tumblr({"tumblelog":{"title":"Circles","description":"www.notsquare.com","name":"notsquare","timezone":"US\/Pacific","cname":false,"feeds":[]},"posts-start":0,"posts-total":"10","posts-type":false,"posts":[{"id":"422391958","url":"http:\/\/notsquare.tumblr.com\/post\/422391958","url-with-slug":"http:\/\/notsquare.tumblr.com\/post\/422391958\/news-international-rolls-out-paid-for-reader-clubs","type":"regular","date-gmt":"2010-03-02 18:35:17 GMT","date":"Tue, 02 Mar 2010 10:35:17","bookmarklet":0,"mobile":0,"feed-item":"","from-feed-id":0,"unix-timestamp":1267554917,"format":"html","reblog-key":"WHylqB45","slug":"news-international-rolls-out-paid-for-reader-clubs","regular-title":"News International rolls out paid-for reader clubs","regular-body":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pressgazette.co.uk\/story.asp?storycode=44432\">http:\/\/www.pressgazette.co.uk\/story.asp?storycode=44432<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a>News International<\/a>, publisher of The Times and Sunday Times newspapers, is hoping to open up a new source of revenue by launch a membership scheme for the two titles.<\/p>\n<p>As dwindling advertising and circulation revenue plague the newspaper industry, News International is looking to develop a new revenue model that includes income derived from building on rewarding reader loyalty.<\/p>\n<p>This latest scheme, called Times+, will build on a similar, existing programme run by the Sunday Times around its arts and entertainments coverage, called Culture+.<\/p>\n<p>That programme gives readers priority booking and discounted tickets to selected shows, exhibitions and events. The new Times+ scheme will offers a range of similar benefits in addition to giving members free access to one of its associated specialist packs.<\/p>\n<p>These packs will be the already established Culture+ and a new series of offers bundled as Travel+.<\/p>\n<p>Membership is open to all at a charge of \u00a350 a year but is complimentary to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times.<\/p>\n<p>Katie Vanneck-Smith, managing director News International\u2019s customer direct operation, said the publisher was attempting to change its relationship with its readers.<\/p>\n<p>She said: &#8220;We are moving away from the traditional model of volume in favour of developing more direct relationships with our customers based on their interests and passions.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a>News International<\/a> has adopted several programmes across its range of tabloid and quality newspapers through which to implement this strategy.<\/p>\n<p>The Sunday Times and the Times already offer a subscription and home delivery service to their readers.<\/p>\n<p>The company also launched a web-based loyalty scheme this weekend for readers of the <a>News of the World<\/a>, offering them the chance to save money on a range of goods with a cash-back incentive.<\/p>\n<p><a>News International<\/a> claims that 90,000 people have joined its Culture+ programme since launch in Setember last year.<\/p>\n<p>Travel+ will give its members the chance to meet journalists, including the editors, columnists and critics, from both the Times and the Sunday Times, at bespoke events.<\/p>\n<p>It will also offer exclusive private excursions and tours, as well as upgrades and discounts alongside a year\u2019s subscription to the Sunday Times Travel magazine.<\/p>\n<p><a>News International<\/a> said further packages will be unveiled over the course of the next year,<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pressgazette.co.uk\/story.asp?storycode=44432\">http:\/\/www.pressgazette.co.uk\/story.asp?storycode=44432<\/a><\/p>"},{"id":"395358056","url":"http:\/\/notsquare.tumblr.com\/post\/395358056","url-with-slug":"http:\/\/notsquare.tumblr.com\/post\/395358056\/monthly-magazine-ad-pages-drop-again-but-bright-spots","type":"regular","date-gmt":"2010-02-17 22:23:58 GMT","date":"Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:23:58","bookmarklet":0,"mobile":0,"feed-item":"","from-feed-id":0,"unix-timestamp":1266445438,"format":"html","reblog-key":"Vn8cmyOF","slug":"monthly-magazine-ad-pages-drop-again-but-bright-spots","regular-title":"Monthly Magazine Ad Pages Drop Again, but Bright Spots Emerge","regular-body":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/adage.com\/mediaworks\/article?article_id=142144\">http:\/\/adage.com\/mediaworks\/article?article_id=142144<\/a><\/p>\n<p>NEW YORK (AdAge.com) &#8212; Monthly magazines&#8217; latest quarterly drop in ad pages, the ninth consecutive quarter of year-over-year declines, wasn&#8217;t exactly a surprise, but it wasn&#8217;t all bad news either.<\/p>\n\n<img src=\"http:\/\/adage.com\/images\/bin\/image\/small\/teenvogue021710.jpg?1266426672\" alt=\"Teen Vogue's ad pages shot up 23%.\" title=\"Teen Vogue's ad pages shot up 23%.\" class=\"small\" width=\"150\" height=\"204\"\/> Teen Vogue&#8217;s ad pages shot up 23%. \t\t\t\t \t\t\t  \t\t\t<!--<br \/>--> <!--GS: depricated 7-28-09 -->\n<p>Monthlies&#8217; ad pages declined 5.7% from the first quarter of 2009, according to the <a title=\"Media Industry Newsletter\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.minonline.com\/\">Media Industry Newsletter<\/a>, not the same as a gain but a much smaller loss than the double-digit plunges that have been seen since the third quarter of 2008.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s the smallest decline of the last couple of years,&#8221; said Kathleen Brogan, print director at Carat. &#8220;As the year goes on there will probably be more titles that fold but that&#8217;s not necessarily a bad thing. The strongest titles, that meet not only advertiser but reader demand, will stay strong throughout the year.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I feel like everything we hear about magazines is always negative, but I don&#8217;t think that&#8217;s necessarily the case,&#8221; Ms. Brogan added. &#8220;Brands change strategies but for the most part print is a staple. Readers are still there, readers still want their magazines and advertisers will pay to reach those people.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Magazines aren&#8217;t alone in their pain, of course, and one recent forecast predicted <a title=\"Ad Spending to Drop This Quarter, Then Finally Rebound\" href=\"http:\/\/adage.com\/mediaworks\/article?article_id=141573\">ad spending across all media<\/a> would decline again in the first quarter before finally rebounding modestly to end the year nearly flat.<\/p>\n<p>But the <a title=\"Why Ad Pages Won't Ever Fully Return to Mags\" href=\"http:\/\/adage.com\/mediaworks\/article?article_id=138131\">challenges facing the magazine industry<\/a> beyond the economy also mean some titles probably won&#8217;t ever see their pre-recession pages return. And year-over-year comparisons are getting easier as a result of all the declines that came before. The first quarter numbers now being examined, for example, are being compared against the first quarter of 2009, an abysmal period in which ad pages plunged 21.5%. Monthly magazines&#8217; ad pages started falling in the first quarter of 2008.<\/p>\n<p>Ad pages fell in 94 monthlies this quarter and grew in 59, according to the newsletter&#8217;s count. Titles with double-digit percentage losses included Black Enterprise, Coastal Living, Men&#8217;s Fitness, National Geographic, Running Times, Veranda and W. Double-digit gains, however, were posted by titles including Every Day with Rachael Ray, Fitness, In Style, Lucky, Marie Claire, Popular Mechanics and Teen Vogue.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I feel in a certain sense that we&#8217;ve begun to crack the code on the idea of integration and platform-agnostic kinds of things,&#8221; said Laura McEwen, VP-publisher at Teen Vogue, where ad pages shot up 23.3%. &#8220;We have Teen Vogue, TeenVogue.com, the Teen Vogue Haute Spot iPhone application and we have our store, a live opportunity to connect with our readership. We are working to do a deep dive with each client into a large scale program. That in a very simple way is what&#8217;s helping out business.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Magazines as a whole might see a positive year but should keep expectations in check, Ms. McEwen said, predicting perhaps 2% to 4% ad-page growth across the industry in 2010. &#8220;I think it&#8217;s a conservative recovery,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/adage.com\/mediaworks\/article?article_id=142144\">http:\/\/adage.com\/mediaworks\/article?article_id=142144<\/a><\/p>"},{"id":"382660618","url":"http:\/\/notsquare.tumblr.com\/post\/382660618","url-with-slug":"http:\/\/notsquare.tumblr.com\/post\/382660618\/black-board-eats","type":"regular","date-gmt":"2010-02-11 00:09:25 GMT","date":"Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:09:25","bookmarklet":0,"mobile":0,"feed-item":"","from-feed-id":0,"unix-timestamp":1265846965,"format":"html","reblog-key":"mSxYS5jP","slug":"black-board-eats","regular-title":"Black Board Eats","regular-body":"<p>BlackboardEats is a free e-mail and website delivering exclusive deals on restaurants handpicked by seasoned food editors. We also highlight the best food-related specials LA and NY have to offer, including prix fixe discounts, tasting events, weekly dinner bargains and more. <br\/><br\/> Unlike other sites that focus on the newest openings, BlackboardEats features both hot spots and hidden gems\u2014some of which are new, some of which have been around for years. And we cover everything from the fancy to the no-frills&#8230;just as long as the place rocks. So there&#8217;s no need to slog through pages of reviews to find a restaurant worth its salt (not to mention your cash).<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.blackboardeats.com\/\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.blackboardeats.com\/\">http:\/\/www.blackboardeats.com\/<\/a><\/a><\/p>"},{"id":"332733056","url":"http:\/\/notsquare.tumblr.com\/post\/332733056","url-with-slug":"http:\/\/notsquare.tumblr.com\/post\/332733056\/emmis-reports-profit-in-fiscal-q3","type":"regular","date-gmt":"2010-01-13 19:16:13 GMT","date":"Wed, 13 Jan 2010 11:16:13","bookmarklet":0,"mobile":0,"feed-item":"","from-feed-id":0,"unix-timestamp":1263410173,"format":"html","reblog-key":"A7nna7Nf","slug":"emmis-reports-profit-in-fiscal-q3","regular-title":"Emmis Reports Profit In Fiscal Q3","regular-body":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.fmqb.com\/article.asp?id=1654969\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.fmqb.com\/article.asp?id=1654969\">http:\/\/www.fmqb.com\/article.asp?id=1654969<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Emmis Communications<\/b> has reported its fiscal Q3&#160;2009 revenue results, and while its radio division is down, the company overall posted a profit. Net revenue was down 18 percent from $79.2 million a year ago to $64.6 million now. Operating income was $9.1 million, compared to a $198.1 million operating loss in Q3 &#8216;08. Net income for the quarter was $1.7 million, an improvement over Q3 a year ago, when a $210 million imparement charge cause a net loss of $125.7 million.<\/p>\n<p>Emmis Chairman <b>Jeff Smulyan<\/b> said in a letter to employees on Friday that he sees optimism in the newest quarterly figures. According to the <i>Indianapolis Business Journal<\/i>, Smulyan wrote, &#8220;If there\u2019s a general theme to our results, it\u2019s that things continue to head in the right direction. We continue to see sequential improvements in Emmis\u2019 domestic radio results and our advances accelerated during the recent holiday season.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Smulyan also touted ratings successes for\u00a0Emmis stations in St. Louis, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, while the company&#8217;s stations in Indianapolis and Austin were also doing well &#8220;across the board.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;No matter how much things head in the right direction, it\u2019s clear we aren&#8217;t out of the woods yet,&#8221; Smulyan\u00a0wrote. &#8220;The economy is better, but it&#8217;s certainly not on solid footing yet. Advertisers are starting to open up their checkbooks, but they\u2019re not ready to return to pre-recession spending levels.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>According to the <i>Indianapolis Business Journal<\/i>, Emmis also noted in its <b>SEC<\/b> filing that it has seen a &#8220;precipitous decline of advertising spending in [Emmis\u2019] domestic and international radio markets.&#8221; The filing noted that automakers spent 36 percent less on Emmis radio ad time during the first nine months of its fiscal year than it did in 2008.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.fmqb.com\/article.asp?id=1654969\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.fmqb.com\/article.asp?id=1654969\">http:\/\/www.fmqb.com\/article.asp?id=1654969<\/a><\/a><\/p>"},{"id":"322281956","url":"http:\/\/notsquare.tumblr.com\/post\/322281956","url-with-slug":"http:\/\/notsquare.tumblr.com\/post\/322281956\/proposed-details-of-nyts-gold-and-silver-membership","type":"regular","date-gmt":"2010-01-07 23:50:14 GMT","date":"Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:50:14","bookmarklet":0,"mobile":0,"feed-item":"","from-feed-id":0,"unix-timestamp":1262908214,"format":"html","reblog-key":"osdh8gqG","slug":"proposed-details-of-nyts-gold-and-silver-membership","regular-title":"Proposed details of NYT's gold and silver membership schemes","regular-body":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.editorsweblog.org\/newspaper\/2009\/07\/proposed_details_of_nyts_gold_and_silver.php\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.editorsweblog.org\/newspaper\/2009\/07\/proposed_details_of_nyts_gold_and_silver.php\">http:\/\/www.editorsweblog.org\/newspaper\/2009\/07\/proposed_details_of_nyts_gold_and_silver.php<\/a><\/a><\/p>\nIt has been known for some time that the New York Times is considering a membership scheme as a way to bring in more revenue for the paper, whose financial difficulties have been widely publicised. Subscribers have been surveyed to see if they would be willing to pay for online news or other services, and Gawker has published information from one of the user surveys on proposed Silver and Gold membership programs.\u00a0<br\/>The details have not been finalised but the survey offers an idea of what the Times is considering. Both of the suggested schemes include BackStory and FirstLook: access to videos of reporters telling &#8220;the story behind the story&#8221; and access to some stories before they are published, as well as a personalised weekly email with links to &#8220;our best online content.&#8221;           \t\t                       Both offers also include TimesWire, a news feed of all NYT content as it is published, a service which is currently available to all users of the Times&#8217; website but would presumably be taken off. \u00a0TimesMachine is another component of both proposals, allowing members to access digital images of the actual pages of the newspaper from any day in the Times&#8217; history.\u00a0<br\/>The additional benefits of the Gold program, which are offered for an extra $100 on top of the $50 proposed price of Silver membership, are TimesEvents and TimesInsider. TimesEvents offers members the chance to attend events with NYT journalists, or go on tours or attend members only programs &#8220;around the country.&#8221; TimesInsider offers &#8220;insider&#8217;s access to the people who bring you your Times everyday,&#8221; including a tour of the Times headquarters.\u00a0<br\/>Enrollees to both also receive free NYT memorabilia, a 25% discount at the NYT store, a free subscription to NYT crossword puzzles and the first chance to buy tickets to TimesTalks.\u00a0<br\/>Notably, neither of the offers mentions premium news products, suggesting that such an idea might not have made it to the Times&#8217; shortlist for money making. The other proposal which has been discussed by the Times to make money from readers is a metre system, similar to that used by the Financial Times. It would involve offering readers free access to a certain amount of articles, after which they would be charged. The Silver and Gold membership proposals, although clearly unfinalised, suggest that they might be entirely independent of such a metre proposal, or other online subscription ideas which the paper has surveyed its subscribers about. \u00a0In other words, members would still have to pay to access all content on the Times&#8217; site.\u00a0<br\/>Would people be prepared to pay for these extra services, most of which do not actually constitute news? To a seriously committed NYT fan, they are likely to appeal, but how many of these are there who are willing to spend the extra cash for these benefits? Nieman Lab&#8217;s Martin Langeveld points out that what the Times is offering resembles membership to a museum or similar non-profit institution, which he does not consider the best way forward as the Times is clearly a business, not a museum. Instead, Langeveld suggests niche packages such as travel, tech, design, politics or books, offering premium content that readers might be prepared to buy. <br\/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.editorsweblog.org\/newspaper\/2009\/07\/proposed_details_of_nyts_gold_and_silver.php\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.editorsweblog.org\/newspaper\/2009\/07\/proposed_details_of_nyts_gold_and_silver.php\">http:\/\/www.editorsweblog.org\/newspaper\/2009\/07\/proposed_details_of_nyts_gold_and_silver.php<\/a><\/a>"},{"id":"322278641","url":"http:\/\/notsquare.tumblr.com\/post\/322278641","url-with-slug":"http:\/\/notsquare.tumblr.com\/post\/322278641\/harpers-bazaar-elite-club","type":"regular","date-gmt":"2010-01-07 23:47:41 GMT","date":"Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:47:41","bookmarklet":0,"mobile":0,"feed-item":"","from-feed-id":0,"unix-timestamp":1262908061,"format":"html","reblog-key":"55n3KWkp","slug":"harpers-bazaar-elite-club","regular-title":"Harper's Bazaar elite club  ","regular-body":"<p><img src=\"http:\/\/www.harpersbazaararabia.com\/images\/header.png\" width=\"756\" height=\"210\"\/>Join the Harper&#8217;s Bazaar Elite Club today and receive monthly newsletters from the Harper&#8217;s Bazaar team, be in the know ahead of the rest with pre issue release fashion and beauty news.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.harpersbazaararabia.com\/\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.harpersbazaararabia.com\/\">http:\/\/www.harpersbazaararabia.com\/<\/a><\/a><\/p>"},{"id":"322269651","url":"http:\/\/notsquare.tumblr.com\/post\/322269651","url-with-slug":"http:\/\/notsquare.tumblr.com\/post\/322269651\/guardian-to-hire-manager-for-planned-readers-club","type":"regular","date-gmt":"2010-01-07 23:41:35 GMT","date":"Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:41:35","bookmarklet":0,"mobile":0,"feed-item":"","from-feed-id":0,"unix-timestamp":1262907695,"format":"html","reblog-key":"Pjy3xin1","slug":"guardian-to-hire-manager-for-planned-readers-club","regular-title":" Guardian to hire manager for planned readers' club","regular-body":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/media\/2009\/aug\/24\/guardian-readers-club\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/media\/2009\/aug\/24\/guardian-readers-club\">http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/media\/2009\/aug\/24\/guardian-readers-club<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Guardian to hire manager for planned readers&#8217; club<\/p>\n<p>Proposal &#8216;in early stages of development&#8217;, says publisher<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"More from guardian.co.uk on The Guardian\"><\/a>The Guardian is to hire a manager to run a planned readers&#8217; club that could build a new revenue stream for the paper.<\/p>\n<p>Offered as a one-year contract, the job is advertised in the MediaGuardian print section and on its website today.<\/p>\n<p>The Guardian \u2013 owned by Guardian News &amp; Media, which also publishes MediaGuardian.co.uk \u2013 said the idea for a club scheme remained &#8220;in the early stages of development&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"More from guardian.co.uk on Newspapers\"><\/a>Newspapers are looking to develop new revenue streams with advertising under pressure in the downturn and sales in long-term decline.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Guardian is an extremely successful brand with a committed, loyal readership online and in print,&#8221; a spokeswoman for the paper said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It makes sense for the business and for our readers to both harness and reward that loyalty. Our recently launched subscription scheme is one way of doing so and another idea under consideration is a Guardian offering based around the concept of a &#8216;friends&#8217; scheme or members&#8217; club.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This proposal is still very much in the early stages of development. We are currently researching the idea and have advertised for a general manager of the scheme on a one-year contract basis.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Today&#8217;s advert says the club initiative &#8220;aims to move us decisively away from the traditional rather distant relationship that newspaper companies have had with their readers&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>The new manager will be responsible for helping to define the club&#8217;s ambitions, creating the business plan and delivering a successful launch.<\/p>\n<p>Applications are sought by Sunday 13 September and the appointee will report to the GNM managing director, Tim Brooks.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/media\/2009\/aug\/24\/guardian-readers-club\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/media\/2009\/aug\/24\/guardian-readers-club\">http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/media\/2009\/aug\/24\/guardian-readers-club<\/a><\/a><\/p>"}]});