NY Times launches magazine in China

The New York Times has launched Science Times China in partnership with Chinese publisher Shanghai Zhenwen Advertising Co., Ltd., the U.S. newspaper announced this week.

The monthly magazine is written in Chinese and distributed in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and other large cities. It contains articles, photos and illustrations from the weekly Science Times section of The Times, as well as news on health, education and technology from The Times and NYTimes.com. The magazine will also include some local Chinese content, which The Times will approve of, as it will have editorial control over the publication.

The glossy is launching with a circulation of 20,000 copies and a cover price of US$5. It is currently available on newsstands, and will also be available by subscription in the future.

It is not surprising that the newspaper will stay away from hot button topics like politics or world affairs, as The Times has been censored in China in the past.

Image: Chun Chen's Flickr photostream

comScore: Smartphones contribute to mobile media usage

Smartphone adoption is widespread globally and contributes to the significant increase in mobile media usage, according to the new “ComScore 2012 Mobile Future in Focus” report.

The smartphone adoption is especially high in the U.S and EU5, which comprises France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, at 42 percent and 44 percent, respectively. Besides this device, 3G/4G networks and a growing number of Wi-Fi hotspots are also drivers to a rise in mobile media consumption, and helped mobile online activities surpass the 50-percent threshold in many markets, MSN Money reported.

comScore also pointed out the intense smartphone platform war between Android and Apple. In U.S., Android was just a few points shy of capturing half of the market in 2011, while iOS made up nearly 30 percent. In the EU5, Android also had significant gains, beating market leader Symbian in three out of the five markets measured.

In terms of mobile activities, the growth in mobile app use surpassed that in mobile browser use in both U.S. and EU5, which means both markets saw the same percentage of their audiences using both apps and browsers to access mobile media. The fastest growing mobile media category was health in U.S. in 2011, followed by retail and other commerce-related categories, gigaom reported.

QR codes and barcodes also gained its audience base as consumers sought real-time product reviews and other information on their mobile devices. According to comScore, in 2011, one out of five consumers scanned product codes and one out of eight compared prices while shopping in a store.

Mobile devices also boost social networking on-the-go, and drove real-time online interaction. comScore said that 64.2 million smartphone users in U.S. and 48.4 million in the EU5 accessed social networking sites or blogs on their phones at least once in December 2011, and more than half of these mobile social networking users access it on a daily basis. The study also found more than half of those in U.S. and about 50 percent in the EU5 also read posts from brands, organizations, and events while they access social networking sites on mobile devices.

Moreover, tablets prospered quickly in 2011 - It took less than two years to reach nearly 40 million in use among U.S. mobile users, which outpaced smartphones which took 7 years to reach the same. By the end of 2011, almost 15 percent of mobile users in U.S. had tablets – a trend seen across other markets as well, comScore reported.

Image: comScore

Online ads overtake print in Russia

Online adspend surpassed print and became the second-largest ad medium in Russia last year, paidContent reported today.

Spending for ads on the Internet grew 56 percent in the country in 2011. Online surpassed print in the United Kingdom in 2010, and eMarketer has predicted the same will happen in the United States by the end of 2012.

Television is still the top ad category in Russia, three times bigger than online, according to figures from the Russian Association of Communication Agencies (AKAR).

The overall ad market in Russia was worth R263.4 billion (€6.67 billion) in 2011, up almost 21 percent from 2010, according to AKAR. The figure was 4 percent higher than in 2008, before the economic crisis hit, Broadband TV News reported.

TV in 2011 reached R131 million, while the Internet reached R41.8 million, up from R26.8 million the year before. Print was at R40.4 million, growing from R38 million in 2010.

Image: photo's of m!'s Flickr Photostream

Murdoch gambles on The Sun on Sunday

Rupert Murdoch's The Sun tabloid will launch a Sunday edition on Feb. 26, and some are calling it the media baron's “last hurrah.” Others are calling the move unwise, as the UK's print newspaper business is declining and News International is still dealing with the phone hacking scandal that broke last year.

News International CEO Tom Mockridge said in a statement that the company “has made clear its determination to sort out what has gone wrong in the past and we are fundamentally changing how we operate as a business,” Variety reported.

When it comes down to it, Murdoch has two options: “cut ties and sell up or gamble on a fightback. True to form he chose the latter,” Financial Times digital product manager Alexander Walters opined in the Huffington Post.

“The challenge Murdoch now faces is twofold. In order to save his British operation he must reassure Sun staff and guide the paper through its current crisis without losing any of the advertisers that have so far stayed loyal. He must also make the Sun on Sunday a commercial and critical success. Only by achieving both of these feats will he placate News Corporation, an organization that sees print as minor indulgence in a digital media age.”

Roy Greenslade, who once worked as an assistant editor on the Sun, called Murdoch a “buccaneer,” who surprised the competition by announcing the new edition.

“The wily old media tycoon has a habit of being at his best when he is at bay,” Greenslade stated. “This astonishing initiative is all about one angry man, having suffered a setback that looked as if it might end in him sacrificing his British media interests, striking back to save his empire. It's personal, not corporate. He wants to show his staff, the politicians, the rest of Fleet Street, the readers, News Corp's investors - indeed, the world - that he will not go quietly."

Murdoch will be in London to supervise the launch.

“Our duty is to expand one of the world’s most widely read newspapers and reach even more people than ever before,” Murdoch said, according to The Telegraph. “Having a winning paper is the best answer to our critics.”

Getting it right: Journalists and Twitter

Two UK newsmedia outlets this week updated their Twitter policies for reporters, banning much activity many believe make the social media site helpful for interacting and gaining followers and, in turn, news consumers.

Sky News now bans retweeting “information posted by other journalists or people on Twitter.” Journalists must “always pass breaking news lines to the news desk before posting.” The BBC, meanwhile, said that journalists may “transmit text simultaneously to our newsroom systems and to their own Twitter accounts.” However, “our first priority remains ensuring that important information reaches BBC colleagues, and thus all our audiences, as quickly as possible – and certainly not after it reaches Twitter.”

This prompted MediaGuardian's Jonathan Haynes to write that when it comes to breaking news, and there isn't a race to be first with the information, Twitter should be embraced – not put on hold.

“What kind of competitive advantage are the BBC and Sky in danger of giving up? Here's an example from this week: when Fabio Capello resigned as England manager, Martyn Ziegler (@MartynZiegler), the Press Association's chief sports reporter, broke the story on Twitter just a few seconds before the FA tweeted it. If a Sky News or BBC journalist had that story first they might have been busy letting their news desk know about it – while everyone else was reading it on Twitter,” he pointed out.

Nicola Peate, social media manager for Rippleffect, told The Drum she believes that although a journalist must be completely sure of a tweet's accuracy, social media has made the news business even more competitive. “Retweeting can often be the fastest way of breaking a story and allows news organisations to be instantly in on the action,” she stated.

Allan Barr, head of digital and social media at The BIG Partnership, told The Drum he thinks the new guidelines at Sky are a big step backward. “In today’s media landscape, the ability for journalists to share credible news via popular social media channels like Twitter has never been more important.”

In November last year, The Associated Press released new guidelines on retweeting:

“Retweets, like tweets, should not be written in a way that looks like you’re expressing a personal opinion on the issues of the day. A retweet with no comment of your own can easily be seen as a sign of approval of what you’re relaying ... These kinds of unadorned retweets must be avoided. However, we can judiciously retweet opinionated material if we make clear we’re simply reporting it, much as we would quote it in a story.”

Instead of using blanket disclaimers or lists of rules on what is and is not allowed on Twitter, journalists should be allowed to make a decision on a case-by-case basis, Poynter's Jeff Sonderman wrote in response to the AP's new rules.

All the various rules and guidelines at news outlets lead to “a lot of confusion and fear that a 'mistweet' could cost journalists their credibility or their jobs. That is a shame, because Twitter is a vibrant network for real-time information, and journalists should participate fully in it. The retweet is the network’s method of spreading information, and journalists should understand how it works.”

Image: TechCrunch

Study: U.S. Internet-only TV homes surge 22.8%

Numbers of U.S. households that subscribe to broadband Internet access only and bypass cable or satellite TV has increased significantly in 2011, and they spend dramatically more time watching TV online, according to a new Nielsen study.

It is too early to determine if these households are so-called “cord-swappers”, those who swap the cable/satellite TV cord for the broadband Internet cord, said Nielsen, but they are in a rise faster than any other segment of the “cross-platform” television marketplace Media Post reported.

Although Internet-only TV penetration is still relatively small at less than 5 percent, the number boosted 22.8 percent over the past year, according to the Nielsen study.

These Internet-only TV households are streaming TV online more than twice than the general population - with an average of 11.2 minutes daily versus 5 minutes among all TV households, and these households watch TV for about half time less than the general population. They, however, are watching more than 9 percent of all their TV minutes online. The average TV household, according to Nielsen, is currently watching about 1.9 percent of their total TV minutes online.

“The increase in broadcast-only/broadband homes is the most significant of any category, though it is not necessarily an indication of downgrading services. Rather, this could reflect broadcast-only homes upgrading to broadband as their needs change. Further underscoring the importance placed on broadband Internet, the number of homes subscribing to cable-plus and no broadband decreased 17.1 percent since last year,” the latest Nielsen Cross-Platform Report stated.

Image: Nielsen

Not-for-profit news site launches in Australia

A new not-for-profit media group looking to do “fearless, independent” journalism launched this week in Australia.

The Global Mail will be online-only, and is funded by philanthropist Graeme Wood, founder of Wotif.com, who invested AU$15 million, AFP reported. The start-up will compete in a space dominated by Fairfax and News Limited-owned properties.

“I had long viewed, with a degree of envy, the ProPublica model in the US and wanted to build a site here that carried only public interest journalism -- no ads, no subscription, no celebrity stories, no spin, funded philanthropically. So the model was inspired by ProPublica.org, even though we won't and can't do investigations alone,” Monica Attard, newly appointed editor-in-chief of the Global Mail, told The Australian.

The start-up is “entirely philanthropically-funded and will last as long as the money is there,” Attard told AFP, adding that there are no immediate ideas on creating revenue streams.

The news outlet has an Editorial Advisory Committee, which will monitor the site's content in order to ensure it adheres to its mission. The committee includes Anne Britton, member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal; Pam Williams, editor-at-large of the Australian Financial Review; Marian Wilkinson, ABC TV Four Corners reporter; Norman Gillespie, CEO of UNICEF Australia; Dr. John Carmody, former associate professor of the School of Physiology and Pharmacology at New South Wales University; Paul Steiger, editor-in-chief, CEO and president of Propublica.org; and Graeme Samuel, former head of the Australian Consumer Competition.

The Board includes Wood, Saad Mohseni, chairman and CEO of MOBY Group; and Jenny Wheatley, a principal at international accounting firm Crowe Horwath and lead principal for Forensic Accounting in CH's Sydney corporate finance team.

Study: Social networking, e-commerce rise globally

Six out of 10 Internet users worldwide manage a social network profile on a monthly basis, compared to 36 percent two and a half years ago, according to a new study from GlobalWebIndex.

The study noted that Facebook, the leading social network, continues to grow across all platforms, but has reached saturation in many markets. Its user growth is stagnant in growing Internet markets, such as India, Indonesia and Brazil.

In addition, Facebook users globally also have had the frequency of key activities down. From July 2009 to November 2011, messaging friends dropped 12 percent, searching for new contacts decreased 17 percent and joining a group of Facebook users fell 19 percent in U.S., Media Post reported.

The study also found that e-commerce is huge in developed markets and growing in emerging countries. More than 59 percent of global Internet users had made a purchase online in the past month, and 53 percent had reviewed a product.

Unlike social media, e-commerce outperformed in developed Internet markets – 78 percent of South Korean online users had done so in the last month, followed by 72 percent in Germany and the UK. By contrast, only 27 percent in Saudi Arabic had purchased a product online.

Google has “massively improved its position as the world’s biggest controller of information and is starting to dominate all access points to the Internet,” the study said, which products reaches more than 85 percent of worldwide online users every month, up from 76 percent in July 2009.

Google’s browser, Chrome, and mobile operating system, Android, have also performed well. Chrome is now the most used browser in the Philippines, Turkey, Argentina and India, and Android now has 227 million active users across the 27 countries surveyed, or 33 percent share of all global smartphones.

The GWI survey was conducted in November, 2011 with about 40,000 online users in 27 countries.

McClatchy beats 4Q forecasts

Thanks in part to ramping up its digital operations, McClatchy Company announced today its net income in the fourth quarter of 2011 reached US$42 million (49 cents per share), compared with $15.7 million (17 cents) in the same quarter in 2010.

Revenue dropped 5 percent to $351 million, from $370 million.

Online investments like Classified Ventures, of which McClatchy owns a 25.6 percent stake, saw growth, bringing in a dividend of $17.4 million in December. Classified Ventures owns auto website Cars.com, rental site Apartments.com and jobs site CareerBuilder.com.

“These equity investments also contributed $27.8 million in earnings in 2011, more than double the 2010 earnings of $11.8 million. We are especially pleased with the performance of our internet investments. These companies provide important products to our newspaper websites and are strategic partners in our digital success,” Gary Pruitt, chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

The U.S. newspaper chain beat analysts' estimates of 42 cents per share, Boston.com noted.

However, the company continues to face falling print advertising revenues – an issue all print media face, paidContent pointed out. Although circulation has stablised and finances are improving at its newspapers, such as the Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald, digital growth for newspapers is also slow.

HuffPo to launch streaming video network

The Huffington Post will launch an online video streaming network this summer, PCMag reported today.

The HuffPost Streaming Network will live-stream 12 hours of original, live video five days a week, calling it a “never-ending talkshow.” HuffPo co-founder Roy Sekoff said the network, which will increase programming to 16 hours in 2013, will be a CNN meets YouTube type of video network, according to MediaGuardian.

The network, which will be overseen by Sekoff, will be available across platforms, from PCs, to tablets, to televisions.

“The network will be built around segments spotlighting the biggest, hottest, most engaging stories HuffPost is covering at any given moment and using them as the jumping-off points for conversations, commentary, and comedy. These segments will be as long -- or as short -- as they need to be. We won't be limited by the usual time constraints of TV,” Arianna Huffington wrote in a blog post.

“This is not TV, with its set schedules, overproduction, and rigid commercial breaks. HuffPost Streaming Network will be more relaxed, more free-flowing, and much more spontaneous and interactive. People aren't interested in being talked at anymore -- they want to be part of the conversation. And a big part of what HuffPost Streaming Network will do is help facilitate those conversations.”

Advertisers leverage social media for Super Bowl ads

The upcoming weekend will see some of the most advertising dollars spent per ad for the entire year in the United States: the Super Bowl.

Advertisers pay as much as US$3.5 million for a 30-second slot during the big game, but this year they are looking to get more for their money. Social media is already playing a big part in getting more audience time for these pricy ads.

In the past, the ads would be shown for the first time during the Super Bowl, the biggest annual advertising event in the world. This year, however, some advertisers are releasing their entire ad online, while others are offering extended versions that will run during the game, the Financial Times reported.

Honda, for example, released an extended version of its ad last week. The ad, which features Matthew Broderick as a version of his famous Ferris Bueller character, has already been viewed more than 8.5 million times as of this posting.

Last year, a 30-second commercial slot cost $3 million, Reuters reported. The average price of the ads has increased more than 50 percent in the past 10 years.

“The social media conversation has put more value on a Super Bowl ad, fans will discuss your ads on Twitter and Facebook and then go to YouTube to watch it on demand over and over again,” Brad Adgate, senior vice president of research at Horizon Media, told Reuters.

Sixty percent of fans watching the game will also be using a second screen this year, such as a tablet or smartphone, according to Reuters.

The Super Bowl airs on Fox, owned by News Corp.

Study: 52% use mobile while shopping in-store

More than half (52 percent) of U.S. adult mobile owners used their phones in a store to get help with purchasing decisions – 38 percent called a friend for advice, 24 percent looked up online reviews online, and one-quarter checked online to for a better price elsewhere, according to a new study by the Pew American & Internet Life Project.

Moreover, one out of five “mobile price-matchers” made their most recent purchase online rather than in a physical store, 37 percent decided not to buy the product at all, 35 percent bought it at the original store, and 8 percent got it at another shop.

Breaking down those who use cell in stores by age, Pew found that ages 18-49 were much more likely to use it for online product reviews than those above ages 50. They were also the most active group – 63 percent called a friend for purchase advice or to checked up product reviews in-store, Media Post reported.

The study also noted that checking reviews and pricing often go together. Among the 33 percent who used the phones to check up either product reviews or prices, roughly half (representing 17 percent of all cell owners) did both.

The Pew study surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,000 U.S. adults on telephone from Jan. 5 to Jan. 8, 2012. Of that group, 600 were reached by landline and 400 by mobile phone. The study has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points, Media Post reported.

Image: Rediff.com