NEWS 21

The Independent: a newspaper killed by the internet

SUMMARY:

In the end it was the internet which killed the Independent newspaper and not Rupert Murdoch. Hit by a price war launched by the News UK owner in the 1990s, the Indy was a casualty of an industrial revolution which has changed the economics of the newspaper business for ever.After almost 30 years of losing money, it was the cost of publishing a newspaper for so few daily readers – just 40,718 once free or discounted copies are stripped out – that had simply become unsustainable in an age where so much information is free online. In doing so, Lebedev and the management team had looked to the spin put on the BBC’s decision to close its BBC3 television channel and put its content online only. Simply put, this arguments says that as the future is online, we will be too. The problem for the Independent is that it was relatively late to the internet, only taking it seriously with its website relaunch in 2008, and a succession of owners have never invested enough in web content. With 2.8m daily unique browsers, according to December’s audited 

FACTS:

•  Just 40,718 once free or discounted copies are stripped out

• With 2.8m daily unique browsers, according to December’s audited circulation figures, its online figures have never really threatened its old rivals, lagging behind rivals ranging from the Daily Mail, the Guardian, the Daily Telegraph and the Mirror.

• Back in March 1990, sales of the then four-year old Indy had reached an all-time high of 423,000, eclipsing the Murdoch-owned Times.

Bolt Report: News Corp refuses to confirm reports show has been dropped

SUMMARY:

News Corp has refused to confirm reports that Andrew Bolt’s Sunday morning TV program, which it finances to the tune of $2m a year, will not be broadcast on Ten this year.Guardian Australia understands the decision on the future of the the Bolt Report has been delayed ahead of a News Corp board meeting next month.When Lachlan Murdoch was chairman at Ten he arranged for News to pay for the now defunct Meet the Press and the Bolt Report, which were proving too expensive for the ailing network.Sources said Ten was charging News about $2m a year for using its facilities to produce and broadcast the one-hour weekly program.The program has never enjoyed high ratings or attracted lucrative advertising revenue. It is consistently beaten in the ratings by Insiders on the ABC.

FACTS:

• Sources said Ten was charging News about $2m a year for using its facilities to produce and broadcast the one-hour weekly program.

• The program has never enjoyed high ratings or attracted lucrative advertising revenue. It is consistently beaten in the ratings by Insiders on the ABC.