Everyone has probably heard by now what's going on with my hometown newspapers. The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press have decided to limit home delivery to three days a week in an attempt to cut costs and save jobs. On other days, people can buy an abbreviated edition on newsstands or get an online subscription for $12/month.
This is huge, and I'll be interested to see if this starts a ripple effect. Will other papers wait to see what happens with the Detroit experiment or will they hop on the bandwagon, eager for any solution that can cut costs in the short term. Detroit is in a different situation than many home town newspapers though because of the auto industry. People all over the world read the Detroit dailies for auto news, almost like an automotive trade journal. So they may be able to cut home delivery with less impact than, say, the Des Moines paper or the Little Rock paper.
In the meantime, since my business is the online world, I'll be interested to see if people actually pay to read the whole edition online and how this all shakes out for them.
We're measuring online customer satisfaction for a lot of media companies, including newspapers and broadcast outlets who are seeing more and more traffic go to their websites. It's essential for these companies to know how to maximize the value of their online channel in tough economic times. We see over and over in the ACSI report on online news that there is little differentiation between online news outlets, or at least between the ones the University measures for the ACSI. There's such a huge opportunity for someone to step up and own this market.
How do you feel about this as a consumer? Are you nervous about the possible disappearance or reduction of print newspapers?
You know, I don't even subscribe to my daily paper, but I hate the idea of not having the option of sitting down with a paper and a cup of coffee. I do it MAYBE once a week, but it just seems such an iconic experience. It's not the same to sit down to a computer screen. Sorry, Larry, I know you are all about everything moving online.
Posted by: Paul | December 17, 2008 at 09:45 AM
I also enjoy reading the actual paper. Although I am a huge online fan/user - I want the choice of channels (paper vs. online). I am a morning breakfast and paper guy. Although when I am traveling I do check the local paper online (mostly on my iphone) to keep up with the local news/sports/business.
-Larry
Posted by: Larry Freed | December 17, 2008 at 11:27 PM