Larry Grimes had the following differences with Rod Schwartz’s Newspaper story yesterday (5/4/09 RBR #86):
Rod Schwartz’s tirade on the “the Real Reason Advertisers Are Abandoning Newspapers” couldn’t be further from the truth. Rod, it is all about the numbers and always has been. For most local advertisers, when tracking their ROI tied to local campaigns, newspapers easily out-pull radio and they out-pull anything on-line. The big dailies have their issues certainly. And until there is a strong advertising model available on-line, newspapers aren’t going to make a huge revenue splash on-line. But, please, it’s all about the economy!! In a stronger economy, advertising would still be flowing into newspapers, especially in the weekly newspapers. And there would be enough “secondary” advertising dollars to go round to support those few remaining radio stations with a “localized” flavor. Heck, what seems to be exciting many radio groups the most these days?? The prospect of providing information and advertising along platforms other than the airwaves. Why, because those platforms bring the local advertisers their strongest ROI. And guess what, those platforms are textual in nature.
Larry Grimes
President
W.B. Grimes & Company
Gaithersburg, MD 20882
(301) 253-5016
www.mediamergers.com
www.thesportsadvisorygroup.com
