Wow, Shaughnessy is apparently stalking Manny in LA and is posting blog entries about it... :) What is the world coming to? Is this a sign of the apocalypse?
Should be an interesting read Sat AM - will probably go on about how appropriate that Manny is in la la land and they will get what they deserve
5 comments:
OB - you got those Globe circulation numbers yet, or do you have to wait until 10:00 AM?
Good move by the Globe to send someone to cover Manny's arrival and debut in Los Angeles. I'm sure that just about everyone with the extra innings package was watching Vinnie talk about Manny last night. It was important enough so that the Herald also had its own coverage, rather than rely on the wires, although it was from a freelancer better known for reporting on religion and soccer.
Somehow I get the feeling the newspaper coverage was better than fanboys blogging in front of theTV (the purpose of which has never been clear) or in snippets from someone claiming to be at the game.
OB
Did you say "But there are reasons why Shaughnessy is the lead sports columnist on the leading news outlet in town."
Maybe he represents "the leading news outlet" well.
Let us think about that .... a “news outlet” needs to attract and communicate to a base .... who is that base? ... but most importantly, of that base who is willing to pony up 75 cents or their internet time to read about sports…. It sure isn’t the 18-35 year old male – they’re too transitory (and probably live in a basement pad); and definitely not the majority of females (they looking for love not war) … so that leaves us with the aging population… in New England there are 14+ million and let’s assume that the +50 year olds represent about 30% or about 4.2 million … that means with a circulation of 350,000 a "the leading news outlet" is capturing 8% of the market … and it is dwindling ... could it be that their view has missed the target …
The “Yawkey Way” died off a long time ago … and note that by 2050, non-Hispanic whites will account for 47% of the population, down from the 2005 figure of 67%. Non-Hispanic whites made up 85% of the population in 1960.
Get with the times and expand your vision if you want more of the people’s “peace of mind”.
The great thing about theories is that they provide a nice refuge from facts.
Here are the facts:
First, there is a difference between circulation and readership. Scarborough Research (look them up) estimates cumulative weekly readership of the Globe at more than 1.8 million. The average person in the area is 47 years old, the average Globe reader is a bit older than 49 and a half, a difference of about 2.25 years.
Thirty nine percent of the 4.7 million people in the globe's marketing area read the physical newspaper at least once per week including 30 percent of those 18 to 34 and 44 percent of those 55 and older. And its not just the Cambridge crowd as the right wing wack-jobs like to claim, the Globe hits a bigger percentage of households in Walpole and Melrose than in Cambridge.
Women would rather make love rather than war?
Well they're apparently picking up the newspaper during those pesky refractory periods, since 51 percent of the 1.8 million people who read the paper Globe at least once per week are women.
On-line, the Globe has just shy of 4.2 million unique visitors to its Boston.com web site in any given week. That's double the unique weekly visitors to the Herald, WBZ, WHDH and WCVB Web sites combined.
It takes about 175,000 to 225,000 viewers to win the television news rating race at 6 and about 190,000 at 11, so even the top rated television station doesn't have the reach of the newspaper.
It's got its problems, but The Boston Globe is the leading media outlet in New England. There are, to be sure, warning signs, especially given the drop off in readership among those 18-34 compared to 35 and older, which seems to be lower than even historic norms for this group, which was always the lowest among readers.'
And no, I don't work there and never had unless you count delivering the Evening Globe from my trusty J.C. Higgins bicycle.
OB - I guess the financial debate comes down to this: does the Globe flatline at some point or die altogether?
I know we've jousted quite a bit, and that others on the board wish the Globe a slow, painful death (not necessarily me), but this is a serious question.
In the long run, can the Globe cover the costs (think fixed & variable; I'm thinking in terms of meeting fixed & some point of the variable) needed to produce the newspaper? Is it possible to derive enough revenues from boston.com to cover whatever losses arise from the print operations?
My best guess - within two years, the Globe gets to the point of break-even / stability, but they'll be a little smaller than they are now (yes, duh). A bottom will be found and the Globe goes from there.
Dan Kennedy (who should post more) noted last week the boston.com visitors vs. Globe circulation numbers. I was just wondering how that translates to the income stream. I admit to not doing any preliminary research on this angle before I brought it up, so that was off the cuff. If anyone wants to throw a few links on the subject, I'd appreciate it.
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