Internet Poses Biggest Threat To Regional Press

A report by Coopers and Lybrand Media Group, entitled The Role of the Regionals in the Digital Future, highlights the importance of electronic media to the future of the regional press.

The study argues that it is imperative that the regional press embrace electronic media if it is to retain control of the highly lucrative classified advertising market. Regional groups should not diversify into cross-media investment, but concentrate on distributing local information in electronic and paper format, advise the authors.

Although the report recognises that the regional press is in slow decline, it doesn’t give the industry a terminal diagnosis. It is predicted that industry consolidation will continue during the next 10 years, resulting in around 6 key regional groups and about 20 smaller players with a very local focus.

The big regional fish of the next century are, the study claims, likely to be those groups who embrace electronic media skills. The information on property, motors, recruitment and other classified services already on their databases, could become an on-line gold mine. Regional groups will be able to use this library of information to move closer the transaction between buyer and seller, cutting out the middle men, the estate agents, recruitment agencies etc.

Robert Boyle, chairman of the Coopers and Lybrand Media Group said: “Future growth must come from leveraging the wealth of local information regional publishers hold. The development of online services will be crucial in helping these businesses to compete against new market entrants, and retain the 80% share of local advertising they currently command.”

Coopers and Lybrand Media Group: 0171 213 5306