Daily News owner shows faith in print
Posted by Nestor Bailly on November 17, 2009 at 12:00 PM
Mortimer B. Zuckerman, owner of The Daily News, has installed $150 million worth of new high-speed advanced printing presses at the paper's printing plant, The New York Times reports.Zuckerman's upgrade, which allows the Daily News to print every page in color at higher speeds, greater efficiency and less waste, fly in the face of the contemporary 'conventional wisdom' of the newspaper industry.
Advertising and circulation revenue has fallen across the board launching an industry-wide spate of cost cuts and pessimistic outlooks. But not Zuckerman; the investment clearly shows his faith in the future of printed press to remain steady business well into the next decades.
A self-confessed 'contrarian,' Zuckerman's beliefs might be all that stands between the News' (currently falling) wide distribution and fishwrap.
If the installation of the new presses, which will certainly give the Daily News an edge over all other large papers in the US by being able to print every page in high-definition color, seems like a strange investment at this time one would do well to consider that Zuckerman signed the deal two years ago, before circulation and ad revenue fell significantly.
Newspaper advertising may continue to decline, but the new presses will allow the News to get a bigger share of it, said Marc Z. Kramer, chief executive of the company. "When an advertiser wants to do print, we think they're going to choose us." The new presses were also to increase efficiency and save on operational costs, which Kramer cited at "lots of millions" in savings.
Regardless, even as Zuckerman admits that the once profitable paper is now "worse than break-even," he cites the printing investment as part of his "commitment...to the long term."
"It pops much better than before," said Paul Chapman, vice chairman and president of ABC Carpet and Home, whose ads in The Daily News now clearly show the multicolored patterns of Middle Eastern rugs. At other papers, "you can't get the detail we're getting now."
The improved printing quality is sure to attract advertisers with the potential for flashy, intricate and attention-grabbing ads on every page, and could bring in new readers.
Newspaper advertising may continue to decline, but the new presses will allow the News to get a bigger share of it, said Marc Z. Kramer, chief executive of the company. "When an advertiser wants to do print, we think they're going to choose us." The new presses were also to increase efficiency and save on operational costs, which Kramer cited at "lots of millions" in savings.
While most other newspaper execs are talking cuts cuts cuts, Mr. Zuckerman and Mr. Kramer are investing and talking of increased circulation, but not, however, without a certain degree of apprehension.
"Anybody who goes into this at this stage of the game with an excessive degree of optimism," Zuckerman said, "is incredibly naïve."
Indeed.
Source: NYT
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![Digg](http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.editorsweblog.org%2Fnewspaper%2F2009%2F11%2Fdaily_news_owner_shows_faith_in_print.php&bodytext=<b><form mt:asset-id="4416" class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><a href="http://www.editorsweblog.org/assets_c/2009/11/dailynewsprintingplant-4416.html" onclick="window.open('http://www.editorsweblog.org/assets_c/2009/11/dailynewsprintingplant-4416.html','popup','width=500,height=700,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0'); return false"><img src="http://www.editorsweblog.org/assets_c/2009/11/dailynewsprintingplant-thumb-200x302-4416.jpg" width="200" height="302" alt="dailynewsprintingplant.jpg" class="mt-image-left" style="float: left; margin: 0 20px 20px 0;" /></a></form>Mortimer B. Zuckerman</b>, owner of <b><i>The Daily News</i></b>, has installed $150 million worth of new high-speed advanced printing presses at the paper's printing plant, <b><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/business/media/17adco.html">The New York Times</a></b><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/business/media/17adco.html"> reports</a>.<div><br /></div><div>Zuckerman's upgrade, which allows the <i>Daily News</i> to print every page in color at higher speeds, greater efficiency and less waste, fly in the face of the contemporary 'conventional wisdom' of the newspaper industry. </div><div><br /></div><div>Advertising and circulation revenue has fallen across the board launching an industry-wide spate of cost cuts and pessimistic outlooks. But not Zuckerman; the investment clearly shows his faith in the future of printed press to remain steady business well into the next decades.</div><div><br /></div><div>A self-confessed 'contrarian,' Zuckerman's beliefs might be all that stands between the <i>News</i>' (currently falling) wide distribution and fishwrap.</div>&title=<i><b>Daily News</i></b> owner shows faith in print){kind=link}
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