Survival of the fittest - Northcliffe

Regional Press - Northcliffe newspapers (Daily Mail’s or DMGT’s regional newspaper division) has again announced that it needs to make savings in the form of job cuts.

Northcliffe who own over 100 regional newspapers including Derby Telegraph, Kent and Sussex Courier and the Leicester Mercury are said to be looking to reduce their staffing numbers by a further 1000. The regional newspaper division has already streamlined its sales teams and moved the national sales responsibilities to Mediaforce. A small amount of the sales team were repatriated into the Mediaforce set up and the remaining were made redundant.

After recent government calls to back local media – from a junior culture minister who clearly doesn’t know the amount of wasted budget that has been ploughed into over priced regional press – where does the future lie for the big publishers?

Northcliffe are responding to a 37% downturn in ad revenues – a swing like that would cause any publisher to react - but is this a case of the publisher cannibalising its own readership?

Specific sections such as the Motors, Property and above all the Recruitment have always been reliable generators of revenue, the bread and butter sections that made regional titles profitable. In the case of Northcliffe they have created far more accountable and responsive media in their own online brand extensions.

DMGT Brand extensions:
Property section – FindaProperty.com
Recruitment section – Jobsite.co.uk
Motors section - Motors.co.uk

Aside of the recession, which is obviously speeding up the process, are regional publishers by providing superior online alternatives to the traditional classified sections and supplements hastening their own end or keeping up with the times..

Or are they falling victim to media Darwinism?

Do you think that regional press has a future in its current format?

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