51job - Competitors

51job Competition

Now Viewing 51job's competition in: Newspapers and News Organizations

Recent Developments

Media Ownership Rule Changed - An FCC decision in late 2007 to loosen a 30-year old rule on media ownership has drawn mixed reactions from the media industries and critics. Under the rule, newspaper companies will be allowed to buy radio and TV stations in the US' 20 largest markets. Newspaper companies, struggling with stagnant or declining ad revenue and circulation, will benefit by expanding their businesses into other branches of the media. Critics argue that monopolies may result and news sources could become less diverse.

Canada's Newspapers Outpace US' - Canadian daily newspapers are posting increases in ad revenue and circulation as many US papers struggle. Canada's two national papers, The National Post and The Globe and Mail, posted growth in readership of 2 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively, in 2007 compared to the previous year. However, the publications are experiencing flat or declining Sunday circulation. Readership of free Canadian publications such as Metro and 24 Hours continues to grow, but slower than in recent years. Readership and advertising revenue are declining for many major US newspapers.

Newsprint Consumption Dives - US newspapers are using less paper to produce their weekday and Saturday editions, leaving Sunday editions unchanged. Newsprint consumption fell 11.5 percent to 482,000 metric tons in January 2008 compared to a year ago. Newspapers are also holding smaller newsprint inventories, averaging 42 days supply, down from 45 the previous year. The drop in usage isn't attributed to newsprint cost, which has declined year-over-year each month since February 2007.

Competitive Landscape

The health of the economy drives both advertising and readership. The profitability of individual companies depends on marketing expertise, as most costs are fixed. Large companies benefit from economies of scale in sharing resources and by providing a range of outlets for advertisers. Small publishers can compete successfully by serving smaller markets. The industry is fairly labor-intensive: average annual revenue per employee is about $120,000.

Full Industry Overview For Newspapers and News Organizations

Newspapers and News Organizations Industry Forecast

from Hoover's/D&B subsidiary First Research

The output of US newspaper publishers is forecast to grow at an annual compounded rate of 3 percent between 2007 and 2012.

Newspaper Publishing Growth Dips and Recovers

First Research forecasts are based on INFORUM forecasts that are licensed from the Interindustry Economic Research Fund, Inc. (IERF) in College Park, MD. INFORUM's "interindustry-macro" approach to modeling the economy captures the links between industries and the aggregate economy.