paidContent reported on a whole host of company collapses this year, from Setanta to Shiny Media and Borders, and some in the past few weeks. But the worst appears to be over…

—There were a total of 1,025 entertainment media company collapses from Q307 to Q309, including 305 publishing companies.

—The worst period was Q109, when 203 companies went into administration.

—From January to October this year, publishing companies falling into administration jumped 25 percent year on year, accounting for a third of all business failures.

—Books, software, journals and periodicals were worst hit: the “migration of readers from print to digital media” is the main culprit, says PwC.

And PwC has some words of warning for consumer media companies looking to launch online subscription-based content models to increase recevnues in 2010: make sure you know what you’re doing. Financial services practice director Peter Simon says: “In many cases, launching new payment systems is not the same as making money… It brings a whole deal of complexity that many media companies will not have had to deal with before.”

Specifically, he says businesses need a system that’s user friendly and has a fool-proof IT infrastructure—and don’t forget the cost of building your paywall: “Even seemingly simple decisions such as fixed or variable fee setting, geographic scope, mobile solutions or customer loyalty offers can create significant cash flow issues.”

via PwC: 1,025 UK Media, Entertainment Companies Folded In Last Two Years | paidContent.

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Image by Getty Images via Daylife

70% of publishers are paying more attention to the mobile market this year than last. And 20% are giving it their same attention. Print publishers are focusing on the market as a prime opportunity to expand their brands, reach new audiences and generate additional revenue while offering advertisers the chance to reach locally targeted, engaged audiences. Publishers recognize the growing importance of mobile devices in consumers' daily lives and are actively embracing mobile, according to a study by Audit Bureau of Circulations.

Some Survey Highlights

* More than 80% of newspaper and magazine respondents believe people will rely more heavily on mobile devices as a primary information source in the next three years

* Nearly 70% of respondents agree that mobile is receiving more attention at their publication this year than last. More than a third believe their publication already has a well-developed plan for attacking and conquering the mobile market

* 44% of respondents who track mobile's impact on their Web site traffic said the devices increased visits by up to 10% today. Half believe mobile traffic to their Web sites will increase by five to 25% in the next two years

Additional findings of the survey:

* 56% of senior said their publication has plans to develop a smartphone application in the next 24 months, in addition to the 17% already have an app in production.

* While 55% believe that digital delivery of their publication is important to their strategic future, 75% believe that their publication will be available in a print form five years from now.

* More than half of the survey respondents believe that the future business model of mobile content will be supported by both advertising and subscriptions.

* Nearly a third believe that mobile will have a significant impact on their publication's revenue in just three years.

With text and multimedia messaging, branded mobile apps, content sponsorships, display advertising, paid search, and location-based targeting, the platform becomes an integral component of the overall marketing strategy.

Survey Conclusions:

* It's early, but there are positive signs, the mobile market is definitely receiving more attention than ever before

* Mobile will drive Web traffic. Most respondents believe that mobile will be responsible for a five to 50% increase in Web site traffic in the next three years.

* Publishers are betting on both smartphones and e-readers and are actively exploring the vitality of both as a new distribution channel.

* Early business models will be based on a combination of advertising and subscriptions. Publishers agree that the mobile market will be both ad- and subscription-supported

Respondents agree that independent third-party auditing would increase mobile's credibility and is likely to be demanded by advertisers as ad spending increases in this area

via KenRadio – World Technology Roundup – Daily Technology News on High Tech Industry – How Publishers Are Preparing for the Digital Market.

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• Roy Greenslade: US newspaper sales are worse than figures imply (guardian.co.uk)
• Ad Revenue, Profits Fall at Gannett (nytimes.com)
• Survey: Print Publishers Ready to Capitalize on Mobile Market (newswire.ca)

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Bloggers are younger and higher percentages are Hispanic & African American than the general population. A higher percentage of Democrats than of Republicans are blogging.

Now that Blogging might better be called a market segment rather than a market niche, it’s useful with regard to positioning the marketing message to understand what a Blogger looks like, as distinguished from the rest of the population. According to the BIGresearch Simultaneous Media Survey, 26% of all adults say they regularly or occasionally blog. Of those:

• 53.7% are male
• 44.7% are married
• 28.4% hold a professional or managerial position
• 10.4% are students.

Bloggers tend to be younger, averaging 37.6 years old, compared to 44.8 for adults 18+ (the “general population”). Ethnically:

• 69.7% of Bloggers are White/Caucasian (vs. 76.1%)
• 12.2% are African American/Black (vs. 11.4%)
• 3.7% are Asian (vs. 2.0%)
• 20% of Bloggers are Hispanic, compared to 14.8% of adults 18+

In addition, Bloggers report a lower income ($55,819 vs. $56,811) and are better educated (14.3 years of education vs. 14.2).

Political blogs are becoming increasingly common, especially in this election year, where 24.6% of registered voters say they regularly or occasionally blog. Political affiliation of regular/occasional Bloggers look like this in 2008:

• 37.6% of Libertarians regularly/occasionally blog
• 26.9% of Democrats
• 25.7% of Independents
• 22.9% Republicans

Analysis of Bloggers shows that they are using most forms of new media significantly more than the average market.

Although Bloggers are more likely to use new media, the analysis finds that more conventional forms of media trigger their Internet searches. Magazines, at 51.6%, rank highest, followed by:

• 48.8% reading an article
• 46.1% broadcast TV
• 44.5% cable TV
• 42.5% face-to-face communication
• 39.7% newspaper

Gary Drenik, President of BIGresearch, concludes ?”Bloggers are a diverse group and not who you would expect…”

For more information, please visit BIGresearch here.

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Media organizations increasingly rely on syndicated content, but access to such material typically requires expensive subscriptions or syndication deals. New York-based Mochila has devised a way to offer articles, photos, audio and videos a la carte while dispnsing with subscription fees and protecting authors’ rights.

Launched earlier this year, Mochila’s website is essentially an online marketplace for content. Sellers offer up their wares along with price and any restrictions; buyers search for what they need and choose the best match. Content can be instantly downloaded into any publishing system, and purchases can be made in two ways: either by paying the price set by the original content owner, or by agreeing to post advertising along with the item, in which case the content is free. In the ad-supported arrangement, advertising revenue is shared among the buyer, the seller and Mochila.

For sellers, the benefits include new revenue opportunities and increased exposure; for buyers, decreased operational costs, more ad pages and revenue opportunities, and the rub-off effect of big-name content are among them. More than 1,000 media organizations have joined Mochila so far, including Reuters, the Associated Press and Hearst Magazines—you can’t get much bigger than that.

World media spent just under USD 2 billion on syndicated news content last year, and that figure is expected to grow to USD 3 billion by 2008, Mochila says. The time is ripe for a new content model, and it looks like this one is taking hold. How about putting a niche or curator’s spin on the concept? (Related: Agency connects bloggers and press.)

Website: www.mochila.com
Contact: support@mochila.com

Spotted by: Susanna Haynie

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On a semi related note, Universal Pictures and Planetwide Media announced today the launch of the SMOKIN’ ACES Digital Comic Book. Available at the film’s official website, www.SmokinAces.net, the comic may now be viewed and downloaded by fans of the upcoming feature film SMOKIN’ ACES, in theaters January 26th.

The comic includes six stories written by SMOKIN’ ACES’ writer/director Joe Carnahan, with illustrations by IDW Publishing. The 30-page Digital Flip Book was created by Planetwide’s Comic Book Creator™ and has the realistic feel of a comic in digital format. Its pages peel over to illustrate storylines featuring characters from the film. The SMOKIN’ ACES comic, along with a selection of user-generated digital comics, can be viewed and shared through Planetwide’s Digital Media Reader at http://www.Hypercomics.com, the company’s social community for comic book creators and fans of comics.

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