Newspapers are finding their niche

As publishers continue to face the dreary reality of sagging circulation and stagnating revenues, an increasing number are eyeing the production of niche publications to reach new advertisers and audiences.

McClatchy Co. and MediaNews Group were among the first newspaper groups to emphasize niche and specialty products as a means to generate revenue.

Three years ago, McClatchy identified niche publishing as being among its top-five growth areas and MNG has grown its niche segment in recent years to more than 240 different titles, with distribution in excess of 7 million (see News & Tech, January 2010).

Now, newspapers of all sizes are beginning to leverage niche products to increase - or supplant - their bottom lines.

"We are offering a variety of products that meet the needs of consumers and connect advertisers," Becky Brubaker, the Chicago Tribune's senior vice president of manufacturing and distribution, told News & Tech.

The Tribune has more than a dozen niche products spanning fashion, entertainment, food and wine and home improvement.

"This has been a large part of our organization and it's part of our growth strategy to create new products," Brubaker said.

Also on the Tribune's agenda: growing its business-to-business services, with endeavors like its recent project to begin digitizing and selling content from its massive photo archives (see News & Tech, April 2010).

The Tribune's sales team sells ads across niche pubs with dedicated sales reps assigned to concentrate on specific revenue markets.

Leveraging distribution

The Dallas Morning News, which counts 40 niche pubs among its stable of products, is exploiting its distribution platform to reach a variety of specialty audiences, according to Jason Dove, director of preprints and direct marketing.

"We deliver to a sub-ZIP-code level so we can pull up over 2,800 different filters to define and distribute to an audience," he said.

The Morning News' Neighbors community publication and its fashion magazine, F! D'Luxe, are among the paper's most popular products. It's also launched publications covering night life/entertainment, parenting and home improvement. Dove said The Morning News is constantly analyzing new and existing products year over year, based on its business plan and goals.

"We are always looking at eliminating products that aren't generating a profit and we are always open to new niche products and audiences that look like fertile ground," he said. "And we're always doing it from a competitive standpoint."

The Morning News has dedicated ad sales teams for community-focused products, direct marketing and preprints, but Dove said every salesperson can sell every product.

"There is a concentration in some areas, where some salespeople are better suited to sell ads in a particular niche," he said.

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