Shaping the Future of the Newspaper Blog - Launches and Closures

Washington Post to launch iPad app in 'coming weeks'

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 11:08:02 -0600

The Washington Post plans to launch its iPad app "in the coming weeks," following The New York Times' and Wall Street Journal's efforts on the Apple device, The Upshot reported.

"Mobile continues to be a key distribution platform for our content, utility for our readers, and, a core enabler of our growing digital business," Ken Babby, chief revenue officer and general manager for Washington Post Digital stated in a staff e-mail Wednesday.

Photo: AP/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

Russian daily Kommersant to launch TV channel

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 06:47:11 -0600

Russian publishing house Kommersant will launch a TV channel that may be available on cable or the Web, Lenta.ru reported today. The channel's website outlined that it will focus on socio-political news content and that stories will "strictly" include only the facts and expert opinions.

RBC Daily wrote that Kommersant General Director Andrei Galiev confirmed the project will soon come to life and that the firm is looking into the various steps that should be taken to realise Kommersant TV. According to experts, initial investment in the project would have to be between US$2 million to $5 million, while the yearly budget must amount to $2 million, rg.ru noted.

Three Irish weeklies shut down

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 06:11:36 -0600

The Alpha Newspaper Group, which is the largest weekly publisher in Northern Ireland, on Monday closed the Roscommon Champion, the Longford News and the Athlone Voice, the BBC reported.

The company said the decision was taken after a severe decline of circulation and advertising revenue, RTE.ie informed. In recent months, several staff members were laid off and the design and layout departments were centralized to reduce costs.

Newsweek launches Pakistan edition

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:26:26 -0600

Newsweek magazine has this week launched Newsweek Pakistan, which will have double the print run compared to that of the international edition, The Express Tribune reported today.

Although Newsweek's financial woes are well known in its home country, the United States, print is growing in Pakistan, and the weekly is expected to see success. The launch is in partnership with Pakistani media company AG Publications, according to the Huffington Post. Newsweek was recently sold by the Washington Post Company to audio billionaire Sidney Harman. Newsweek Pakistan was being created before the company announced it would sell the news weekly.

Google plans on-demand movies on YouTube

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:33:37 -0600

Google is planning to launch a pay-per-view movie service on YouTube, according to a report in the Financial Times, sify news reported.

The Internet giant is talking with major Hollywood studios. If negotiations go well, YouTube could begin showing the latest movie content on demand by the end of the year, according to The Financial Times, Information Week reported.

PPF shutters local media project Naše Adresa

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:20:24 -0600

Finance company PPF has sold its PPF Media division and shut down its local media project in the Czech Republic, called Naše Adresa ("Our Address"), which created a network of local weeklies across the country.

PPF invested at least Kc200 million (€8.05 million) in Naše Adresa, but the pilot project "did not meet the parameters of return on investment," the group's spokesman told the Czech News Agency (CTK) today. PPF sold its PPF Media company to investor Richard Benysek, CTK reported Friday.

Metro sets up team to create its first global branding campaign

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:18:54 -0600

Metro International will not work with a creative agency on its first global branding campaign and has instead hired a brand team led by Mattias Frodlund, a freelancer previously working for Leo Burnett, Media & Marketing reported last week.

In a press release, Metro International CEO Per Mikael Jensen said the company's previous goal was to "establish Metro as the world's largest global newspaper." The next step"is building Metro into one global premium brand, admired and respected by readers as well as advertisers," global marketing director Christian Quarles added.

Danish free daily Urban stops using a wire service

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:48:33 -0600

Danish free daily Urban has discontinued its use of Danish wire service Ritzau, Newspaper Innovation reported last week.

Owned by Mecom, the newspaper is now reliant on original content and those produced by paid newspapers of the publisher that include BT and Berlingske.

Image: NewspaperInnovation.com

Polish publisher Agora launches Metro edition in Berlin

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:02:15 -0600

Polish free daily Metro is launching a German edition of its newspaper in Berlin, Newspaper Innovation reported today.

Owned by Polish publisher Agora, the German edition will carry a circulation of 30,000.

Free dailies closures slow down

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 12:31:40 -0600

The free newspaper industry seems to be doing better this year as only three dailies have closed in the first 8 months of 2010, Newspaper Innovation revealed yesterday.

In the last four years, 2009 remains the year with more closures with 42 titles and their 97 editions disappearing from the streets. According to the data compiled by Newspaper Innovation, in 2007 30 titles shut down while in 2008 some 33 free dailies closed.

Graphic source: Newspaper Innovation

AP launches college football site APTop25.com

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:12:06 -0600

The Associated Press has launched an interactive Web hub, APTop25.com, which provides in-depth coverage on college football, Editor & Publisher reported.

Readers can check out the latest news, photos, and statistics about Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Schools, as determined by the AP Top 25 Poll. Other features include content from AP member publications and college football blogs, Media Bistro reported.

Mexico's free daily El Nuevo Siglo goes online only

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 13:57:06 -0600

Mexican free daily El Nuevo Siglo has stopped its print edition, and will now be available as an online-only newspaper, Newspaper Innovation reported today.

Founded in 2000 as a weekly newspaper, the Guadalajara-based newspaper became a daily publication in 2004, and also published weekend editions. No reason for shuttering its print edition was given.

Spain loses three Galician-language news sites

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 08:46:21 -0600

A Peneira, a biweekly newspaper published in the Spanish region of Galicia, has shut down its website due to financial problems, Periodistadigital.com reported Tuesday. This is the third Galician-language website to close in less than a month.

The newspaper's owner, Guillermo Rodriguez, said the regional government was responsible for the economic distress of the company, which has not paid its workers in six months and might see its print edition at risk, Prnoticia.com revealed.

Google buys social payment provider Jambool

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:20:44 -0600

Google has bought online social payment start-up Jambool, a next step past search and into the realm of "using personal relationships as the basis to find and share online content," the San Jose Mercury News reported today.

TechCrunch first reported the buy last week, noting that Jambool's Social Gold payment product gives developers the tools they need to "build payments directly into their games and other applications." The price of the buy wasn't released by either company, but sources told TechCrunch it was around US$70 million, which includes about $20 million in earnouts. The buyout was announced Friday.

NY Times Co. trials paywall

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 11:32:02 -0600

The New York Times Co. is testing out its paywall strategy, but not on its flagship newspaper's website. Rather, the company has set up a metered paywall on the website of its Worcester, Massachusetts newspaper, the Telegram & Gazette, The Times announced yesterday.

Beginning today, the daily will allow readers to view 10 local news articles each month for free. After that threshold has been reached, they will be offered several different online subscription options, from a US$14.95 monthly pass, to a $1 day pass.