a reduction in its cover price to 30p from 35p. Already sold at the lower value in Scotland, London and the South East, the paper will now cost 30p nationwide, as part of a "credit crunch defying cut" (top red-top in paper price slash shocker).
Daily Mail Does The Splits
It’s now possible to target the Daily Mail’s quality readership without having to mortgage your kids! Whereas until recently regional splits were only available on a North/South basis, or very occasionally as a North West/North East & Yorkshire split, you can now break the southern distribution up into four separate areas.
Captain Kickback says: "Since the Mail’s readership is weighted heavily towards the South, buying into this half of the country has long been prohibitively expensive for many. Breaking up the southern distribution allows the advertiser a cheaper, more focused way to access all those up-market Mail readers."
E-Metro
Free commuter tabloid Metro is now available in full online. While a number of other publishers offer a similar product in return for a subscription fee, the E-Metro is the first free-of-charge online national newspaper. Print editions of the paper carry advertisements inviting the reader to sign up for an email each day with a link to that day’s paper.
Captain Kickback says: "This is a terrific data capture opportunity for Metro, and no doubt they will make this audience available to the advertiser. Watch this space for more details."
Not All Bad News for Outdoor
Figures just released for quarter 2 revealed a year on year decrease in ad spend on outdoor media for the third successive quarter. However, the decline of 1.6% was less than seen during quarter one of this year, and some analysts are expecting to see this turned into a growth in the market by the end of 2008. Although the medium's share of adspend has been in decline, to the benefit of the likes of online media and radio, the decline in ad spend over recent months follows six years of consecutive and substantial quarterly growth in revenues. The fall during quarter 2 was mostly down to a 39.4% drop in outdoor advertising spend by food producers and retailers, although increased spends from other areas, such as financial and motors, helped to offset this.
Midlands Radio Stations for Sale
Having acquired GCAP Media, radio group Global Radio has announced plans to sell off most of its stations in the Midlands in order to avoid a referral to the Competition Commission. The stations likely to go on the market include GCAP’s BRMB, Beacon, Mercia and Wyvern, as these target an audience similar to that of the group’s existing Heart and Galaxy stations. Although there were also overlaps in London, with the new group owning Heart, LBC and Capital, the OFT has agreed that there was no monopoly here as each station targets a different audience group.
Hooray for the Credit Crunch!
At last, a positive consequence of all that manic over-lending. The Halifax has announced plans to shelve Howard, their resident singing idiot, in favour of a more serious advertising message. The idea is to adopt a tone more in keeping with a tougher, harder financial climate.
Captain Kickback says: " If belt tightening all-round means we won’t be subjected any longer to the glib wailings of a gurning talentless chucklewit, then I’m all for it."
That There Interweb
Always a useful mine of information that you didn't know you didn't know, the internet has come up trumps again. When looking at the popularity of specific terms put into search engines, we can see a keen correlation between the rise and fall of a given market and the number of times its related search terms are used. The recent difficulties in the property market, for example, have seen a similar downturn in the number of people searching for 'house prices'. At the same time, the number of searches for 'house price crash' have trebled over the last year. The few remaining people searching for 'house prices' are these days more likely to click on news websites for information on the market, whereas before it was property sites that got the most attention, perhaps suggesting that whereas people used to search for this term to find out by how much their house has increased in value, they now search to check the news and find out just how bad things have become.
More Good News
On a par with the disappearance of Howard from our screens is the announcement of another new website set to offer a service to rival Rightmove's. The National Association of Estate Agents has announced plans to create its own online property portal. Dubbed Property Live (someone cleary spent a good five or six minutes thinking that one up), the website will be launched in October with the backing of the Association's 10,000 members. If the new site finds its feet and demonstrates its worth, the likes of Rightmove and FindaProperty may have to re-examine their business models.
Captain Kickback says: "Although there are no plans for this new site to cater for property developers, its success might still be good news for builders, as it would make their custom all the more valuable to existing property portals. There's a long way to go though: Rightmove in particular is a massively powerful tool which offers a lot more to its estate agents than a simple listings facility, and Property Live has a job on its hands if it is to compete on an even keel. This move does smell a bit of desparation in a struggling market: the number of leads estate agents get through Rightmove will have dropped off massively over the last 6-8 months, just as it will have for other platforms, and although Property Live will definitely save them money, there's no reason to suspect it will be able to tap into a secret gold mine of cash-rich and well-postitioned purchasers."
That's your lot for another month. If you'd like more details on anything discussed here, feel free to reply to this email, or speak to your Space and Time team.
See you next time!!
Captain Kickback
Don’t worry: it’s not just you
If it’s any consolation, media owners’ pockets are also being hit hard this summer. The slump in the property market as well as a similar downturn in the motors market, fueled (sorry) by rising prices at the pumps, have both put a substantial dent into revenues from papers’ classified sections. With less money in peoples’ pockets, revenue from circulation is also dropping off. Evincing financial strife as worrying as any other publisher, Trinity Mirror recently announced a 15% year on year decline in revenue.
On the national level, The Sun has announced a reduction in its cover price to 30p from 35p. Already sold at the lower value in Scotland, London and the South East, the paper will now cost 30p nationwide, as part of a "credit crunch defying cut" (top red-top in paper price slash shocker).
Daily Mail Does The Splits
It’s now possible to target the Daily Mail’s quality readership without having to mortgage your kids! Whereas until recently regional splits were only available on a North/South basis, or very occasionally as a North West/North East & Yorkshire split, you can now break the southern distribution up into four separate areas.
Captain Kickback says: "Since the Mail’s readership is weighted heavily towards the South, buying into this half of the country has long been prohibitively expensive for many. Breaking up the southern distribution allows the advertiser a cheaper, more focused way to access all those up-market Mail readers."
E-Metro
Free commuter tabloid Metro is now available in full online. While a number of other publishers offer a similar product in return for a subscription fee, the E-Metro is the first free-of-charge online national newspaper. Print editions of the paper carry advertisements inviting the reader to sign up for an email each day with a link to that day’s paper.
Captain Kickback says: "This is a terrific data capture opportunity for Metro, and no doubt they will make this audience available to the advertiser. Watch this space for more details."
Not All Bad News for Outdoor
Figures just released for quarter 2 revealed a year on year decrease in ad spend on outdoor media for the third successive quarter. However, the decline of 1.6% was less than seen during quarter one of this year, and some analysts are expecting to see this turned into a growth in the market by the end of 2008. Although the medium's share of adspend has been in decline, to the benefit of the likes of online media and radio, the decline in ad spend over recent months follows six years of consecutive and substantial quarterly growth in revenues. The fall during quarter 2 was mostly down to a 39.4% drop in outdoor advertising spend by food producers and retailers, although increased spends from other areas, such as financial and motors, helped to offset this.
Midlands Radio Stations for Sale
Having acquired GCAP Media, radio group Global Radio has announced plans to sell off most of its stations in the Midlands in order to avoid a referral to the Competition Commission. The stations likely to go on the market include GCAP’s BRMB, Beacon, Mercia and Wyvern, as these target an audience similar to that of the group’s existing Heart and Galaxy stations. Although there were also overlaps in London, with the new group owning Heart, LBC and Capital, the OFT has agreed that there was no monopoly here as each station targets a different audience group.
Hooray for the Credit Crunch!
At last, a positive consequence of all that manic over-lending. The Halifax has announced plans to shelve Howard, their resident singing idiot, in favour of a more serious advertising message. The idea is to adopt a tone more in keeping with a tougher, harder financial climate.
Captain Kickback says: " If belt tightening all-round means we won’t be subjected any longer to the glib wailings of a gurning talentless chucklewit, then I’m all for it."
That There Interweb
Always a useful mine of information that you didn't know you didn't know, the internet has come up trumps again. When looking at the popularity of specific terms put into search engines, we can see a keen correlation between the rise and fall of a given market and the number of times its related search terms are used. The recent difficulties in the property market, for example, have seen a similar downturn in the number of people searching for 'house prices'. At the same time, the number of searches for 'house price crash' have trebled over the last year. The few remaining people searching for 'house prices' are these days more likely to click on news websites for information on the market, whereas before it was property sites that got the most attention, perhaps suggesting that whereas people used to search for this term to find out by how much their house has increased in value, they now search to check the news and find out just how bad things have become.
More Good News
On a par with the disappearance of Howard from our screens is the announcement of another new website set to offer a service to rival Rightmove's. The National Association of Estate Agents has announced plans to create its own online property portal. Dubbed Property Live (someone cleary spent a good five or six minutes thinking that one up), the website will be launched in October with the backing of the Association's 10,000 members. If the new site finds its feet and demonstrates its worth, the likes of Rightmove and FindaProperty may have to re-examine their business models.
Captain Kickback says: "Although there are no plans for this new site to cater for property developers, its success might still be good news for builders, as it would make their custom all the more valuable to existing property portals. There's a long way to go though: Rightmove in particular is a massively powerful tool which offers a lot more to its estate agents than a simple listings facility, and Property Live has a job on its hands if it is to compete on an even keel. This move does smell a bit of desparation in a struggling market: the number of leads estate agents get through Rightmove will have dropped off massively over the last 6-8 months, just as it will have for other platforms, and although Property Live will definitely save them money, there's no reason to suspect it will be able to tap into a secret gold mine of cash-rich and well-postitioned purchasers."
That's your lot for another month. If you'd like more details on anything discussed here, feel free to reply to this email, or speak to your Space and Time team.
See you next time!!
Captain Kickback
Thursday, 26 June 2008
Watch this Space Issue 37
Another fantastic round up media news goodies.....
Iplayer rival for ITV
As part of a major re-think of its online offering, ITV is planning to overhaul its online video player. Launched less than a year ago, the online catch up service is being re-examined following the success of the BBC’s Iplayer product. A major marketing campaign is proposed to promote the revamp, as well as pushing the idea of watching television online generally, and using the ITV website in particular.
Captain Kickback says: “with your licence fee money paving the way, the internet is changing the way that televisual media are consumed. Similarly, the increased availability of streamed content is changing the way the internet is used. While ITV are clearly playing catch-up here, it won’t be long before their video player, as well as Channel 4’s OD product, the BBC’s Iplayer and the likes of YouTube attract as many British viewers as Satellite television.”
Big Change
Also undergoing a change at the moment, charitable magazine The Big Issue was recently redesigned. The magazine has been seeing a fair amount of success recently, with a year on year circulation increase of 21% nationally, and is seeking to expand on this success following the addition of columns on the internet, living ethically and food, as well as the addition of a changing cast of columnists including Rod Liddle and Iain Duncan Smith.
Captain Kickback says: “If you’re truly committed to bringing rates down, and really haggle with the vendors, you can get the price of the magazine down to 70p, or perhaps even swap it for the remains of a cup of tea. But perhaps I’m missing the point.”
London Loser
Faring slightly less well on the streets than The Big Issue, The London Paper turned over just £8m in its first 10 months of distribution, recording a loss of over £16m. The clear winner of the battle for supremacy among London’s free sheets, The London Paper distributes around 500,000 copies each day as compared with roughly 400,000 copies of London Lite. Despite this success, the paper has failed to generate enough advertising revenue in its first year of trading to meet the substantial costs of setting up shop. Publishers News International expect to be able to turn a profit during the paper’s second year.
Captain Kickback says: “Losing the race for readers will be a double blow for Associated, as the glut of free newspapers has also put a sizeable dent into the number of paid-for copies of the Evening Standard they distribute each weekday. Following a significant drop off in sales immediately after the launch of London Lite and The London Paper, the number of copies of the Standard given away free of charge or sold cheaply for bulk distribution was increased so as to prop up its ailing distribution.”
Boom for AND
A happier story for the Daily Mail and General Trust Group sees Associated Northcliffe Digital announcing that it now reaches 22 million people in the UK. Following its largest investigation of readership web use to date, in which a whopping 60,000 people were surveyed, the publisher has stated that it reaches 17% more consumers than it previously believed.
Captain Kickback says: “Measuring combined online and print reach is a contentious issue, as it is difficult to say with any accuracy whether people who purchase your printed product aren’t also the people who log on to your website. There are also technical aspects to consider, such as the percentage of people who delete their cookies regularly. Doing so prevents websites from recognising users who have already visited the site, and so has a significant impact on reach figures. As yet attempts by the Audit Bureau of Circulation Electronic to standardise web measurements have achieved little.”
HomesMine
Eager to provide a local alternative to RightMove, Manchester publishers MEN Media are soon to launch a local property listings portal. Much like many local online offerings, the MEN website currently has a searchable database with the properties provided by Fish4Homes.
Going live in late June, HomesMine will offer a searchable database to which local property developers and estate agents will be invited to subscribe to show their wares. The launch of the website will coincide with a re-branding of the property section in the Manchester Evening News and each of the publisher’s weekly titles.
That's your lot for another month. If you'd like more details on any of the offerings mentioned here, reply to this email or contact your team at Space and Time.
See you next time!!
Captain Kickback
Iplayer rival for ITV
As part of a major re-think of its online offering, ITV is planning to overhaul its online video player. Launched less than a year ago, the online catch up service is being re-examined following the success of the BBC’s Iplayer product. A major marketing campaign is proposed to promote the revamp, as well as pushing the idea of watching television online generally, and using the ITV website in particular.
Captain Kickback says: “with your licence fee money paving the way, the internet is changing the way that televisual media are consumed. Similarly, the increased availability of streamed content is changing the way the internet is used. While ITV are clearly playing catch-up here, it won’t be long before their video player, as well as Channel 4’s OD product, the BBC’s Iplayer and the likes of YouTube attract as many British viewers as Satellite television.”
Big Change
Also undergoing a change at the moment, charitable magazine The Big Issue was recently redesigned. The magazine has been seeing a fair amount of success recently, with a year on year circulation increase of 21% nationally, and is seeking to expand on this success following the addition of columns on the internet, living ethically and food, as well as the addition of a changing cast of columnists including Rod Liddle and Iain Duncan Smith.
Captain Kickback says: “If you’re truly committed to bringing rates down, and really haggle with the vendors, you can get the price of the magazine down to 70p, or perhaps even swap it for the remains of a cup of tea. But perhaps I’m missing the point.”
London Loser
Faring slightly less well on the streets than The Big Issue, The London Paper turned over just £8m in its first 10 months of distribution, recording a loss of over £16m. The clear winner of the battle for supremacy among London’s free sheets, The London Paper distributes around 500,000 copies each day as compared with roughly 400,000 copies of London Lite. Despite this success, the paper has failed to generate enough advertising revenue in its first year of trading to meet the substantial costs of setting up shop. Publishers News International expect to be able to turn a profit during the paper’s second year.
Captain Kickback says: “Losing the race for readers will be a double blow for Associated, as the glut of free newspapers has also put a sizeable dent into the number of paid-for copies of the Evening Standard they distribute each weekday. Following a significant drop off in sales immediately after the launch of London Lite and The London Paper, the number of copies of the Standard given away free of charge or sold cheaply for bulk distribution was increased so as to prop up its ailing distribution.”
Boom for AND
A happier story for the Daily Mail and General Trust Group sees Associated Northcliffe Digital announcing that it now reaches 22 million people in the UK. Following its largest investigation of readership web use to date, in which a whopping 60,000 people were surveyed, the publisher has stated that it reaches 17% more consumers than it previously believed.
Captain Kickback says: “Measuring combined online and print reach is a contentious issue, as it is difficult to say with any accuracy whether people who purchase your printed product aren’t also the people who log on to your website. There are also technical aspects to consider, such as the percentage of people who delete their cookies regularly. Doing so prevents websites from recognising users who have already visited the site, and so has a significant impact on reach figures. As yet attempts by the Audit Bureau of Circulation Electronic to standardise web measurements have achieved little.”
HomesMine
Eager to provide a local alternative to RightMove, Manchester publishers MEN Media are soon to launch a local property listings portal. Much like many local online offerings, the MEN website currently has a searchable database with the properties provided by Fish4Homes.
Going live in late June, HomesMine will offer a searchable database to which local property developers and estate agents will be invited to subscribe to show their wares. The launch of the website will coincide with a re-branding of the property section in the Manchester Evening News and each of the publisher’s weekly titles.
That's your lot for another month. If you'd like more details on any of the offerings mentioned here, reply to this email or contact your team at Space and Time.
See you next time!!
Captain Kickback
Tuesday, 5 February 2008
Watch this Space, Issue 36
Another Chock-a-block month of news has passed so let's get on with it....
Absolutely…etc etc.
The News of The World has launched a multi million-pound marketing campaign in support of its new glossy supplement, Fabulous. A replacement for the paper’s Sunday Magazine, Fabulous has been compared with Emap’s Grazia, and is promised to be "big on everything". Although this is simply another glossy Sunday supp revamp (see also the recent redesign of You, and the launches of Live and Seven), Fabulous is dabbling in a bit of a swanky media crossover. The supplement will be linked with a rather cunning e-commerce website, on which readers can purchase all the clothing and accessories shown in the photoshoots within the magazine.
Online News Going Strong
The last week of January saw the footfall of newspaper websites increase to its highest level for three years, as a slew of strong finance-related news stories drove curious desk-bound readers to online news portals. 1.48% of all UK web traffic was accounted for by newspaper websites, according to Hitwise, while the rampant swings in the global stock markets ensured that searches for ‘FTSE’ rose by 223%.
Captain Kickback says: "As well as demonstrating growing concerns over the economy, these figures show the increased trust consumers have in online news outlets and the internet in general. This is also illustrative of the way online media are consumed: while printed media develop and maintain a loyal readership, curious web-users are to a large extent willing to let search engines decide which site delivers their news to them. In a related story, The Times and The Daily Telegraph have both announced plans to host online archives of their past print publications."
OurTube
Perhaps recognizing which side its bread is buttered on, Web 2.0 champions You Tube have announced a partnership scheme that will allow users who post videos to share in the site’s advertising revenue. Launched in the UK on January 31st, the scheme has already been in place in the USA since last year, where the most successful posters receive thousands of dollars each month.
In-Flight Advertising
Research carried out on behalf of Sony Ericsson has revealed that in-flight advertising, including branded tray tables, is more effective than poster sites within airport terminals. In the research, 28% of respondents recalled Sony’s advertisement unprompted, while 59% claimed to pay more attention to in-flight advertising than they do to airport posters.
Captain Kickback says: "It makes sense that a captive audience, such as those onboard an aeroplane, would have more time to absorb and think about the advertising they are exposed to than would people rushing through an airport terminal. We can reach potential consumers onboard any number of transport vehicles, each with a healthy recall rate."
Titan Get Digital
Already the purveyor of Transvision; digital poster sites at key train stations, Titan have now launched a range of digital 48-sheets across London and Manchester. With the first 48-sheet panel now available in Kensington, and another 14 planned between the two cities, Titan are also launching digital 6-sheet panels in London Victoria train station and Birmingham’s Bullring shopping centre.
Podcasts Increase Radio Listenership
Having studied consumption of Podcasts and radio listenership alongside each other for the first time, RAJAR has found that 18% of respondents have listened to more live radio since they begun downloading podcasts, while only 8% listen to less. 31% of podcast users claim now to listen to live radio programmes that had previously passed them by. The same survey has revealed that, including both live streaming and ‘listen again’ opportunities, 8.1 million people now listen to the radio online. 80% of all podcast users listen on their home computer while 61% use a portable device. As we might expect, Podcast consumption peaks during the evening.
Captain Kickback says: "As well as revealing some interesting facts about the way online radio is consumed, this survey also has consequences for the advertising industry. 58% of the survey’s participants said that they would be willing to download podcasts which contained advertising provided that the material itself was freely available. Only 28% were willing to pay for the privilege of listening to podcasts containing advertising."
That's your lot for another month. If any of these stories has caught your attention, please reply to this address or contact your team for further details.
SEE YOU NEXT TIME!!!
Captain Kickback
Absolutely…etc etc.
The News of The World has launched a multi million-pound marketing campaign in support of its new glossy supplement, Fabulous. A replacement for the paper’s Sunday Magazine, Fabulous has been compared with Emap’s Grazia, and is promised to be "big on everything". Although this is simply another glossy Sunday supp revamp (see also the recent redesign of You, and the launches of Live and Seven), Fabulous is dabbling in a bit of a swanky media crossover. The supplement will be linked with a rather cunning e-commerce website, on which readers can purchase all the clothing and accessories shown in the photoshoots within the magazine.
Online News Going Strong
The last week of January saw the footfall of newspaper websites increase to its highest level for three years, as a slew of strong finance-related news stories drove curious desk-bound readers to online news portals. 1.48% of all UK web traffic was accounted for by newspaper websites, according to Hitwise, while the rampant swings in the global stock markets ensured that searches for ‘FTSE’ rose by 223%.
Captain Kickback says: "As well as demonstrating growing concerns over the economy, these figures show the increased trust consumers have in online news outlets and the internet in general. This is also illustrative of the way online media are consumed: while printed media develop and maintain a loyal readership, curious web-users are to a large extent willing to let search engines decide which site delivers their news to them. In a related story, The Times and The Daily Telegraph have both announced plans to host online archives of their past print publications."
OurTube
Perhaps recognizing which side its bread is buttered on, Web 2.0 champions You Tube have announced a partnership scheme that will allow users who post videos to share in the site’s advertising revenue. Launched in the UK on January 31st, the scheme has already been in place in the USA since last year, where the most successful posters receive thousands of dollars each month.
In-Flight Advertising
Research carried out on behalf of Sony Ericsson has revealed that in-flight advertising, including branded tray tables, is more effective than poster sites within airport terminals. In the research, 28% of respondents recalled Sony’s advertisement unprompted, while 59% claimed to pay more attention to in-flight advertising than they do to airport posters.
Captain Kickback says: "It makes sense that a captive audience, such as those onboard an aeroplane, would have more time to absorb and think about the advertising they are exposed to than would people rushing through an airport terminal. We can reach potential consumers onboard any number of transport vehicles, each with a healthy recall rate."
Titan Get Digital
Already the purveyor of Transvision; digital poster sites at key train stations, Titan have now launched a range of digital 48-sheets across London and Manchester. With the first 48-sheet panel now available in Kensington, and another 14 planned between the two cities, Titan are also launching digital 6-sheet panels in London Victoria train station and Birmingham’s Bullring shopping centre.
Podcasts Increase Radio Listenership
Having studied consumption of Podcasts and radio listenership alongside each other for the first time, RAJAR has found that 18% of respondents have listened to more live radio since they begun downloading podcasts, while only 8% listen to less. 31% of podcast users claim now to listen to live radio programmes that had previously passed them by. The same survey has revealed that, including both live streaming and ‘listen again’ opportunities, 8.1 million people now listen to the radio online. 80% of all podcast users listen on their home computer while 61% use a portable device. As we might expect, Podcast consumption peaks during the evening.
Captain Kickback says: "As well as revealing some interesting facts about the way online radio is consumed, this survey also has consequences for the advertising industry. 58% of the survey’s participants said that they would be willing to download podcasts which contained advertising provided that the material itself was freely available. Only 28% were willing to pay for the privilege of listening to podcasts containing advertising."
That's your lot for another month. If any of these stories has caught your attention, please reply to this address or contact your team for further details.
SEE YOU NEXT TIME!!!
Captain Kickback
Friday, 7 December 2007
Watch This Space, Issue 35
Lots to talk about this month, and all of it massively exciting. You lucky people.......
DAB Hands
DAB listenership in the UK has been shown to be growing far faster than the analogue equivalents. 28.4% of the population now listen to DAB radio, between them listening for 153 million hours each week, accounting for one sixth of all radio listening hours.
Captain Kickback says: "We're still a long way from a national switchover from analogue to digital radio. For one thing, unlike television, there's no bit of kit that can turn a normal radio into a DAB, and it's a big ask to expect 75% of the population to throw away all their stereo equipment. Particularly when most of us still have a record player gathering dust somewhere. However, the impressive growth of DAB's audience, and the huge investment in digital and online broadcasting from the likes of the BBC are making a substantial difference in the way radio is consumed."
Superheroes online
Obviously taking their cue from the smashing new Space and Time Media website, Marvel Comics have announced a decision to publish its back catalogue online. Attempting to capture the attention of the latest generation of consumers and capitalise on the success of recent film adaptations, Marvel.com is opening its lycra-clad doors to the world at a subscription cost of around £5 per month. Rival publishers DC have already leapt into the digital unknown by publishing issues of their comics on MySpace.
Eggs FM
More radio, and even more superheroes (it's as if they planned it all just for me), as XFM has recently opened a fourth regional station, this time in South Wales, amid a superhero-themed promotional campaign. Boasting a line-up that includes Rhys and Eggsy from Goldie Lookin' Chain, as well as former Stereophonics hairdo Stuart Cable, the station launched on November 29th. First launched as an independent in London before being acquired by GCAP, XFM is now available in Manchester and Glasgow and targets a young, relatively upmarket audience.
Captain Kickback says: "Although delivering a valuable, niche audience, listening figures tend to be comparatively small across all three of the existing XFM platforms, and doubtless this will also be the case in South Wales, given the strength of Red Dragon and Real Radio Wales."
BT Getting Crafty
They've been on my list for years, but BT are about to make themselves pretty unpopular across the country, as plans are announced to put "unskippable" advertisements into the films available to download from the BT Vision online download store. Eventually this irritation will be rolled out to include all of BT's On Demand Television.
Captain Kickback says: "We knew it would happen eventually! For each new bit of technology that someone invents, someone else will find a way to make money out of it. However this has distinct advantages for the advertiser- the relatively small audience, for example, will allow quite a low buy-in cost and thereby make 'television' advertising possible for advertisers who might otherwise have been lacking in funds."
Trouble at Mill
Staff at the Leicester Mercury have voted in favour of industrial action over their salary, having discovered that their colleagues at the Birmingham Post and Mail earn around £4k per year more. The precise nature of the action to be taken has yet to be decided, but with the ongoing streamlining of many news rooms and their integration with online editorial teams, we can expect to see more disgruntled hacks up and down the country.
Murdoch Wrongfoots Rightmove et al
News International has recently invested heavily in the latest online property search engine. Unlike its more established rivals, Globrix.com will not charge estate agents to register their properties, and instead will use crafty computer robots to find and list automatically every single property on sale within the uk. Establishing the website as a single source of information on property for sale is expected to create a huge level of traffic, which Globrix will use to sell advertising space in the areas surrounding the property search results: much like search engines' sponsored links.
As an additional point of difference, Globrix will allow a far greater degree of searchable detail than is available elsewhere, with users able to search according to a wide range of criteria including the property's age, the availability of parking, the garden size, and the distance from major transport links.
Captain Kickback says: "With the self-set target of leading the property website market within 12 months, this is clearly a website to keep an eye on. Obviously its users are pre-qualified as interested in buying property and, depending on the price, there's the potential for advertising within the search results to be an extremely targeted and cost-efficient medium."
That's your lot for this month, don't forget to check out the new Space and Time website at www.spaceandtime.eu.com. Unless you're reading this online, in which case, I hope you like the new Space and Time website at www.spaceandtime.eu.com.
See You Next Time!!!
Captain Kickback
DAB Hands
DAB listenership in the UK has been shown to be growing far faster than the analogue equivalents. 28.4% of the population now listen to DAB radio, between them listening for 153 million hours each week, accounting for one sixth of all radio listening hours.
Captain Kickback says: "We're still a long way from a national switchover from analogue to digital radio. For one thing, unlike television, there's no bit of kit that can turn a normal radio into a DAB, and it's a big ask to expect 75% of the population to throw away all their stereo equipment. Particularly when most of us still have a record player gathering dust somewhere. However, the impressive growth of DAB's audience, and the huge investment in digital and online broadcasting from the likes of the BBC are making a substantial difference in the way radio is consumed."
Superheroes online
Obviously taking their cue from the smashing new Space and Time Media website, Marvel Comics have announced a decision to publish its back catalogue online. Attempting to capture the attention of the latest generation of consumers and capitalise on the success of recent film adaptations, Marvel.com is opening its lycra-clad doors to the world at a subscription cost of around £5 per month. Rival publishers DC have already leapt into the digital unknown by publishing issues of their comics on MySpace.
Eggs FM
More radio, and even more superheroes (it's as if they planned it all just for me), as XFM has recently opened a fourth regional station, this time in South Wales, amid a superhero-themed promotional campaign. Boasting a line-up that includes Rhys and Eggsy from Goldie Lookin' Chain, as well as former Stereophonics hairdo Stuart Cable, the station launched on November 29th. First launched as an independent in London before being acquired by GCAP, XFM is now available in Manchester and Glasgow and targets a young, relatively upmarket audience.
Captain Kickback says: "Although delivering a valuable, niche audience, listening figures tend to be comparatively small across all three of the existing XFM platforms, and doubtless this will also be the case in South Wales, given the strength of Red Dragon and Real Radio Wales."
BT Getting Crafty
They've been on my list for years, but BT are about to make themselves pretty unpopular across the country, as plans are announced to put "unskippable" advertisements into the films available to download from the BT Vision online download store. Eventually this irritation will be rolled out to include all of BT's On Demand Television.
Captain Kickback says: "We knew it would happen eventually! For each new bit of technology that someone invents, someone else will find a way to make money out of it. However this has distinct advantages for the advertiser- the relatively small audience, for example, will allow quite a low buy-in cost and thereby make 'television' advertising possible for advertisers who might otherwise have been lacking in funds."
Trouble at Mill
Staff at the Leicester Mercury have voted in favour of industrial action over their salary, having discovered that their colleagues at the Birmingham Post and Mail earn around £4k per year more. The precise nature of the action to be taken has yet to be decided, but with the ongoing streamlining of many news rooms and their integration with online editorial teams, we can expect to see more disgruntled hacks up and down the country.
Murdoch Wrongfoots Rightmove et al
News International has recently invested heavily in the latest online property search engine. Unlike its more established rivals, Globrix.com will not charge estate agents to register their properties, and instead will use crafty computer robots to find and list automatically every single property on sale within the uk. Establishing the website as a single source of information on property for sale is expected to create a huge level of traffic, which Globrix will use to sell advertising space in the areas surrounding the property search results: much like search engines' sponsored links.
As an additional point of difference, Globrix will allow a far greater degree of searchable detail than is available elsewhere, with users able to search according to a wide range of criteria including the property's age, the availability of parking, the garden size, and the distance from major transport links.
Captain Kickback says: "With the self-set target of leading the property website market within 12 months, this is clearly a website to keep an eye on. Obviously its users are pre-qualified as interested in buying property and, depending on the price, there's the potential for advertising within the search results to be an extremely targeted and cost-efficient medium."
That's your lot for this month, don't forget to check out the new Space and Time website at www.spaceandtime.eu.com. Unless you're reading this online, in which case, I hope you like the new Space and Time website at www.spaceandtime.eu.com.
See You Next Time!!!
Captain Kickback
Tuesday, 2 October 2007
Watch This Space, issue 34!
It’s a Matter of Trust
Recent research by the UK Association of Online Publishers found that 74% of magazine readers and 81% of newspaper readers believe online and print media to be equally trustworthy. The conclusions reached in the research, which surveyed 27,000 respondents, suggest that far more important than the medium through which news is published is the brand associated with it: if the Times is to be believed in print then it seems to follow that its online offerings are considered equally reliable. Captain Kickback says: “As ever when being presented with some sort of pie-chart by a media owner wherein their own medium has the largest slice, we must of course bear in mind the source of this news. The fact that the research was carried out entirely online, for instance, will almost certainly imbue some sort of bias in its results. However, it certainly seems that publishers’ rampant investment into online media over the last few years is bringing an end to the days in which every word published on the internet was met with universal cynicism and mistrust.”I’m Digitally Authentic- What Are You?
Yet more research I’m afraid. This time it’s a new means of profiling consumers, called the New Mediascapes survey. If you’re anxious to know how best to pigeonhole yourself as a consumer of the digital age, read on!The digital authentic
Media explorers
A group which tends to be older and very common among those employed in education or the civil service, these people are reluctant adopters of new technology and tend to stay loyal to that which has worked well for them in the past. When they absolutely have to venture into new areas or buy new technology, brand is very important for media explorers and they dip their toes by using the biggest, like Google or Yahoo to research their purchase.Immersed dwellers
These people can’t get by with out technological support- they run their lives online and two thirds contribute to web 2.0. As likely to be male as they are female, immersed dwellers are the most likely group to carry more than one device around with them, be it a Blackberry, mp3 player or laptop, and are frequently frustrated that these devices aren’t more compatible.Channel Zapper
Short on time but keen to stay up to the minute, these people have an eclectic taste and do their best to be early adopters. They read trend setting titles like i-D, NME and Pop, but are also likely to pick up the commuter freesheet on their way home.Social Uploaders
A group very strong on friends and community: they have a strong presence on networking websites and take pride in the appearance of their profile pages and the feedback they collect on eBay. These people are poor consumers of TV and tend to read more than any other group. With wide networks and communities maintained entirely online, they are particularly susceptible to viral marketing. Users and supporters of BookCrossing.com, social uploaders are likely to leave their newspapers on the train for others to use.A Longer Walk for your London Read!
The London Evening Standard has cut its sales force by 8%, with a loss of 30 vendors. Amid claims that they will be investing heavily in their distribution come Autumn, publishers Associated Newspapers have announced that the cuts are about achieving greater efficiency rather than falling sales. However, against a circulation figure of 313,181 last August, the June 2007 circulation of the Standard was 276,230, of which only 198,601 were paid for. Captain Kickback says: “The end of August will see the first anniversary (yes, already!) of that London freesheet battle we all loved reading about. As predicted, the proliferation of free alternatives has put a sizeable dent in the Standard’s already falling circulation.”A Longer Wait for your Bath Read!
Another paper whose circulation has been dropping off in recent years, the Bath Chronicle has announced plans to change from daily to weekly distribution as of September 27th. “If you can’t be first, be best” is the maxim adopted here, we’re told: with up to the minute news being taken away from the print media by the internet and 24-hour news television, the Chronicle is seeking to produce a higher quality paper less frequently, a more considered response to events rather than up to the minute reportage. Interestingly, stable mate the Western Daily Press is to launch a Bath edition to plug the gap left by this change in distribution.Gaydar Reaches a New High
Announcing its best year to date and after winning a slew of awards over the last 12 months, Gaydar Radio has seen a 51% increase in listening year on year. Available nationally online and on SKY TV, and in London and Sussex through DAB, the dance-based station is now achieving a weekly reach of 339,400 listeners. The strongest growth in listening was by the 18-34 year old demographic, which rose from 21% of the station’s audience last year, to account for 28% this year. Captain Kickback says: “With its online broadcasting, we can do some quite crafty targeting of Gaydar’s audience. Gaydar.co.uk has 1.3 million registered users and we can target banner campaigns to these people according to the details they have entered into their profile.”Hyper Local Gets Big
Following the success of six free papers in the North East, it seems that Trinity Mirror might be considering the launch of more “reverse publishing” titles. As the name suggests, reverse publishing plays with what has become the natural order of the publishing world: rather than the content of newspapers appearing online after publication so that consumers must buy the printed matter to get hold of the latest material, reverse publishing sees the publication of journals that summarise the goings on of small local websites whose content is largely user created. Currently three weekly and three fortnightly newspapers are sent to homes in Ingleby, Barwick, Acklam and Redcar. Their content is produced by an army of 150 bloggers and a handful of journalist and is concerned solely with “hyper local” matters. Supported by “hyper local” advertising, these sites and their associated papers seem to be doing very well- between them they achieved an audience of 40,600 unique users in July. Captain Kickback says: “So….Print 2.0! Well, why not? It seems that Trinity have struck upon one of the true advantages of user-generated content: it’s cheap! The bloggers at work here have made newspapers a viable prospect where previously the tiny circulations they offer would have failed to make enough ad revenue to support the editorial staff needed to create them. Clearly this is something to keep an eye on for the future: it will allow highly targeted and extremely cheap local advertising.”Another new term for you
Mobile phone company Orange have explained away an increase in text messages sent during June by linking it with the ban on public smoking. Bored smokers, it seems, tend to use their free hands to text their friends whilst standing outside pubs. This emerging phenomenon has been gloriously dubbed “smexting”. That's all for this time. As ever if any of the titbits in this month's newsletter are of interest, please speak to your Space and Time team or reply to this email for more details.
Captain Kickback
Friday, 22 June 2007
A lesson to be learnt
And finally, the Daily Express seems to be kneeling in prayer to Hoover, the great god of disappointed customers, as hundreds of readers threaten to take the paper to court over its continued failure to fulfil on a prize promise made three years ago. Readers were promised a week-long cruise for just £10 if they managed to collect 36 tokens. Although only 5,000 places were on offer, demand for the cruise exceeded 30,000 and the company contracted to fulfil the prizes failed to meet demand. The Express initially responded by taking the fulfilment back in house and simply writing to thousands of their readers to tell them they could no longer have their cruises. Understandably, this has left many readers sorely aggrieved.
That's all there is for this month, but don't worry too much: I'll be back with more fascinating insight before you know it. If in the meantime you would like any more information on any of these stories, please feel free either to reply to this email or to contact your account team.See you next time!!
That's all there is for this month, but don't worry too much: I'll be back with more fascinating insight before you know it. If in the meantime you would like any more information on any of these stories, please feel free either to reply to this email or to contact your account team.See you next time!!
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