John Houghton's New Media Blog

It’s one thing to hear about store closings but it’s another to have two of your neighborhood Blockbuster stores close.  That hits close to home.  I thought that maybe Blu-Ray would sustain them because 1080p programming is still pretty big for internet pipes and devices, therefore consumers would still frequent Blockbuster.  Not so.  According to their recent earnings announcement, Blockbuster will be closing 115 stores.  There are so many alternatives now, On Demand Movies, AppleTV (my favorite), Dish Network, Netflix and so on.  I can see how it would be hard for them to keep stores open, especially in Silicon Valley where there are so many geeks, like myself, that love to find new ways to receive programming.  On one hand, I like to see change and consumers adopting new and more efficient technologies.  On the other, I don’t like to see companies shutting stores.

US newspaper circulation is continuing it’s downward trend with San Francisco Chronicle suffering the largest loss of 26% from last year according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations via the Wall Street Journal. USA Today used to have the largest circulation, but with an approximate 17% drop in circulation, the former number two Wall Street Journal has risen to the top position.

After the WSJ published last Saturday’s editorial where the author endorsed insider trading, I predict if they keep pushing their point of view, their circulation too will be falling. I for one, considered canceling my subscription.

Sad but true. Times are changing and with the rise of Craig’s List and online advertising, there are few big revenue streams available to newspapers. If they consider that they are in the news delivery business and proceed on that model, they might have an easier time. As we know old habits die hard as do old ways of thinking. Big three auto didn’t change their strategy quickly enough and look at the mess they’re in. I think newspaper companies needed to go digital a long time ago.

I get the Wall Street Journal every day, but only electronically. I was tired of newspapers piling up in my living room. I would love to get the Economist electronically, but they force you to get the physical version as well, so I don’t subscribe. It seems that a lot of these folks are interested in “pushing paper” to us, rather than pushing the news. If they gave it to me in electronic form (with ads) then they could have me as a customer. That probably has something to do with the Audit Bureau of Circulations and how they count “copies served.”

I love that WSJ is available in PDF version because a lot of my business associates read the print version, and with the PDF version (an exact copy of the headline pages for each section) I can see which important articles are prominently placed and are likely to be read by them. Without seeing that “ranking” everything is on a level playing field and I can’t cover it. It’s always nice to have read the same article and comment on it.

WSJ has been podcasting for a while and publishing video, however, they need to put more editorial effort into it before I start watching. I can tell that a lot of the effort/research has gone into the written word, so that’s what I focus on.

In a sign of changing times, Tower Records has thrown in the towel.  Despite their online store presence, they were not able to stay out of the red.  It can happen to the best of us and you always have to make sure you’re thinking ahead, and when necessary, taking bold action.  Tower had a lot of leverage in their day and could have used it to form strategic partnerships and new ventures to maintain their position in the entertainment industry.

Digital music has been a big driver of change and it will be interesting to see further fallout in the entertainment industry.  Are record labels next?  Promotion companies?  Live music is having a hard time.  People these days wanting more  entertainment delivered to them rather than going to seek it out.  It’s a bit sad for me since I do live entertainment (I’m a vocalist), but you have to adapt.  I think a hybrid model is workable.  Not everybody likes to sit home all day and hang out in front of their entertainment console.

It used to be all about TV media strategy but with the recent shift to online media consumption habits, companies are placing increasing emphasis in online strategy.  If you snooze you lose is what Viacom is learning as YouTube and myspace eat MTV’s lunch (Viacom owns MTV).  Lack of online strategy and erosion to new media has prompted the firing of Viacom’s CEO, Tom Freston.  This is just one of the many consequences we will see as advertising dollars follow consumers online.