The Tickle File is ftm's daily column of media news, complimenting the feature articles on major media issues. Tickle File items point out media happenings, from the oh-so serious to the not-so serious, that should not escape notice...in a shorter, more informal format.

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Czech Advertising Growth Rate Forecast to Double in 2007

The Czech Republic is as good an example as any to show why western media companies have flocked to and are still very interested in investing in Eastern Europe.  The advertising economy there continues to boom.

Czech advertising agency ARBOmedia forecasts that the 2007 advertising spend will come close to $1 billion (€700 million), representing a growth rate of 5.7%, double the growth rate of 2006.

The Internet spend is predicted to grow the most in percentage terms, 35%, to €26 million, but it represents only 4% of the total spend. TV still rules the roost and is expected to garner 48% of the market with a €333 million spend.

More Restructuring At Dow Jones

Now that Dow Jones has completed its purchase from Reuters of the 50% of Factiva that it did not own for $160 million, the other shoe that DJ employees feared would fall has fallen. Dow Jones has announced a restructuring of the Enterprise Media Group that includes Factiva and 98 jobs are to go.

The Factiva purchase was part of the company’s strategic plan to be financially less dependent on its print products.

It’s Still Difficult to Access Chinese Web Sites

Try accessing a Chinese web site these days and at best it will be very slow and more often than not the connection is left hanging. But this time its not politics but Mother Nature to blame.

An undersea earthquake December 26 severely damaged undersea telecom cables off Taiwan, and while the first prognosis was that it could all be fixed within a couple of weeks it turns out that is going to be more difficult than first thought because of bad weather and difficult underwater terrain.

Web connections are not expected to be back to normal until at least January 20.

CBS CEO Says There’s No More Old Media Or New Media. It’s Just Media

Leslie Moonves, president and chief executive officer of CBS, told the Consumer Electronics Show in a keynote address Wednesday, “There's no such thing as old or new media anymore. We're just media."

He also said that CBS has had great success showing programming on the Internet and that has actually improved its TV ratings. He said 53% of online viewers will also watch the show broadcast on the network. “The more the public becomes connected to digital media, the more engaged they become with the content, and with each other,” he said.

And he left little doubt of his enthusiasm for marrying CBS content and the Internet. "The symbiotic relationship will only tighten," Moonves said. "What's a big media company like us to do? We're embracing it big time. We're doing just about everything we can to see what's going to work now and in the future."

Big US Money Management Company Cuts Back Its Newspaper Holdings

Private Capital Management – one of the prime movers in forcing Knight Ridder to sell itself -- has cut back on its US newspaper holdings, reducing its ownership of New York Times shares from 20.7 million shares to 13.36 million. That still gives it a 9.3% ownership of the Class A shares (the ruling Sulzberger family control the Class B shares which elects the majority of board members).

It reduced its ownership of Belo Class A shares from 23.32 million to 17.12 million shares, a reduction from 25.9% of the shares to 19.5%.

And it has cut back on its Lee Enterprises holdings, from 8.2 million shares (18% of the shares) to 5.68 million (14.3%).

No reason was given for any of the sales.

Metropol, the Polish Metro, Closes

Metropol, the Polish Metro with a circulation of 245,000 distributed in 13 cities, has closed after just over six years of publication. Its losses in 2006 were said to be close to $4 million.

Metro International said the newspaper has failed to reach its profit and growth targets and the company has therefore closed it to focus resources in strategic markets.

The Metro name, however, lives on in Poland, with that newspaper owned by Agora.

French Music Programmers Vanishing

Sam Zniber, music programming director at RTL, resigned yesterday (January 10). He had been in the job for 18 months, widely credited for resurrecting Fun Radio.

A few hours later the story floated that Roberto Ciurleo, NRJ’s programming and brand director, tendered his resignation. NRJ sources did not immediately respond to requests for confirmation.

And an hour or so after that curious tip, it was reported that Nicolas Gicquel, General director of M6 Music quit.

Zniber has a history of job changing, not uncommon in radio programming. Since leaving NRJ in 1997 he’s had big-time programming jobs with Chrysalis in the UK and Mix FM in Australia, pausing between to direct Fun Radio. In the last few weeks Fun Radio signed comedian-rapper Jamel Debbouze for a planned start in November, then December, then last week.

Both NRJ and M6 recently announced restructuring.

End of the Road for Controversial US International Broadcasting Chief

US Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) Chairman Kenneth Y. Tomlinson formally asked President George W. Bush to withdraw his renomination for the BBG chairmanship.

US Senate confirmation is required for BBG executives and the Bush administration seems unwilling to place controversial political allies before hard questions in public. Tomlinson was taken to task by an internal audit over hiring friends and running a horse racing business from the BBG offices. His service as Chairman of the Corporation of Public Broadcasting came to an end after an inspector general’s report found him in violation of statutes prohibiting political interference.

Now The Philadelphia Papers Are Getting Rid Of  34 Advertising Jobs

Philadelphia Media Holdings, run by local businessmen who in August bought the Philadelphia Inquirer and The Daily News for $562 million when McClatchy decided it didn’t want to keep those  newspapers obtained in its Knight Ridder deal, has really got the knife out to cut costs.

In addition to the 71 editorial employees let go  last week – an annual savings said to be around $6.8 million – the company has now announced it is eliminating 34 advertising positions, including 16 part-time jobs.

When the local management closed their deal last August they were seen as local heroes saving the newspapers. They said they planned no layoffs and wanted to increase local news coverage., but they changed that view dramatically when advertising sales really slumped starting in September and it was looking increasingly more difficult to service the debt  used to buy the newspapers. 

Indian Minister says Electronic Media “Experiencing a Revolution”

India now has about 300 television stations and by year’s end will  have close to 400, according to Priyaranjan Das Munshi, Information and Broadcasting Minister. He said, “The Indian electronic media is experiencing a  revolution.”

And  it is not just the electronic media that growing. He told a conference in New Delhi that the country now has 62,000 newspapers.

eMarketer Looks For US Online Ad Spending To Grow 19% in 2007

US Internet advertising will grow to $19.5 billion in 2007, a 19% increase over 2006. And while that sounds very healthy, it is well under the 30%+ growth patterns of the past few years.

But with overall US advertising pegged to increase by just 1.4% overall, eMarketer says that even at the reduced level this year’s Internet spend growth should be considered “spectacular”.  That overall spend prediction is more conservative than that of TNS Media Intelligence reported earlier this week that says the total US advertising spend will rise 2.6% this year, to $153.7 billion.

The research company also forecasts that Internet video advertising will reach $775 million in 2007, some 4% of the total forecast US online ad spend. Restricting the video spend, according to eMarketer, is a shortage of available premium  placements.

Peter Chermin, president and chief operating officer of News Corp., told a Las Vegas conference Tuesday that he believed online video  has the potential to be a big spend for media companies this year, but he is still doubtful that advertisers will embrace the medium.

Is That A Crack In Google’s Armor?

Google has become so successful at having advertisers bid up the cost of various search words for which they would place their ads nearby that some advertisers are saying they are cutting back on their Google spend. There are complaints the cost of some search words has gone up as much as 60%.

Others are also complaining about low yield – that the number of people clicking on an ad who eventually end up buying something is well less than the generally accepted 5% conversion rate.

But financial analysts say it is the law of supply and demand that is behind Google’s expected 80% net income increase last year and for as many advertisers who may cut back or quit there will be plenty of others to take up the slack.

But still, trickles do have a way of becoming a flood.

Newspaper Continue Their Staff, Bureau and News Hole Reductions

In Philadelphia 68 editorial staff -- 17% of the newsroom – is being let go. In Canada, Torstar, publisher of the Toronto Star, is eliminating 85 jobs in its newspaper division, in Chicago the Sun-Times has killed off its TV book and the Tribune is killing off more stocks listed in its weekend edition, in California the Sacramento Bee, McClatchy’s hometown newspaper, is closing its San Francisco and Los Angeles bureaus and offering buyouts to another nine staffers, and in Washington several newspapers are cutting back on producing their own news from the US capital.

In other words newspapers are continuing to cut costs by whatever means possible, as there is no real relief in sight for the advertising and circulation drought.

US Newspaper 2007 Advertising Forecast To Dip 1% Under 2006

If the folks at TNS Media Intelligence have it right there will not be a newspaper advertising recovery in 2007. The research company says that advertising will dip 0.9% in 2007 from 2006 figures, and its percentage of the total spend will fall from 18.4% to 17.7%.

To no one’s great surprise it is the Internet that is forecast for the greatest percentage increase – 13.4% over 2006, raising its share of the total spend percentage from 6.5% last year to 7.2% this year.

TNS forecasts that overall US advertising expenditure will increase by just 2.1% in the first half of the year, but it predicts things will pick up in the second half with a 3.2% gain.  Overall the total US ad expenditure is expected to increase 2.6% to $153.7 billion.

More Resignations From RTL Slovenija Council

Slovenian public broadcasting is facing a revolt of its programming council as another member, Ivan Bratko, resigned in protest. In mid-December three members quit in a dispute over TV program content. Dr. Bratko left the council saying public TV should not compete with commercial TV.

The RTV Slovenija Programming Council normally sits with 29 members. Following the 2005 passage of a new and controversial media law, the Slovenian Parliament appoints nearly all members of the Programming Council.

US Retail E-commerce Sales In 2006 Top $100 billion

US retail websites collected $102.1 billion in e-commerce trade in 2006, up nearly 24% over the year before, according to ComScore Networks.

The busiest day was December 13 with $667 million changing hands. Around 25% of the year’s total e-commerce receipts came in the final two months of the year.

“2006 was certainly an exceptional year for online retailers as e-commerce spending eclipsed $100 billion for the first time,” surmised Glen Fulgoni, Comscore Networks chairman.

The figures do not include travel.

Another Attempt In Zimbabwe To Silence Independent Newspapers

There is a law in Zimbabwe that requires a media owner to be a Zimbabwe citizen. When that citizen controls two free independent newspapers that continually opposes the policies of a repressive government what is that government to do? Simple. Declare the owner is no longer a Zimbabwe citizen and therefore the publication of the newspapers is no longer legal and they must close.

And so it goes with Zimbabwe newspaper owner Trevor Ncube, born in Zimbabwe of a Zambian father, who publishes the Standard and the Zimbabwe Independent in Zimbabwe and the Mail and Guardian in South Africa.

The government is trying to use a technicality, Ncube told his Mail and Guardian that Zimbabwe law required that if your father was born outside Zimbabwe you must renounce the citizenship of that country. “So I went through that process and I got a certificate stating that I am a Zimbabwean citizen. But what (Registrar General) Tobaiwa Mudede’s office is saying that I didn’t physically go to the Zambian embassy to renounce my Zambian citizenship.”

Ncube is a board member of the World Association of Newspapers based in Paris. That organization and the World Editors Forum have written to President Robert Mugabe and Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa calling for a ceasing of the “indefensible persecution” of Ncube.

“This latest move against the owner of the last independent newspapers in your country removes any remaining doubt that your objective is the complete elimination of free expression. We call on you to urgently reinstate Trevor Ncube’s Zimbabwean citizenship and by doing so give a clear message that you remain attached to the democratic values of a free press,” the letter said.

Good News and Bad News For Journalists

The United Nations Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution condemning deliberate attacks on journalists, calling for an end to such practices. The action came as 2006 turned out to be the deadliest year for news media casualties.

The UN resolution “urges all parties involved in situations of armed conflict to respect the professional independence and rights of journalists, media professionals and associated personnel as civilians.”  It calls upon the Secretary-General to address the safety and security of journalists in his regular reports on the protection of civilians in armed conflict.

The resolution came as the International News Safety Institute (INSI) announced that 2006 was the deadliest year on record for news media personnel killed in conflict zones. INSI counted a total of 167 journalists and support staff killed in 37 countries. The dead included 130 journalists and 30 other news gathering personnel such as drivers and translators.

RCS MediaGroup and Finelco Studying Radio Merger

Just before Christmas RCS MediaGroup issued a statement to the Italian stock exchange about the possibility of merging radio operations with Finelco. Most often used words were “studying,” “maybe” and “possibility.”

RCS MediaGroup owns Play Radio, RIN Digital Radio, a radio news network and a radio sindication company. It also owns the biggest newspaper in Italy Corriere della Sera.  Finelco owns both the Radio 105 and Radio MonteCarlo networks.

In recent years Italian media companies, particularly broadcasters, have avoided obvious growth strategies. Raising the attention of Mediaset and/or Silvio Berlusconi could have unfortunate consequences. Times have changed and a merger of these two radio groups could revitalize the Italian broadcasting sector.

Communicorp to Buy-out 98FM Shares

The Irish Independent reported – after forcing disclosure through the Freedom of Information Act – that since last April Communicorp has been trying to buy up remaining shares in Dublin’s 98FM.

Former business partners and former employees have held about 25% of 98FM shares. So, what’s the big secret and why is it taking so long? Could another BIGGER Communicorp deal be looming and Mr. O’Brien want smooth sailing?