The firm’s market capitalisation hit a low of barely $750m. Amazon, the online bookseller that has caused so many of its problems, is worth $57 billion. One of the attractions of taking Barnes & Noble private is that it will be easier to make a big bet on electronic books. Such heavy investment does not sit well with the short-term obsession of the stockmarket. Despite launching its own e-reader, the Nook, last year, to challenge Amazon’s Kindle, the Sony e-reader and now Apple’s iPad, Barnes & Noble is struggling to hold its own in what is surely the book market of the future.
In short, the industry is in flux. Barnes & Noble has a much-admired brand, but that is no guarantee of survival. Bricks-and-mortar bookstores look increasingly out-dated, except as venues for leisurely coffee and book signings. Whoever ends up owning Barnes & Noble faces a tough task: adapt to the Brave New World, or be consigned to the History section.
Read more at The Economist.
Saturday, August 28
Friday, August 27
USA Today: Mobile Devices over Print
The newspaper USA Today is making the most dramatic overhaul of its staff in its 28 year history as it de-emphasizes its print edition and ramps up its effort to reach more readers and advertisers on mobile devices. The makeover outlined to staffers on Thursday will result in about 130 layoffs this fall.
The newsroom instead will be broken up into a cluster of “content rings” each headed up by editors who will be appointed later this year.
“We’ll focus less on print ... and more on producing content for all platforms (Web, mobile, iPad and other digital formats),” according to a slide show presented Thursday to USA Today’s staff.
USA Today’s circulation has been plunging in recent years, dropping to an average of 1.83 million during the six months ending in March. That’s down from 2.3 million in 2007 when USA Today reigned as the nation’s largest newspaper.
Read more at the New York Times.
The newsroom instead will be broken up into a cluster of “content rings” each headed up by editors who will be appointed later this year.
“We’ll focus less on print ... and more on producing content for all platforms (Web, mobile, iPad and other digital formats),” according to a slide show presented Thursday to USA Today’s staff.
USA Today’s circulation has been plunging in recent years, dropping to an average of 1.83 million during the six months ending in March. That’s down from 2.3 million in 2007 when USA Today reigned as the nation’s largest newspaper.
Read more at the New York Times.
Thursday, August 26
Radio & TV Salaries
The latest Radio Television Digital News Association/Hofstra University survey of radio and TV newsroom salaries finds that radio news salaries in 2009 were flat with the previous year. In the 2008 survey, salaries were down 1.8 percent.
In TV, salaries overall rose by 2.5 percent in 2009, compared to a 4.4 percent drop a year before.
Read more at Radio Ink.
In TV, salaries overall rose by 2.5 percent in 2009, compared to a 4.4 percent drop a year before.
Read more at Radio Ink.
Wednesday, August 25
The ABCs of E-Reading
A study of 1,200 e-reader owners by Marketing and Research Resources Inc. found that 40% said they now read more than they did with print books.
While e-readers are still a niche product just beginning to spread beyond early adopters, these new reading experiences are a big departure from the direction U.S. reading habits have been heading. A 2007 study by the National Endowment for the Arts caused a furor when it reported Americans are spending less time reading books. About half of all Americans ages 18 to 24 read no books for pleasure, it found.
Some 11 million Americans are expected to own at least one digital reading gadget by the end of September, estimates Forrester Research. U.S. e-book sales grew 183% in the first half of this year compared with the year-earlier period, according to the Association of American Publishers.
It's too early to tell the reading lift will sustain after the novelty of the gadgets wears off, and the devices go mass market. But because e-book gadgets are portable, people report they're reading more and at times when a book isn't normally an option.
Read more at the Wall Street Journal.
While e-readers are still a niche product just beginning to spread beyond early adopters, these new reading experiences are a big departure from the direction U.S. reading habits have been heading. A 2007 study by the National Endowment for the Arts caused a furor when it reported Americans are spending less time reading books. About half of all Americans ages 18 to 24 read no books for pleasure, it found.
Some 11 million Americans are expected to own at least one digital reading gadget by the end of September, estimates Forrester Research. U.S. e-book sales grew 183% in the first half of this year compared with the year-earlier period, according to the Association of American Publishers.
It's too early to tell the reading lift will sustain after the novelty of the gadgets wears off, and the devices go mass market. But because e-book gadgets are portable, people report they're reading more and at times when a book isn't normally an option.
Read more at the Wall Street Journal.
Tuesday, August 24
Bringing Web Video to TVs
If you want to watch Internet video on most televisions, you need a gadget that pulls it in. And a growing number of technology companies want to sell it to you.
Sezmi, based in Belmont, Calif., offers a hybrid system that delivers content in several ways. The system, which sells for $150 at Best Buy, has a DVR and pulls in both over-the-air TV broadcasts and on-demand content from the Internet. Others companies, like Boxee, think they can draw a sizeable audience without having to offer prime-time programming. Then there are companies that are taking a more symbiotic approach. Roku, for example, makes a slim box starting at $70 that can wirelessly stream movies and TV shows from Netflix and other sources, but does not aim to be a cable replacement. A service called Kylo, introduced in February, is gearing up for a wave of Internet-connected television sets with free software that allows users to search for online video using a browser on their television screens.
Even Apple has struggled with Apple TV, a $229 set-top box that is its attempt to bring its iTunes software and store to the heart of home entertainment. And Google is diving in this fall. It has teamed up with several partners to develop its Google TV platform.
The Google software, which will pull together Web content and television channels in one programming guide, will be built into high-definition televisions made by Sony and set-top boxes from Logitech. It will be powered by a chip from Intel and by Google’s Android software, originally designed for smartphones.
Read more at the New York Times.
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