Digital video advertising presents 10% of digital revenue: Pew

Video advertising represents a powerful advertising revenue source for publishers and broadcasters. Digital video advertising made up almost 10 percent of all digital advertising adspend in the United States, and is growing more rapidly than digital advertising as a whole, according to the “State of the News Media 2014” report from Pew.

Video ads typically fetch more per unit than any other type of digital advertising, and the number of units of video advertising is skyrocketing on both Internet and mobile platforms. Publishers such as Vice, the Huffington Post, The New York Times and others are making a growing portion of their revenues from video advertising.

World Newsmedia Network has published Global Digital Media Trendbook each year since 2006. The 2014 trendbook contains 500 data sets and 230 pages of analysis about digital media usage and revenue patterns, including this data set. To download the GDMT free executive summary, go to www.wnmn.org

Valuations are biggest obstacle to media company acquisitions: study

The biggest obstacle to acquiring new companies is by far the inflated valuations of worthy targets, illustrated by the $18 billion valuation of WhatsApp, recently purchased by Facebook. The respondents who said hefty valuations were barriers to acquisitions grew from 42 percent in 2013 to 47 percent in 2014, according to the Econsultancy study.

World Newsmedia Network has published Global Digital Media Trendbook each year since 2006. The trendbook contains 500 data sets and 230 pages of analysis about digital media usage and revenue patterns, including this data set. To download a free executive summary, go to www.wnmn.org

Media company executives list trends in product development

Respondents to the 2014 Media Growth Study express the challenges to new product development, including the recognition that they don’t believe their top selling product in 2017 has even been invented yet. This goes to the core of the product development conundrum: while media companies are keen to innovate, there are no guarantees and few clues as to what to develop with certainty that it will be embraced by the consumer. Trial and error is a key theme for media company product developers.

About half of the respondents say their long-term survival is linked to their use of third-party data and analytics providers. These data give product developers a glimpse into user preferences and habits, which inspire new product development.

World Newsmedia Network has published Global Digital Media Trendbook each year since 2006. The trendbook contains 500 data sets and 230 pages of analysis about digital media usage and revenue patterns, including this data set. To download a free executive summary, go to www.wnmn.org

Media company survey respondents by sector, 2013 to 2014

The Econsultancy Media Growth Study by the Jordan, Edmiston Group draws hundreds of media executive respondents each year, mainly from business-to-business and business-to-consumer media houses, followed by marketing services and technology, online media and technology sectors.

World Newsmedia Network has published Global Digital Media Trendbook each year since 2006. The trendbook contains 500 data sets and 230 pages of analysis about digital media usage and revenue patterns, including this data set. To download a free executive summary, go to www.wnmn.org

Where product ideas originate in media companies

Fewer than one in three of the respondent companies have innovation programs with purview over the development of new products, according to the Econsultancy study. “Those that do [have defined innovation programs” report significant benefits in interviews and open responses, most notably that the practice puts an emphasis on high margin or high value products that other sources don’t.”

For the companies without defined innovation programs, key product development ideas mostly come from senior management (80 percent), customer requests (72 percent), the sales and marketing team (62 percent) and competitors (56 percent).

World Newsmedia Network has published Global Digital Media Trendbook each year since 2006. The trendbook contains 500 data sets and 230 pages of analysis about digital media usage and revenue patterns, including this data set. To download a free executive summary, go to www.wnmn.org

Top barriers to growth in media companies, 2013 to 2014

The top two issues that are standing in the way of growth for media companies are the entry of new competitors and the competition from free and low-cost alternatives to media companies’ products (such as offshoring). Those two tied for the top spot as the top barriers to growth, with 43 percent each, according to the Econsultancy study.

Meanwhile, innovation from traditional competitors and the move from offline to online content also have presented key challenges for media companies in 2014.

World Newsmedia Network has published Global Digital Media Trendbook each year since 2006. The trendbook contains 500 data sets and 230 pages of analysis about digital media usage and revenue patterns, including this data set. To download a free executive summary, go to www.wnmn.org

Advertising, subscription represent most of news revenues in U.S.: Pew

Advertising continues to be the No. 1 revenue source for news in the United States, driving 69 percent of the revenue in 2014, while 24 percent comes from circulation and audience revenue, 1 percent from philanthropy and investment, and 7 percent from other sources, according to Pew.

World Newsmedia Network has published Global Digital Media Trendbook each year since 2006. The 2014 trendbook contains 500 data sets and 230 pages of analysis about digital media usage and revenue patterns, including this data set. To download the GDMT free executive summary, go to www.wnmn.org 

Fox News revenues surge, while CNN and MSNBC stagnate in U.S.: Pew

Fox News Channel, the conservative-leaning cable channel owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, is winning the cable advertising revenues wars, compared to its international rival, CNN, and national competitor, MSNBC. Fox News largely credits its advertising success with its expanding audience. Fox is known for its anti-Obama and anti-Democrat stance, which appeals to a large group of Republican and other conservative Americans.

World Newsmedia Network has published Global Digital Media Trendbook each year since 2006. The 2014 trendbook contains 500 data sets and 230 pages of analysis about digital media usage and revenue patterns, including this data set. To download the GDMT free executive summary, go to www.wnmn.org

U.S. Internet users favor ad-supported content over paid content: Study

Zogby Analytics probed U.S. Internet users about content payment models in its “Digital Advertising Alliance Study 2013,” and determined that while people want access to content, they are often not willing to pay for it. Almost 64 percent of respondents said free content was extremely important to the overall value of the Internet, while 28.6 percent said it was somewhat important.

When faced with having to pay for content, the U.S. respondents overwhelmingly favored ad-supported content, with 75.4 percent saying so. Meanwhile, 9.3 percent said they would rather pay for ad-free content, and 8.1 percent would prefer neither advertising nor paid content.

World Newsmedia Network has published Global Digital Media Trendbook each year since 2006. The 2014 trendbook contains 500 data sets and 230 pages of analysis about digital media usage and revenue patterns, including this data set. To download the GDMT free executive summary, go to www.wnmn.org

Converting non-paying readers to subscribers

For more than a decade, news publishers and magazines have searched for the quintessential strategy to transition non-paying readers into paying subscribers. The road has been fraught with missteps, disasters and strategy reversals.

Hard paywalls cut off as much as 95 percent of traffic to websites, rendering them unread and unattractive to advertisers.  Soft paywalls may not result in enough revenue to be worthwhile. The majority of readers vowed never to pay for content.

However, the experimentation is paying off, and many media companies around the world are finally getting traction by implementing their paywall strategies, be they hard, soft, hybrid or membership models. At some media companies, such as the Financial Times, digital subscriptions now exceed that of the newspaper.

According to a growing number of studies, including PriceWaterhouseCoopers Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2014, and Reuters Institute’s Digital News Report 2014, the present and future of paid content is looking positive.

World Newsmedia Network has published Global Digital Media Trendbook each year since 2006. The 2014 trendbook contains 500 data sets and 230 pages of analysis about digital media usage and revenue patterns, including this data set. To download the GDMT free executive summary, go to www.wnmn.org