Newspaper printers and publishers have been looking for newer business models in the times of falling advertising revenues. Nine years ago, a special report was brought out on the separation of printing and publishing by Wan-Ifra. It was based on the growing trend among publishers to identify their core competence and to separate print production from the publishing business. It aimed to identify the distinctive features of the then current best performing printing strategies and also aimed to help newspaper publishers in developing effective business strategies that were best suited to their specific needs and markets.
The latest Wan-Ifra report examines the options chosen by newspaper printers in light of the developments that have taken place such as how beneficial were the changes for the printers and publishers, the obstacles such companies had to contend with, and how the future can turn out to be.
The operator model, profit centres owned by the publisher, where an external operator is given the responsibility of running the print shop, the external service provider who takes on this responsibility, joint ventures between publishing units, independent printers, outsourcing of printing some editions of a newspaper, and online printers who sell newspaper printing in all sizes from an online portal were the cases studied.
Among the many industry experts Stephan Buhler, sales manager, dierotations-drucker, Germany; Gary Hughes, senior director, manufacturing operation, newspaper group and general manager, Vaughan Plant of Transcontinental, Toronto, Canada and K Balaji, director at Kasturi and Sons, publishers of The Hindu, India contributed inputs to the study.
Manfred Werfel, deputy CEO and executive director of Global Events for Wan-Ifra, said, “Many different concepts and print strategies are developing and there is no single business model that fits all needs. Most probably there will never be one master plan for newspaper printers, but a variety of different solutions that fit the market requirements and capabilities of printers in different geographic regions.”
Giving an overview of global newspaper revenue generation in 2014, Werfel said, while print and digital advertising revenue was US$ 87 billion, the print and digital circulation revenues stood at US$ 92 billion. The revenues generated by newspaper advertising registered a 5.2% dip from 2010 to 2014.
Summing up the study, changing demands and preferences from the market have stimulated an evolutionary process. The printing industry is innovating and experimenting to come up with the solutions best suited to meet these challenges. The cost of printing is coming more and more into focus – those who don’t adapt will lose their market position. The European models that have been found to work best are turning printing facilities into profit centres or engaging an external operator. In India, national dailies outsource printing either to independent printers or to printing facilities of other newspapers. In North America, publishers are finding that handing over the printing to experienced printers is the most efficient way forward. The newspaper printer as a service provider for the print media is the most favoured new tried-and-tested model across the globe, according to Werfel.
