Regional publisher Northcliffe Media reduced its headcount by 11pc in the six months to April according to new company figures published today.
In a half-yearly report, parent company DMGT revealed that Northcliffe shed 336 jobs in the period – with “further cost reductions” on the way.
Despite the savings, profits at the regional publisher fell £4m year-on-year to stand at £8m.
Northcliffe’s revenues were down 9pc in the period, covering the first half of DMGT’s financial year which runs from October.
The report said that the company’s recent trading has “reflected the weak economic environment and the reduction in public sector spending.”
Circulation revenues in the period were down 6pc, but recruitment revenues fell by 28pc.
Said the report: “Trading during April and the first three weeks of May has seen advertising revenues 10pc below last year and a challenging second half is expected.
“Overall operating margin is expected to be maintained through further cost reductions.”
New Northcliffe boss Steve Auckland has already announced a review of the company’s portfolio which could see some daily titles going weekly.
It is understood that discussions are continuing over which titles are likely to change frequency.
Digital revenues for the period were down £9m, with a 21pc decline in recruitment revenues offset by growth in property, motors and services revenues.
The report said visitor numbers to the ‘thisis’ network of newspaper companion sites grew by 21pc in March while visitors to the localpeople network of community sites grew by 85pc.
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Such a shame for everyone involved. I went 18 months ago and now fear for others. As for the localpeople websites, has anyone seen them? They are so out of date and clunky. I’ve said it all along – old editors, brought up on print, are not the right people to lead the businesses now. Seems Northcliffe are cottoning on a bit, but new people need to be in charge who are willing to allow control out of their hands and put faith in their staff. It’s a weird industry that could and should have had people with vision, younger unshackled people doing all this stuff years ago.
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looks like trinity mirror are going the same way!
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The local people sites are, by and large, dreadful and what has happened to my favourite newspaper, the Western Daily Press. In the 1980s it was a must-read publication breaking local stories of note and leading the pack. Today after massive cost cutting it has lost its heart and soul and is surely doomed.
It was a vary sad day when Northcliffe was allowed to get its hands on BUPP – but what do you expect in this stupid short-termist country called Britain.
A fast buck is what our ‘businessmen’ are interested in particularly in newspapers.
Will the Western Daily Press go weekly?
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I think the Western Daily Press WILL go weekly, which is such a crying shame. I used to work as a reporter for the WDP, and I personally didn’t feel inspired, or felt the paper was given any direction when I was there.
The news business is changing, and I think people need to change with it, and titles like the WDP will suffer after years of neglect.
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I have been expecting a plunge in share prices of the Daily Mail ever since they started compressing reader comments and not allowing good relative links to third party content. They need to realize good links in comment threads drive traffic by doing as they have, they are affecting the ads revenue streams in a negative manner.
Signed Carl Barron Chairman of agpcuk
http://carl-agpcuk.livejournal.com/
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Yeah, the Northcliffe websites are hard work to post on and register for IMHO. I don’t register details at any commercial site. They should be click and use and be moderated quickly and effectively once a post goes up. It’s quite easy and more likely to encourage people to post and interact.
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