ftm is introducing a new daily column of media news, complimenting the twice weekly 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. 

We are able to offer this new service thanks to the great response to our Media Sleuth project in which you, our readers, are contributing media information happening in your countries that  have escaped the notice of the international media, or you are providing us information on covered events that others simply didn't know about. We invite more of you to become Media Sleuths. For more information click here.

The Tickle File is a time honored journalistic tradition. Invented in 1761 by Urs Tickes, editor of a long disappeared Swiss newspaper, it is an effective tool for organizing article ideas.

To each journalist Tickes would hand 10 file folders saying "Halten Sie Ihre Ideen organisiert und Ihre Schreibtisch sauber, verdammt!"

Unfortunately Tickes met an unfortunate demise. While personally escorting a shipment of 10 million file folders from Sweden, the boat was sunk and all, including Tickes, was lost. Rumors of involvement by a militant Swiss journalists guild - Die organisierte Gesellschaft des Rechtgehirns, durcheinandergebrachte schweizer Journalisten - were never proven.

The legend of Tickes continues...

Here is the ftm Tickle File with notes from the ftm team...and you!

Yahoo Adds Jumpcut To Its Video Stable

Yahoo wants to protect its position as the web’s number one site for people who stream video, counting 37.9 million different US viewers in July compared to 37.4 million for My Space and 30.5 million for You Tube.

So to solidify and increase that business Yahoo has bought Jumpcut, a company less than a year old, that allows users to upload their photos and video to the Yahoo site and gives them the tools to edit their material including splicing, adding titles and credits. The purchase price was not announced.

Yahoo’s strategy is to focus not just on having video streaming available, but rather to have the online tools available for users to upload their video they wish to share with others and to do a creditable editing job on-site beforehand.

News Corp. Still Interested In Newspapers

News Corp’s heritage is in the newspaper business, but most of its money these days comes from US television, film studios, and digital properties.

But newspapers are the ink that runs through Rupert Murdoch’s veins and so spending a paltry $16 million – probably petty cash in News Corp books – on 28 weekly newspapers in the Queens and Brooklyn boroughs of New York City in order to boost the Post’s readership there seems a pretty safe move.

Murdoch’s New York Post has been locked in combat with the Daily News for years. The Post does well in Manhattan and the Daily News does better out in the boroughs. By buying the two weekly chains located in the News’ stronghold, the Post can work on synergies between the metropolitan newspaper and community opapers, not just journalistically but by offering converged advertising packages.

And most analysts seem to think that even if that convergence strategy doesn’t work, the community papers looked at as just an investment in their own right could well turn out to be a good deal.

Flat Advertising Behind Fewer Magazine Launches

The overall number of new magazine launches in the US has plunged by about 17% this year, the first annual decrease since 2001, according to Samir Husni, a journalism professor at the University of Mississippi and an acknowledged expert on tracking magazine trends. 

Increased costs of production, higher postal costs making it more expensive to do large direct mail subscriber solicitations, and flat advertising have all combined to make digital – the Internet and mobile phones --  far more interesting business propositions for magazine publishers.

Launching doesn’t come cheap. The launch of Conde Naste’s Portfolio Magazine next year is said to be budgeted at $100 million.

Would You Pay For A Free Newspaper?

One major impediment to getting free newspapers delivered directly to the house is the distribution cost. That’s why Nyhedsavisen, the new Danish free newspaper expected to launch October 6, has made a joint venture deal with the Danish Post Office for home delivery by 7 a.m.

But since that is an exclusive deal for one year, how to compete? Free newspaper Urban has a novel idea. For a 349 dkr (€50) annual fee it will have the newspaper delivered to your home via the regular mail. It may not get there before one leaves in the morning, but it will be there for the evening read.

GCap to Promote Capital Radio

GCap Media’s flagship London radio station will get a new marketing campaign…”shortly.” This hot and clearly unexpected news arrived as the company announced H1 revenues 4% lower year on year. (impeccable source)

French Vacationers Listened to NRJ

Médiemétrie released its radio audience survey for July and August. It’s a special survey and cannot be compared to, well, anything else for the obvious reason that it is a survey taken in France during July and August. Radio listeners off and away on holiday listened to radio 151 minutes on average while those remaining at home listened 179 minutes, Monday through Friday.

As far as rankings, the top five are still the top 5: (in order) RTL, France Inter, NRJ, Europe 1, France Bleu.

NRJ released figures showing more vacationers listening, by percentage, than the home-bound. RMC released figures showing the news/talk channel pushing ahead of the 5% mark with a 5.2% daily reach.

SBS Broadcasting Tidies Up Loose Ends

SBS Broadcasting completed its acquisition of the outstanding shares of SBS Radio, the Swedish operation, held by Bonnier. Under the new management from buy-out artists KKR and Permira SBS Broadcasting has rid itself of pesky minority shareholders. And Bonnier can return to its core business, to be identified later.

SBS and MTG own or operate essentially all commercial radio broadcasting in Sweden.

Earlier in the week, the European Commission cleared Permira’s acquisition of UK TV producer ALL3Media.

notes:

Is this what they call consolidation?

Blogging Real Popular In China

More than 17 million people in China are writing blogs and more than 75 million are reading them, the Xinhua News Agency reports.

China now boasts 34 million blog sites with 10 million of them active – changing at least once a month.

The number of blog sites has increased 30-fold in the past four years, Xinhua reported.

In A Coup, Don’t Be On The Wrong Side

When the Thai coup occurred September 19 the prime minister was in New York to make a UN speech the next day. When he heard of the attempted coup he sent a statement from New York declaring a state of emergency and the transfer of the army commander.

Modernine television station channel 9 was the only station to broadcast the prime minister’s declaration. Well, the prime minister didn’t survive the coup, and now, neither has the entire board of the television station. They have resigned en masse to take responsibility for airing the prime minister’s comments.

Modernine is owned by Mass Communications of Thailand Public Company Limited, Thailand’s leading broadcast media.

All 11 directors resigned “to show responsibility for the September 19 incident.”

The prime minister’s full speech never made it on air, being interrupted during transmission.

MySpace Could Be Murdoch’s Best-Ever Buy

When News Corp paid $580 million for MySpace less than a year ago the popular spin was that Rupert Murdoch had paid too much. Today it is the Internet’s most frequented site and a Wall Street analyst believes the property could be worth some $15 billion within three years.

RBC Capital analyst Jordan Rohan said after a meeting with Fox executives that he believes investors do not really understand how good an investment MySpace is. The site now has 90 million active users, its video service is the third most frequented on the Internet and the site is sold out of space for video advertising.

Google, the world’s largest capitalized media company is worth around $120 billion.

Schibsted Buys More of Bergens Tidende

Schibsted doesn’t want rival Orkla Media having any hold on its new Media Norge setup, so it is buying out its rival’s 28.5% stake in Bergens Tidende for 472 million nkr (€56.8 million) giving it a total of 52.8% of the shares.

After the creation of Media Norge (see story this page) Schibsted will then sell the 28.5% holding to Roll Severan AS at a date to be agreed at the same price Schibsted paid Orkla.

A Chink In The Internet’s Armor?

When Yahoo announced last week that its third quarter numbers could be at the lower end of estimates because of a drop in financial and auto advertising Wall Street dumped the shares immediately, Now, having a week to think about, come the downgrades for the Internet industry as a whole.

W.R. Hambrecht & Co., has lowered Yahoo’s third quarter earnings estimate a whopping $400 million, from $1.5 billion to $1.1 billion. Wedbush Morgan cut Overstock.com to sell from hold, citing a slowdown in new customers.

And there was more bad news from Yahoo. The Internet giant is closing its US offices during the Christmas vacation period. Staff will be expected to take that closedown time to cover any remaining 2006 vacation or days off owed.

Companies don’t usually do something like that unless it was starting a cost cutting exercise.  Cost cutting – now that’s a real Yahoo culture shock.

Czechs Trust The Media More Than They Do The Government

A new public opinion poll says that Czechs trust the media more than they do their government, except for the President.

The Center for Public Opinion Research said that 60 – 70% of Czechs trust the media, but when it comes to the government the figures falls to around 30%. For the President it is around 70%.

China Hosts Charm Offensive For Foreign Media

If you’re wondering where all the high-powered sports editors from around the world are this week, look no further than Beijing. China is hosting 300 senior sports executives from the international media to a four-day look-see on how things are going for the 2008 Olympic Games.

And although the Chinese are really turning on the charm, there are reports that there was much tension in the air about press freedom at a meeting of the Olympic Press Commission, held in conjunction with the visit. Even so, Kevan Gosper of Australia, who chaired the meeting, said he was sure that China would get its press freedom act right for the games.

The meeting and press tour follows the announcement two weeks ago that China has imposed new rules restricting the direct sale of foreign news services. Those services must now be sold to Xinhua, the Chinese News Agency, who will then sell those services into the market. Most revenue for news services in China now comes mostly from the banks and brokerage houses in a business valued at around $100 million annually.

The US (Bloomberg and Dow Jones) and the EU (Reuters) are not pleased with those new Chinese regulations.

Hachette Filipacchi Media US Imposes Hiring Freeze

With a decline in auto advertising really hurting its specialty magazines such as Car and Driver, Hachette Filipacchi Media US, the subsidiary of the French Lagardere Group, has imposed a hiring freeze. Ad pages were down 6.1% in August, according to TNS Media Intelligence.

Protest Against Egyptian Newspaper Ban

Reporters Without Borders has condemned the Egyptian decision to ban the sale of three recent issues of a German, French and British newspaper because they contained articles that were considered “offensive to Islam.”

Egyptian Information Minister Anas Al-Fekki last week banned the September 19 edition of Le Figaro, the September 16 issue of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and the last issue of the UK’s Guardian Weekly.

The Le Figaro edition had already been banned in Tunisia. It carried a headline, “What Must The Free World Do In the Face of Islamist Intimidation?”

Egypt’s MENA news agency quoted from a decree by the information minister. “They published articles which disparaged Islam and claimed that the Islamic religion was spread by the sword and the prophet … was the prophet of evil.”

108 More News Jobs To Go At The BBC

BBC News has told the various unions involved that 108 jobs are to go by next March. They are the last stage of a three-year plan to cut some 420 jobs at the news division.

BECTU, the main BBC union, said it is preparing for industrial action if “any member faces compulsory redundancy.”

Charges Against Voice of the People Dismissed

A Zimbabwe judge threw out charges of broadcasting without a license against 10 Voice of the People (VOP) staff members.

The prosecution asked for repeated postponements. The trial judge finally called it “a circus.” Authorities arrested staff members and seized equipment in December effectively closing the community broadcaster, which produced programs inside the country but broadcast from across the borders on shortwave.

Médiamétrie to Measure Radio Listening on the Auto Routes

The French media measurement service and broadcaster Traffic FM announced a new composite survey designed to measure radio listening on the motorways. Automobiles are selected at random, drivers contacted and then interviewed. This data is then extrapolated with another sample of all radio listeners.

Traffic FM contracted the service in hopes of building its advertising base.

Regulator Blocks ITV’s Plan to Cut Children’s Programs

UK media regulator OFCOM reviewed and rejected ITV’s proposal to scale back weekday afternoon children’s programming on ITV1.

Unions are pleased (link) as they argued that ITV intends to pull back for any public service commitments. ITV recently launched a dedicated children’s channel CiTV.

More Critics of Hungary’s MTV

It seems the EBU sent ZDF specialist Olaf Steenfadt months ago to MTV to try to sort out its problems. His report likely caused outgoing EBU President Arne Wessberg to groan.

An article in the Budapest Business Journal (link) makes several mistakes. The biggest of which is suggesting that Hungarian public broadcasting is solely dependent on a government hand-outs since the licensee fee – a tax, no matter what the EBU says – was done away with in 2002. MTV has been trying to sell ads, too.

What the BBJ does get right – with little explanation – is the issue of the EU and State aid worrying the Hungarian government. As if it was their only worry this week.

TimesSelect A Big Success

TimesSelect celebrated its first anniversary this month and with nearly 200,000 paying subscribers at $49.95 a month that’s some $6 million it has earned for the New York Times for material that it was previously giving away.

Subscribers to to the Times, and the International Herald Tribune, get free access to TimesSelect, but otherwise in order to read the newspaper’s most famous and popular columnists the general public has to pay. And that’s what 198,690 readers have done, making up some 37% of those who access the service. The Times says those numbers are all ahead of forecasts.

notes:

I stand by my original assessment. (link) - JMH

Teens Get Their News From TV and The Internet

A new American survey confirms the findings of many before it, that teens get their news from online and television. They rate television as not only the easiest-to-use source but also the most accurate. But for their teachers, newspapers score as the top news source.

A survey of 14,498 students by the Future of The First Amendment Study found that more than 40% preferred TV as their most accurate and easiest to use news source. And also that more than 50% got some news online at least once a week.

But for their 882 teachers it was a different story – 48% relied on newspapers for their news and TV came second with 28%.

Telecom Italia Eyes Sky Italia

Now that Sky Italia is turning a profit others want to get their fingers into the pie. Telecom Italia (TI) was looking to sell a stake in the national telecoms company in exchange for Sky Italia.

But Rupert Murdoch didn’t think that was such a great idea. While admitting there were discussions, Murdoch told a financial conference he thought it would be best if Sky Italia stayed independent although he was open, for political reasons, for the satellite TV company to have some local Italian ownership.

Mind you, don’t look for too much more from the TI discussions – that company has a lot more on its plate at the moment. The Sky talks were led by chairman Marco Tronchetti but he’s no longer around, forced to resign this month amid a major political row over his plan to break up TI into several different businesses, including a media business, rather than leave it as the one converged  business it now is.

French Broadcasters Form Digital Committee

Representatives of all major French radio broadcasters gathered last Friday (22/9) as the Groupement Pour la Radio Numérique. The plan is to come up with a common approach to digital services, one that “finds its place in the DVB-H and DVB-T networks.”

(link - in French)

notes:

Every French broadcaster is painfully aware that sitting still is not an option. But coming up with a grand unifying plan this late will be very difficult. The advantage now goes to the telcos. JMH

IPSOS Business Readership Survey Shows Faith in Newspapers

The bi-annual IPSOS Business Readership Survey showed that the internet is an important source, but far from the most important source for business leaders.

In case there is any question: it’s the Financial Times. (link)

There Are More TVs Than People In Many US Homes

A typical US home has 2.55 people, but there are 2.73 TV sets, according to new research from Nielsen Media Research

Around 50% of US homes have three TVs, and only 19% have one. Just 30 years ago those figures were 57% of homes had one TV set and 11% had three or more.

The average person watches TV for four hours and 35 minutes daily and young people aged between 12 – 17 are watching 3% more television than they did a year ago. In an average home TV is on  for eight hours and 14 minutes daily.

notes:

This explains a great deal....- JMH

Four Norwegian Newspapers “Integrate”

Schibsted has achieved its goal to integrate three of Norway’s most prominent independent regional newspapers into a new newspaper group along with its national Aftenposten.

Joining in the integration – it is not called a merger – are the regional independents Bergens Tidende, Faedrelandsvennen, and Stavangar Aftenblad. The original plan also called for the integration of the Trondheim newspaper Adresseavisen but its board decided three weeks ago that while it agreed with the reasons for the integration is could not agree to integration that it believed was too favorable to Schibsted.

Schibsted ends up owning 61.9% of the new group but it has agreed to reduce that holding to 50.1%, and the current shareholders have the right to purchase 25% of those shares that must be sold at a 10% discount.

The agreement ensures each newspaper maintains its editorial independence and that each newspaper shall act as a regional base for the group.

It’s the second big Norwegian media deal within just a few weeks. Norway’s Orkla Media recently sold its holdings to David Montgomery’s Mecom Group with Mecom’s headquarters moving from the UK to Oslo.

UK Newspapers Looking to Foreign Markets

At first it was The Times and The Guardian printing a few thousand copies of their papers in the US, primarily as promotional vehicles for their web sites, but now other UK nationals are getting into the foreign publishing game.

The Daily Mail has chosen Australia as its target, and with the wonders of today’s communications technology, the paper is available there about the same time it comes off the presses in the UK.

And now the Independent has announced plans to publish in India, aiming for some 5,000 sales daily to the upper crust.

notes:

I Give Up! UK Radio Station Returns License. OFCOM Perplexed.

Star FM in Strand has handed back its license and will cease broadcasting at the end of the month. Owner cites lack of "flexibility" from OFCOM. Regulator says it's never happened before. (link)

notes:

Serving small markets can be a challenge. To what extent is it the regulators job to police business plans?

On the other hand, small markets are often only served by radio stations. The Swiss regulator OFCOM distributes licensee fee funds to "small, mountain" stations, regions that would not otherwise be served by any local media. How many other national regulators do the same?

Surely 1% of the UK licensee fee wouldn't be missed by the BBC.

The Rich Read More

What the print marketing people are trying continuously to do today is convince advertisers that print should still be their primary buy. Which is why you get surveys such as the Mendelsohn Affluent Survey that tells advertisers the richer the person the more likely they are to read consumer magazines. Ithe results were based on a survey of Americans earning  an annual income exceeding $85,000. No doubt the luxury goods trade will pay close attention.

Budget Shifts Supporting Eurovision Song Contest Upset Finlands Unions

YLE needs €13 million for the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest. €4 million from the government leaves €9 million to go. Theater and Media Workers' Union is happy (promoting Finland) but unhappy (why did they take the money from libraries?) (link)

notes:

ftm is a major fan of the Eurovision Song Contest and YLE. Surely the money won't be a problem.

Broadband Is Where It Is At

There are now 164 million broadband users globally with the EU showing the largest growth but with great fluctuations from country to country, according to the industry group DSL Forum.

In Europe Finland has 40% of its fixed telephone lines delivering ADSL services, while in Greece it is only 6%. In all, the EU  added 18 million new ADDSL users  in the 12 months to June, -- a 45% increase – and bringing the total EU ADSL users to 56 million.

China remains the world’s leading single ADSL country with 33.3 million users, followed by the US at 23.2 million.

WMJI Wins Marconi Oldies Station Award

At the National Association of Broadcasters (US) annual Radio Show, a Marconi Award (essentially "station of the year") for Oldies station was presented to WMJI/Cleveland. (link)

notes:

To All Radio Programmers -

"I know Kevin Metheny.Kevin Metheny is a friend of mine. You're no Kevin Metheny." (paraphrased from another famous American)

Another Free Newspaper War – This Time In Sweden

Much has been made of the free newspaper wars in London and throughout Denmark, but a new battlefield has slid a bit under the radar – Sweden – and the major players there also have very deep pockets. They’ll need them.

Bonnier, which operates Stockholm City which gave a real fright to home-grown Metro a few years ago and the two continue to be locked in a fierce circulation and advertising battle – launched Sept. 12 Gothenburg City and City Malmö/Lund. Not to be outdone, Schibsted has announced that on Oct. 2 it will launch free newspapers in the three cities, too, to be called .SE

Schibsted says it expects .SE to lose 50 million skr (€5.4 million) this year, and 135 million skr (€14.6 million) next year, before becoming profitable after three years.

Bulgarian Music TV Channel

The Sofia News Agency published a short item (September 21 - link) about SBS Broadcasting's The Voice TV channel starting up in October.

"...first country in the Balkans..."

"...will replace pop-folk Vesselina TV..."

notes:

ftm had news of this in May - link

More to follow...

• The Balkans are the next (last?) big (not that big) European media target.

• Bulgaria and Romania join the EU soon...not without concerns among all parties

• Audience figures from each country?

• How much programming is local?

Which lead do you prefer?

The New York Times owns The International Herald Tribune. Which means that IHT stories now find their way into the Times, but not always in the same manner. Apparently what works internationally doesn’t always work for the US. Here’s what happened to a Thomas Crampton bylined lead about the French newspaper, Liberation. Since the lead is supposed to sell the reader on the rest of the story, which do you find the most enticing?

IHT – Help wanted: Aging former Maoists seek wealthy industrialist to help finance and lead modernization of money-losing French daily newspaper. Capitalist approach welcome, but profit not expected.

NYT – The end could be near for Liberation, the newspaper founded by the philosopher Jean-Paul Satre and members of the extreme political left.

We won’t give our view except to point out that rewrite deskers are not the most popular people in most newsrooms. And for good reason.

notes:

At Dow Jones It’s Suddenly Oops.

All the press and spin has been favorable to Dow Jones over the past few months. New CEO Richard Zannino restructured the organization, advertising gains at the Wall Street Journal were impressive, it started selling ads on the front page, the Saturday edition reached its milestone first anniversary and then, suddenly, comes a Zannino announcement that the third quarter revenues won’t  be as good as previously thought.

Everything seemed fine through August which means that for the Journal September must be a “dog” of an advertising month. DJ now says its third-quarter earnings will be in the range of $0.08 to $0.11 (seems like a rather large range, don’t you think?) when before the forecast had been for $0.14.

DJ won’t say what specifically has happened in September, but it says advertising bookings for Q4 look good. Analysts will be watching closely to see if September is just a quirk or there’s a new downside trend.