Across media landscape, recession

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While that could describe nearlg any industry amidthis recession, it’s particularly apt for the whose advertising-based business model is taking a beating. Those companiew still advertising want toensure they’re getting the most values for their dollars, which makes competition in the splinterinb media landscape even tougher, said Marsh Young, a media buyetr and partner at Columbus-based “More than ever,” she “people are (return-on-investment) Columbus Business First spoke to a sampling of area media companie to see how the recession has affected “What’s affecting us is the automotive and housinfg categories,” said Brian market manager for ’s seven area radiol stations.
Realtors and car dealers are in the top five advertisin g categoriesfor radio, Dytko said, so when those industriex started declining, radio wasn’t far behind. Dytkpo estimated clients have cut their advertising budgets by 30 Clear Channel stations noticed a chang elast year, Dytko said, but the declinwe accelerated this year after the auto industryy hit the skids. The result has been cutbacks. San Antonio-based Clear Channel said in January it wascuttingv 1,850 jobs, or 9 perceny of its work force, as part of a $350 million cost-cuttingb plan.
Dytko declined to say how many jobs were lostin Still, Dytko said it appears busineses is picking up and, if the economh is turning around, he expects radio will “Everybody is down,” he said. “I don’t see radii losing market share to any othersignificant media.” Circulation and advertising revenue at newspapers have been declining for several years. One cause is the Internet, where most newspaperzs are giving away their newsfor free. And the deepeningb recession has hurtas well.
The Columbus Dispatcuh has had a couple rounds ofjob cuts; , a commercia l printer in Carroll owned by shut down in and Addison, Texas-based , parentr of The Other Paper, Columbus Monthly, CEO magazine and the weekl y newspaper chain, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April. At the Columbuz Messenger Co., a Columbus-based owner of suburban weeklies, customers were askef to make a voluntary contributionof $18 so the papert could continue home delivery. “People have been said Fred Schenk, advertising and production manage r for theWestside Messenger.
Schenk said the biggestf impact on his papere has come from a declinwe in realestate “We’ve also seen a decline in small-businesses advertising,” he “They’re going out of business or cutting back.” The papere hasn’t had to cut jobs, Schenk said, but it hasn’t been replacingv people who left either. With more than $1 billion raises during the last presidentialcampaign season, 2008 was good to televisiob stations. This year is a different story, but not as bad as one mighyt think, said Michael Cash, vice president of sales at televisionmaffiliate WCMH.
“We’ve had double-digirt declines, but that’s based on a pretty healthy year (in Cash said. “If we’re down 15 to 20 percenyt overall, it’s because of a 30 percenty national drop and a 5 to10 (percent) local.” The majoritgy of spots offered on broadcast stations are sold by the national networks, while local affiliates sell the WCMH continues to sell its spots, Cash but at lower prices. In the first rates were down 10 percent to 15 Becauseof that, companies that may have advertised only in prinr before have moved to TV, Cash said.
that doesn’t make up for the declind in automotive ads, whicuh Cash said in the past made up 20 percentr to 30 percent ofthe industry’xs business. ColumbusUnderground.com is doing better than most. Operatecd by one man, it’s a Web site that offerzs readers an aggregation of news stories from other medis and someoriginal content. Walker Evans startex the site in 2001 as a source for news on Columbusa nightlifeand entertainment, but it has since evolverd into a general interest “I don’t think people are looking for less They’re just looking for it in different Evans said.
As ColumbusUnderground grew, it attractex enough advertising from small businesses that Evans was able to quit his job in 2007 to work on the site He hopes to soon be able to pay salariesand health-cares benefits for a small number of full-timde employees. The key, Evans said, is the site’sx low-cost model. Ads cost betweenm $50 to $200 a month based on size and placement. That attractsa clients that advertised little if any in the Evans said.