TARGETED PRODUCTS ARE ADDING TO AN OLD CRITICAL MASS

Advertisers spur newspapers to reach beyond the big audiences

Recently, CBS Corp. elected to cancel a popular television show, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. The show's star, Jane Seymour, was seen on TV news shows, teary-eyed over the loss.

Seymour's tears – and anger – stemmed from the fact that Dr. Quinn had won its time slot for years. How could the network cancel a winning show?

The answer, it appears, is with the advertisers. According to an article in the June 19 issue of Entertainment Weekly, an unnamed CBS "insider" lays the blame at the feet of those who pay the bills. "Madison Avenue killed Dr. Quinn," the source told the magazine.

Dr. Quinn, a story about a female physician fighting disease and prejudice in the Old West, apparently attracted the wrong demographic. The magazine said the 51st-rated show sold a 30-second advertising spot for about $120,000, while Melrose Place -- the Fox network's prime time soap opera about young people in hormonal overdrive – sold a 30-second ad for $140,000.

Melrose ranked 29 positions behind Dr. Quinn in the ratings, but it appeals to young, urban viewers, while the medicine show rings the chimes of early Boomers. Dr. Quinn, the magazine said, did not "perform" in key urban markets.

I couldn't help but compare Seymour's anger to the anger I encountered last year when I gave a presentation to a group of top executives at a major newspaper group. I discussed many things, among them the virtues of microzoning (microzoning being the concept that a newspaper could create and deliver a zoned edition for 100 or 200 subscribers).

"We will never give up our mass distinction," one publisher told me angrily.

There's no question that the concept of microzoning is problematic – many publishers believe they just can't deliver specific newspapers to specific doorsteps; advertisers haven't demanded it – but newspapers are definitely moving away from being mass distribution vehicles.

Inside, first-time contributor Steve Brier (more on him later) gives us a look at how some papers are attempting to attract different demographic groups by the creation of special sections.

Whether it is the generally delivered technology sections of the New York Times and The Sun of Baltimore, or the on-demand sports section of Florida's Tampa Tribune, newspapers are rushing not only to add new sections but also to redesign and fix existing efforts.

The reasoning is that perhaps they can attract and keep the people the advertising community demands – folks who are young and urban. The traditional news-weather-sports options of the traditional daily newspaper certainly aren't attracting that demographic, the reasoning goes, so why not try something that might?

If it takes a special sports section or a special "careers" section to get more people into the tent, then let's have a bunch. These sections – and though Brier quotes only a handful of papers, his research produced dozens of examples – seem to be a good place to experiment as we begin to move toward a more targeted environment.

There is an irony, of course, to using the cancellation of a TV show as a corollary to anything to do with newspapers. Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman averaged more than 11.7 million viewers a week; not even the biggest daily paper can boast numbers like that.

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Housekeeping notes: The above-mentioned first-time contributor, Steve Brier, deserves an introduction. Brier has worked as a photographer, reporter and deskman at a variety of newspapers throughout the South.

His last job in daily papers was as an assistant to the editor for news technology at the New York Times. Most recently he was a senior editor at InfoWorld magazine, but is now embarking on a free-lance writing career. We hope to have more Brier contributions in the future.

Also, appearances by Columnist Christopher Feola have been erratic recently (my fault, not his). We'll get Feola back on schedule with the July 20 issue.

– David M. Cole

Inside ...

• As advertising revenues rise, hot economy puts on some dampers

• From special new sections to one-shot ideas, newspapers target new readers

• A little company converts USA Today into a vehicle for distributing product samples

• The Newspaper Guild/CWA loses its place in San Diego

• Speed kills – except on the 'Net, where lack of speed kills interest

• Persons

From NEWSINC., June 22, 1998, Copyright © 1998, The Cole Group. All Rights Reserved.