Shareholder activist, founder or Crikey and now Melbourne City Councillor Stephen Mayne predicted today on ABC local radio in Melbourne (Rafael Epstein’s drive program) that Fairfax would be out of the daily newspaper delivery business qwithin five years. He predicted we’d still see weekend newspapers and maybe one weekday but that the seven day service would be gone.
What was more interesting than the prediction itself was the reaction. The program moved on as if it was not that big of a deal. A year or two ago…
No reaction because it’s old news now. Too many opinions and speculation, unfortunately we just have to wait and see what actually does happen.
My customers sometimes raise the issue of weekday newspapers ending. They are ready for it to happen in a few years I reckon. People are quite adaptable.
I do not agree Bruce they are FAR from happy with them ending and ready for it really? no why in hell.
Maybe my lot are more relaxed and less anxious. They DO like their papers, sales are holding up atm.
If they keep doing this “bumper edition” crap and keep cutting our supplies it will be sooner! Every time they do this it seems to be a total stuff up. Customers absolutly hate it!
Mayne crikey does any one belive what he has to say or crickey for that matter
I run out of papers nearly every single day
in my centre (after being a distrib/retail
agent for 30 odd years it is simply galling)
I now call myself a “retailer” and tell the customers that I “am not a newsagent anymore” because I hate being associated with the sort of thing that is happening.
I can remember shutting my shop and taking any “overs” of papers to a subbie
on my way home to maximize sales.
Service has sure dipped since I sold my round.
However, in the newsagents’ defence – he is probably getting culled by the newspaper company and can’t deliver enough papers to all his subbies.
I would hate to think of the hundreds of times that I say “sorry no papers left” to my customers.
The paper companies are simply not serious about circulation anymore and I agree with Steven Mayne.
They are simply using the newsagency system up until it is time to go totally digital and that will be when they work out
how to replace the revenue from the old
“rivers of gold” that they are used to having.
Bill Stephen Mayne is a respected commentator and a digital media innovator. Crikey, now in other hands, is a respected new outlet.
June, I’d forgotten about taking papers to subbies when we closed on the weekend. Such a long time ago.
And thank you for not blaming distributor, it is difficult at times to get the optimum supply.
It is frustrating, and I feel like an idiot when we have no papers left in our shop – they are still a major draw card to a lot of newsagencies.
Is that Stephen MAYNE or MAYAN. It’s the end of the world/newspapers/magazines. Circle the correct choice