Digital-first transition becoming easier for some publishers
The digital publishing industry is kicking off some positive vibes, reports emedia vitals. Online ad revenue for the first half of the year passed US$20bn, an 18 per cent jump over the same period last year, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). Mobile’s share of total ad spend more than doubled, from seven per cent to 15 per cent, accounting for US$3bn in revenue.
While launches of new magazine titles slowed over the first half of the year, so did the number of titles that were shut down, according to MediaFinder, which tracks US and Canadian publications. For the first six months of 2013, 97 new titles launched, down from 133 in the first half of 2012, and 29 magazines closed, a drop from the 48 closures in the same period last year.
And while print ad pages continue their decline, ad units in tablet editions increased 17.5 per cent in the third quarter and have jumped 22 per cent over the first nine months of the year, according to new Publishers Information Bureau data released by the Association of Magazine Media (MPA).
There are other, less tangible signs that publishers’ print-to-digital transitions are becoming less bumpy as cultures and business models evolve. Financial Times editor Lionel Barber this week disclosed the next steps in the publication’s evolving “digital-first” strategy, including plans to launch a single, global print edition next year – a significant departure from the FT’s traditional multi-edition production model.
