Hamilton Media

[matt602]

Good thing I'm with Teksavvy.

[thistleclub]

Torstar profit falls 65% on weak ad market, writedown
(Globe & Mail, Steve Ladurantaye, Mar 6 2013)

Days after announcing cuts at its flagship Toronto Star newspaper, Torstar Corp. said profit fell almost 65 per cent in the fourth quarter due to a weak national advertising market and a writedown at its online job search division.

The company said it posted a $24-million profit, down from $64-million a year ago. It took an $11-million non-cash writedown on its Workopolis subsidiary, which has been hammered by increased competition in the online recruitment industry and generally weak economic conditions....

The company breaks down its quarterly results by division. Here are the highlights.

· Star Media Group: Revenue declined by $6.4-million to $138.6-million as print advertising fell 11 per cent at the Toronto Star. Digital revenues also fell, down 1.8 per cent on accounting changes. Operating earnings were $16.8-million in the fourth quarter of 2012, down $9.8-million from $26.6-million in the fourth quarter of 2011.

· Metroland: The company said “revenues were down $2.3-million or 1.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2012 primarily as a result of modest declines in print advertising revenue. Distribution revenue increased moderately in the quarter. Digital revenue was down 6.4 per cent, driven entirely by a decline at WagJag.”

· Book publishing: The company said “book publishing revenues were down $8.8-million in the fourth quarter excluding the impact of foreign exchange, with North American revenues down $6.6-million and overseas revenues down $2.2-million. North American division revenues were down $6.6-million in the fourth quarter of 2012, excluding the impact of foreign exchange. Declines in print were not offset by increases in digital revenues.”

[thistleclub]

Via @AdamCarterCBC:

Coun. McHattie moves to ask the CRTC to make space on #HamOnt airwaves for CBC radio.

McHattie wants Astral to make available one FM airwave for CBC Radio. #HamOnt

"There needs to be a wider coverage of CBC Radio right across the country," McHattie says. #HamOnt

"We want to continue to push to have that space on the dial," McHattie says. #HamOnt

"It's important that we move this tonight and do support it," @judipartridge says. #HamOnt

@Councillor_Farr says he also supports McHattie's motion. #HamOnt

@terrywhitehead says he also worked in radio - that one's news to me. #HamOnt

Motion carries. The city will ask the CRTC to make space on #HamOnt airwaves for CBC radio.

[mattgrande]

This might be old news but hey, remember Open File? They've been "on hiatus" since September, and they haven't paid a lot of their freelancers.

http://davidtopping.tumblr.com/post/...-openfile-owes

[Pearlstreet]

http://ihearthamilton.ca/

[thistleclub]

The blog marks its second anniversary next month and is also featured in the Spring 2013 McMaster Times.

[thistleclub]

Postmedia cost cuts match revenue declines
(National Post, Christine Dobby, Apr 11, 2013)

Pressure from a decline in print advertising revenue continued to push down Postmedia Network Inc.’s sales in the last quarter, but the media company kept its operating results in check with an almost equal decrease in spending during the period.

The second-quarter results of Canada’s largest publisher of paid English-language newspapers reflected common themes affecting the publishing industry as a whole, as traditional media companies make deep spending cuts to compensate for print advertising revenue losses that far outstrip gains made in online revenue.

“As has been noted by several of our industry peers, the outlook remains unpredictable with respect to traditional revenue streams,” Paul Godfrey, president and CEO, said in a statement.

“We are pleased, however, with the substance of our transformation program, which has to date exceeded expectations not only on the cost-savings front but also the overall workings of our organization.”

Toronto-based Postmedia, which owns the National Post, said Thursday its operating income before depreciation, amortization and restructuring was $25.2-million, down $100,000 compared to the same period last year. Revenues declined $19.8-million or 10% to $178.8-million during the three-month period ended Feb. 28.

But spending cuts during the quarter, continuing a restructuring program announced last July, will result in annualized savings of about $16-million, the company said. Overall, Postmedia’s operating expenses before depreciation, amortization and restructuring decreased $19.7-million or 11.4% relative to the second quarter last year….

Postmedia’s restructuring program, which is aimed at removing legacy costs from its operations and included the centralization of some production services at a facility in Hamilton, Ont., has resulted in annualized savings of about $58-million to date.

“While that’s certainly impressive, it’s still not enough,” Mr. Godfrey said in the internal memo. “It is no small task to transform a business like ours.”

....

Postmedia reported a net loss for the quarter of $14.2-million, compared to a net loss of $11.1-million at the same time last year.

However, the company said the bottom-line loss was primarily due to foreign currency exchange losses as lower revenues in the quarter were offset by the cost-reductions.

The decrease in sales during the quarter was primarily due to a 13.8% decline in print revenue of $16.9-million with the largest drops coming in classified and national advertising, Postmedia said.

Print circulation sales also dropped about 6.5% or $3.3-million. The company said circulation declines were partially offset by price increases. Digital revenue was up 1.7% or $0.4-million, compared to this time last year.

[thistleclub]

Postmedia looking at more outsourcing as revenue from newspapers falls in Q2
(The Canadian Press, Linda Nguyen, Apr 11 2013)

Postmedia Network Canada Corp. says it’s continuing to look at making more cuts across its operations, including centralizing its manufacturing, marketing and circulation departments.

“As we look into our crystal ball, we will be a smaller revenue company but as well, a much smaller expense or costs company,” Paul Godfrey, Postmedia’s president and chief executive told investors Thursday.

“By doing that, we have to look at every aspect we do business, including the potential for outsourcing.”
….

The company is in the midst of a three-year program to transform its business and cut ongoing costs.

During the three months ended Feb. 28, it implemented changes to create $16 million in annualized savings, bringing the total since the program was announced in July to $58 million.

But Godfrey said the savings were not enough, and the company will continue to explore other ways to get costs down.

“I don’t think there’s a day that goes by that we don’t look at various aspects of our company. Look, we have a business to run on a day-by-day basis. It’s not like dropping a guillotine, you just drop it and everything continues,” he said.

“What you have look at is the practicality of when to do it. That’s why we were realistic when we talked about a three-year program. We started not too many months ago.”

It expects to be able to get revenue once it rolls out paywalls at all of its newspaper websites beginning in May. Currently, only a handful of its newspapers’ websites require a paid subscription.

“You cannot give away your content which costs you millions and millions of dollars and give it away free,” said Godfrey.


A paywall-plus-outsourcing strategy was recently announced by Spectator/Metroland parent company Torstar in March following a similarly steep plunge in ad revenue.

[thistleclub]

CBC Hamilton-related.

Kirstine Stewart leaves CBC to head up Twitter Canada
(Toronto Star, Tony Wong, Apr 29 2013)

Kirstine Stewart’s first job was delivering newspapers. Her last job was vice president of CBC’s English language services. Her new job is heading up Twitter Canada.

From print, to broadcast, to social media, Stewart has been at the forefront of change.

As the first Twitter Canada employee of the California-based company, Stewart has been challenged with expanding the social network to Canadians. What that will look like in the future is up for debate.

“We are all trying to figure out what the next step is. It’s not necessarily that television on the wall,” Stewart told the Star. “There are great ways to reinvent content, and this a great opportunity to do so. This is the Golden Age of media.”

But first she has to find an office.

“These are early days. We’re looking for somewhere in Toronto. The fun part for me is starting something from the ground up and building this office.”

Stewart, arguably the most powerful person in Canadian broadcasting and a staple on the list of most influential people in the nation, announced her resignation to CBC CEO and president Hubert Lacroix on Sunday.

Twenty four hours later she was in her new post as managing director of Twitter Canada.

“It’s usual in the media business not to have too much transition time,” said Stewart. “I leave with a bit of a heavy heart. I’m leaving a lot of family behind and that’s a sad moment for me.”

Stewart insists that the $115 million in cuts to the CBC mandated by the federal government in 2012 had nothing to do with her departure.

“You react to what you’ve been given. It made the people we work with very nimble and much more focused. It’s true there was less opportunity and less resources to do things differently, but considering all of the cuts we did well,” said Stewart. “I think it’s folly for anyone to underestimate the future of the CBC.”

Stewart, who took over from Richard Stursberg as interim vice president in 2010 and officially in January 2011, has already changed her Twitter account from @KStewartCBC to @KirstineStewart to mark her move.

[thistleclub]

Has CBC Hamilton replaced a 20-year Spec veteran with a 10-year Spec veteran?

New features, new look at CBC Hamilton
(CBC Hamilton, Apr 30, 2013)

Later today we're unveiling a new look to our site. Along with the new look we will be introducing some new features today and over the coming days.

We've re-arranged the site to give you more news and features to choose from right at the top of your screen. We are most excited about our new Hamilton music player down the page on the right hand side. It's a music playlist linked to CBCMusic that features songs of Hamilton bands, songwriters and producers. You can explore the playlist - which will start at 100 songs but which will grow daily - and expand your knowledge of Hamilton music. But you can also participate, help us make new versions of the playlist and break it down in all sorts of creative ways. You'll need to keep coming back to fully experience the playlist.

We are increasing interactivity in other ways; We are introducing a daily poll to allow you to vote on topical issues and we are also inviting residents to submit opinion and analysis pieces to foster thoughtful debate on important local issues as we launch a new POV feature. You'll find that in our new talk section in the centre rail.

We are in the process of upgrading our community calendar, giving it more visibility but also making it easier for community groups to add their listings. We want to be Hamilton's online source for community news and things to do.

And you can test your knowledge of Hamilton with our new Where am I photo feature.

Let us know what you think and send us any ideas you have for what you'd like to see from CBCHamilton.

Rick Hughes
Executive Producer
CBC Hamilton

[SteelTown]

READERS: thespec.com is changing

http://www.thespec.com/news/local/ar...om-is-changing

On Monday, May 6, thespec.com will have a new look and feel due to our changing over to a new engine, or content management system.

The new site makes it much easier for users to submit content, including text, photos and videos. And event organizers will be able to send in events that will appear in our online events calendar (complete with locator map) and subsequently in print.

Although much effort and testing has gone into the new site, there are bound to be problems as there always are with a product re-launch on this scale. Therefore the pay wall that restricts access to online content will be removed for the testing and updating period after launch, estimated to be about a month. All online content will be free for that period. Current subscribers to thespec.com (Press+) will have their subscriptions extended for the same period.

Because the new site runs on different technology, registered users will need to register again on the new site as old site registrations will no longer be valid. Look for the SIGNUP and LOGIN links at the top right of the new site. Registrations in the online circulation system will not be impacted. Links for subscribers and the daily e-edition are also at the top right of the new site.

We expect to cut over to the new site sometime Monday afternoon. Thanks for your feedback and patience as we undergo this change.

Howard Elliott

Managing Editor

[thistleclub]

It's changed.

Not sure what to make of the "well, duh" URL: http://www.thespec.com/hamilton/

That said, check out the Hot Deals next door at http://www.thespec.com/burlington/

[mattgrande]

I was hoping for big speed updates. Let's see how they did!

Old: 6.10s load time, 1.98MB total size, 240 requests (http://gtmetrix.com/reports/www.thespec.com/PkGn0Lac)
New: 4.07s load time, 1.42MB total size, 146 requests (http://gtmetrix.com/reports/www.thespec.com/V5PIxn5m)

Two seconds improvement is nothing to sneeze at, but 1.42MB seems pretty big to me, still.

[thistleclub]

Torstar Corp profit drops 44% as print struggles, Harlequin disappoints
(National Post, Christine Dobby, July 31 2013)

Torstar Corp. reported a sharp decline in profit in the second quarter as its media division continued to struggle with plunging print advertising revenues and even its book publishing business hit an unexpected lull.

Torstar, which publishes the Toronto Star and the Metro chain of free daily newspapers, said Wednesday that net income for the quarter was $18-million or $0.23 per share, down 44% from $0.41 per share in the same period last year.

Its romance novel publishing division Harlequin posted a surprising drop, said David Holland, president and chief executive of the Toronto-based company.

“We had anticipated lower earnings at Harlequin but not to this extent,” Mr. Holland said during a conference call with analysts. “Lower volumes, including a deterioration in overseas volumes, which we were concerned about in the last quarter, were responsible for the shortfall to expectations.” ....

Torstar’s media business, which includes the Toronto Star and Metro as well as the Metroland chain of community newspapers, posted EBITDA of $37.5-million, down 13.4% from $43.3-million in the second quarter of 2012.

The company cut $8.3-million in costs at the media division during the quarter as it continued with voluntary buyouts and the outsourcing of page layout at the Toronto Star and saved on labour costs at Metroland.

Mr. Holland said cost-reduction initiatives would continue, but the company “remain[s] disciplined in continuing to be invested in those areas of highest value to our customers.”

[thistleclub]

First paywalled, now shuttered: Torstar is reportedly pulling the plug on YourHamiltonBiz

[drpgq]

Originally Posted by thistleclub

First paywalled, now shuttered: Torstar is reportedly pulling the plug on YourHamiltonBiz

That didn't last long. Reminds me of Ruby.

[LikeHamilton]

Yourhamiltonbiz.com issued its last business newsletter Monday night after Star Media Group announced it was shuttering the digital product after its launch just eight months ago.

Yourmississaugabiz.com website launched last October and was also closed down. It had six employees.

I know I work shifts and get confused on what day it is but this is still Monday afternoon?
I checked the site and there are new stories on it but not about them. Maybe no one has told them!

[durandy]

sad. I wonder how the Spec's doing.

[thistleclub]

CBC says it can't purchase a Toronto radio station to serve Hamilton
(Caart.ca, Greg O’Brien, Aug 15 2013)

The CBC’s new local digital setup isn’t good enough to serve the Steel City, says city councillor Brian McHattie, who insists Hamilton needs its own CBC radio station.

The councillor (who serves the ward where Cartt.ca is based) has sent a letter to CBC CEO Hubert Lacroix as well as all of the local MPs saying that since there are no available frequencies for another radio station in Hamilton, the CBC should instead purchase one of the Toronto stations which Bell Media has promised to divest as part of its purchase of Astral Media.

The Toronto stations put on the block by Bell Media are CHBM-FM (Classic Hits, Boom 97.3) and CFXJ-FM (Urban Contemporary, Flow 93.5) in Toronto.

“Hamilton… is still the largest market in Canada without its own CBC radio station. Over the last decade, CBC has stated that the goal for local service for Hamilton was a radio station similar to other communities across the country, but that the broadcaster was limited in fulfilling the promise due to the lack of available radio frequencies in the region,” reads McHattie’s letter, which we received August 14th.

So, with two nearby stations for sale, “the City of Hamilton suggested to the (CRTC) and to BCE that one of these frequencies should be used to provide local CBC service for Hamilton. It's now up to you at the national broadcaster to seize this rare opportunity to acquire a frequency for the Hamilton region to fulfill the long awaited promise of local radio service in our region. This would build off of the CBC's existing digital services in the community,” added the letter.

CBC spokesman Chris Ball, in response, said the CBC will not be purchasing either of the stations for sale, as they would be just too expensive. Indeed, in 2010, FLOW was purchased by what was then the CHUM Radio division of CTV, for $27 million.

“We’re glad to hear that Hamiltonians have such a deep connection with CBC,” said Ball in an e-mail to Cartt.ca. “In the scenario outlined CBC would have to acquire a station and then operate the new frequency as a CBC property – the costs involved would be prohibitive for us given our current financial constraints.

“We have been committed to serving Hamilton for many years and have explored bringing a radio service to this community in the past. We will continue to look for ways to improve the service we provide Hamiltonians - within the limits of our financial circumstances,” he added. CBC has cut close to 700 people from its payroll in the past 18 months or so because of a government-wide austerity program which saw its parliamentary grant trimmed by 10%.

However, “as technology evolved, we are now able to serve this community in new and innovative ways, through our cbc.ca/Hamilton local digital service. Since the launch of the digital service the feedback we’ve received has been largely positive. We look forward to continuing to be a part of this community for many years to come," added Ball.

[thistleclub]

Hamilton Community News managing editor turned Ontario Liberal candidate for Hamilton East-Stoney Creek turned assistant to Agriculture Minister Ted McMeekin turned YourHamiltonBiz.com editor is now press secretary for Premier Wynne in her capacity as Minister of Agriculture and Food.