Another Nail in the Coffin of Newspapers

0lyn • 3rd May 2010 • Media, newspapers • newspapers

This past weekend The Orange County Register filed an interesting story – one that chronicled their demise over the past several years. It was both amusing and sad. It was sad for me since I was an Advertising Director for them in the growth days in the mid 90s. In a wild race with our largest competitor The Los Angeles Times we fought hard ad won the key battles. Our aggressive growth scared them off, and we took over a circulation and advertising lead that was never relinquished, during my tenure and after.

We had won the battle because we had the best and most aggressive sales representatives, and we gave them an exciting mix of both daily and weekly products for both paid and non-paid within our general circulation area. We made it look easy, but that was the beginning of the downfall.

The parent company was family held, but the family after generations, had members who wanted to cash out, and so the company was sold. The good news for a few was that they got their cash, for the rest they took stock in the new holding. From there they began a long descent into oblivion. Circulation declined as newspapers were less relevant, and revenues dropped by over 50% in less than 5 years.

I could go on, but it makes me sad. Have a great read in the article on the side bar – they still have the capacity to recount a good is depressing story.