Parlous Publishing
It’s a news magazine, essentially, a Newsweek -type publication, but there are few enough Australian periodicals that the end of The Bulletin after 150 years is a shame. The internet isn’t nearly as much to blame, I wouldn’t think, than the content; otherwise, television would have killed it long ago (not to mention radio), traditionally blamed for loss of audience by the print media. To me, there seems to be room enough in the world, or even just Australia, for the continued viability, so perhaps subscriptions lagged because there wasn’t enough unique about what they offered, although it should be noted that the population here is small compared to a lot of other places, and the market is sustained on a very narrow basis.
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2 comments:
It's not so much low subs, it's low or no ad sales. Sure, advertisers will buy, provided they see results. To get results they need readers. They need readers that become engaged in what they are reading, and want to read it again. Today, we have so many ways to get information. It's like "why buy the local newspaper when you get most of that "Headline" news for free from other sources. You can't be in the print publishing business today and do business as usual. What The Bulletin probably could have done is offer more bulk (free) distribution bringing it up to the 100,000 range, and offset the cost with advertising, while maintaining a high quality editorial content that engages a consumer. Perhaps they could have regionalized it as well (if it wasn't already), thereby attracting a more regional advertising base. The higher the advertiser base, the more stable ad revenues become. I won't even get into the web based tie-in possibilities. Simply put, if the ad dollars were there, The Bulletin would still be around. No charge.
Maybe Andy is right but I'm more inclined to blame too many other distractions like TV's blaring away in airport waiting rooms, cell phones and laptops and Ipods, etc.
Try to notice how very few people you see reading on planes and trains and doctor waiting rooms. Especially note how few are reading books.
It's sort of scary.
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