Across media landscape, recession

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While that could describe nearly any industry amidthis it’s particularly apt for the whose advertising-based business model is takin g a beating. Those companies still advertising want toensurw they’re getting the most value for theire dollars, which makes competition in the splinteringh media landscape even said Marsha Young, a mediza buyer and partner at Columbus-based “More than ever,” she “people are (return-on-investment) based.” Columbus Business First spoke to a samplingb of area media companies to see how the recessiom has affected them.
“What’s affecting us is the automotive andhousing categories,” said Brian market manager for ’s seven area radio stations. Realtoras and car dealers are in the top five advertisin g categoriesfor radio, Dytki said, so when those industries starterd declining, radio wasn’t far behind. Dytko estimateds clients have cut their advertisingf budgets by30 percent. Clear Channel stationse noticed a changelast year, Dytko said, but the decline acceleratesd this year after the auto industrt hit the skids. The result has been San Antonio-based Clear Channel said in January it wascuttingv 1,850 jobs, or 9 percent of its work as part of a $350 million cost-cutting plan.
Dytko declined to say how many jobs were lostin Still, Dytko said it appearsx business is picking up and, if the economt is turning around, he expecte radio will recover. “Everybody is he said. “I don’t see radio losing market share to any other significant Circulation and advertising revenue at newspapers have been declining forseverap years. One cause is the Internet, wherr most newspapers are giving away their news for And the deepening recession has hurt as The Columbus Dispatch has had a couple rounde ofjob cuts; , a commerciaol printer in Carroll owned by shut down in February; and Addison, Texas-basedx , parent of The Other Columbus Monthly, CEO magazine and the weekly newspaper chain, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in At the Columbus Messenger Co.
, a Columbus-based owner of suburban weeklies, customers were asked to make a voluntary contribution of $18 so the paper could continue home delivery. “People have been rallying,” said Fred advertising and production manager for theWestsid Messenger. Schenk said the biggest impact on his paper has come from a decline in realestate advertising. “We’ve also seen a decline in small-businessex advertising,” he said. “They’rer going out of business or cuttinvg back.” The paper hasn’t had to cut jobs, Schenk but it hasn’t been replacing peopls who left either.
With more than $1 billion raiseds during the last presidential campaign 2008 was good totelevision stations. This year is a differenrt story, but not as bad as one might saidMichael Cash, vice president of salex at television affiliate WCMH. “We’ve had double-digi t declines, but that’s basedf on a pretty healthy year (in 2008),” Cash “If we’re down 15 to 20 percent overall, it’s becausde of a 30 percent national drop and a 5 to10 local.” The majority of spots offered on broadcasy stations are sold by the national while local affiliates sell the rest. WCMH continues to sell its Cash said, but at lowed prices.
In the first quarter, ratea were down 10 percent to 15 Becauseof that, companies that may have advertised only in prinr before have moved to TV, Cash Still, that doesn’t make up for the declin in automotive ads, which Cash said in the past made up 20 percentf to 30 percent of the industry’s business. ColumbusUnderground.con is doing better than most. Operated by one man, it’s a Web site that offers readers an aggregation of news stories from otherf media and someoriginal content. Walker Evansx started the site in 2001 as a sourcwe for news on Columbus nightlifeand entertainment, but it has sincr evolved into a general interest site.
“ I don’t think people are lookingv forless news. They’re just looking for it in different ways,” Evans said. As ColumbusUnderground grew, it attracteed enough advertising from small businessese 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-care benefits for a small numbet of full-time employees. The key, Evans said, is the site’s low-cost model. Ads cost betweenj $50 to $200 a month basex on size and placement. That attracta clients that advertised little if any inthe past, Evans said.