Ad Production Consolidation to RTC

[guest]

Now that the Monday/Tuesday meetings are over, and the attendees have returned to their respective sites. Does anyone have any additional information?
Has anyone asked any of the attendees what the meeting was about?
I'd expect denial, There would have to be denial. Otherwise the ad builders would not assist in eliminating their own jobs. Which is what they will be asked to do.
I'd suggest that if you know someone at your paper that attended the meeting, ask them what it was about.
MY assumption is that 2adpro jobs will be moved to the hubs. then the next step will be to move everything else.

[Guest]

2,198 visitors to this particular subject and no one has a recent comment?

Please let's keep each other informed. That is why we are here.

[guest4theday]

is there a list of attendees we could see?

[Guest]

"MY assumption is that 2adpro jobs will be moved to the hubs. then the next step will be to move everything else."

Wow, are people still using 2AdPro? We stopped using that service months ago! Hmm, and yet somehow we're still a profitable paper and making money for the Motherland. Oh well, let's axe some more folks from our site and then maybe we'll finally start going down the drain. Death to the local papers!

[exgannettoid]

I know many sites stopped using 2AdPro a while ago, along with the Q1 budget cuts, but that introduced a Catch-22...

The sites had to save the money being spent on 2AdPro, but many of the properties no longer had the staff on hand to produce ads in the turn time required. So, whatcha going to do? Overtime for the hourly staff is not allowed.

[Guest]

i thought gannett was beefing up ad counts to 2adpro, and ad tracker (DPS) has features to streamline the process.
thats how they are eliminating whole production staffs...

does anyone know how many gannett sites use ad tracker or have plans to bring it in?

[Gannettoid]

In the wake of Gannett’s meeting this week to discuss consolidated ad production centers, Gannettoid.com has been looking into what Gannett and its competitors do and has learned that other major media companies are looking at projects similar to what Gannett is doing.

Gannett’s largest competitor, McClatchy, is said to be unhappy with its current offshore arrangement with an outsourcing firm. McClatchy appears to be seriously considering bringing its outsourced work back to the U.S.

We're told no decisions have been made, but an internal task force has been set up by McClatchy to examine the feasibility of such a move. McClatchy owns 30 daily newspapers in 29 markets, including The Miami Herald, The Kansas City Star, The Charlotte Observer, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and The Sacramento Bee. McClatchy is based in Sacramento, Calif.

Also, Lee Enterprises is said to be considering a move somewhere between the approaches by Gannett and McClatchy, where the media company is still exploring its options. Lee, like its competitors, is trying to reduce costs in order to maintain profitability. Lee, which owns the St. Louis Dispatch, is based in Davenport, Iowa, and has 49 daily newspapers and ownership interests in four others.

[Gannettoid]

More on this has been posted at www.Gannettoid.com/dm0817.html

[Gannettoid]

The sites had to save the money being spent on 2AdPro, but many of the properties no longer had the staff on hand to produce ads in the turn time required. So, whatcha going to do? Overtime for the hourly staff is not allowed.

When our site stopped using 2AdPro, we found that the time saved by not having to prep ads for transmission and not having to maintain the system/workflow was significant. In other words, the 2AdPro/DPS combination actually ate up more time than it saved. Since we can't have overtime, and we don't use 2AdPro anymore, we just work our asses off like no one has ever seen. I regularly eat my lunch in about 5 minutes, using one hand to feed myself, while I design ads with the other - this is not a lie. Many of us will cut our weekly hours when production is slow and make them up by working on shifts where the hours are needed more desperately. We do these things and make these sacrifices because this is OUR paper and this is OUR city and we care about our local heritage and history. Oh yeah, and we do it so well that we actually (get this) make money for Gannett.

[Guest]

More on this has been posted at http://www.Gannettoid.com/dm0817.html

I just wanted to say that this was an excellent article. I especially appreciated the helpful explanation of the acronyms of the various systems discussed - well done!

[exgannettoid]

What beautiful words. OUR paper. OUR city. Truly beautiful.

I believe, more often than not, the staff of a community newspaper does believe it's THEIR paper, and it's most certainly THEIR town. It's a vested interest. A good one too.

But, Gannett (and other chains) don't see it that way. They are properties that have to turn a profit. And profit is, after all, good. It allows for reinvestment and makes we, the stockholders, happy. But when is enough profit enough?

Have any idea what your paper turns in a monthly profit? Ever see a P&L? The numbers, at least the percentages, can be staggering. 25%-30% profit is the norm. That margin makes accountants happy, but when revenue is not growing, there has to be some give in order to maintain that margin.

And thus, consolidation and layoffs. This industry has seen this many times before, at least on the vendor side, and will probably see it again before newsprint recovers.

And, speaking of recovery, Seeking Alpha posted a story last week about how 2010 may be a good year for newspapers -- they may see revenues near 2008 levels again. But, remember, 2008 was a bad, bad year.

And lastly on this for now, the integration between any production system and 2Adpro is a nightmare. 2Adpro has a bizarre, almost manual approach to ad acquisition. It's not easy to work with. Talk to Managing Editor Software. Talk to Harris. Talk to Digital Technology. Talk to just about anyone in the industry and you'll hear that exporting a record from an ad system to 2Adpro and then marrying the elements again after the outsources work is is a technical miracle.

Maybe that's why, as Gannettoid.com has reported, other media chains are looking at severing their agreements with outsourcers. It's a lot of trouble for not a lot of return.

[Gannettoid]

Have any idea what your paper turns in a monthly profit? Ever see a P&L? The numbers, at least the percentages, can be staggering. 25%-30% profit is the norm.

Do you have a P&L to share? (This is for exgannettoid and anyone else.)

Post or e-mail news@gannettoid.com.

[crashrider]

If prepping ads for 2adpro was time consuming, I'd imagine it'd also be time consuming to prep ads for a regional production hub. You still have to send layouts, files, and instructions. I guess there would be some time savings since there would not be the system integration problems that 2adpro has, but all the stuff still has to get to Des Moines or wherever somehow.

A question for those who went to 2adpro - did it cost you much business? At least enough that it ate up any savings that outsourcing was supposed to provide?

I don't see much benefit to consolidating ad building. With photos, at least you have the option of sending them through Intellitune (which does a lousy job.) But you can't automate ad building. If an ad takes someone in Phoenix or New Jersey an hour to build, it's going to take someone in Des Moines likely the same amount of time. You also lose local knowledge, the ability to make quick changes for high-maintenance customers, and the ability for a sales rep to sit down with an artist to brainstorm or explain a difficult ad. And I can guarantee you that at certain papers it would actually be cheaper to keep ad building in house, since the designers are not paid all that highly. Photos are also not a customer service issue - quick and accurate turnaround on ads and changes is a constant customer service concern.

[exgannettoid]

crashrider, et. al.,

Think of it like this.

The problem with traditional outsourcing is integration. Foreign systems trying to "talk" to each other. Ever try getting XML mapped correctly? It's a major PITA. Sure, there are thousands of people who can do this each and every day without thinking, but not in the GCI (or McClatchy or Lee, or most chains) realm. Newspaper companies didn't invest in programmers with the foresight to see the future coming. We relied upon ancient systems for as long as we could.

Who, out there, is working on a truly modern Editorial system? The average age of the systems in place is about a decade. Sure, there have been upgrades and patches, but overhauling a news operation is expensive and time-consuming.

The same exists with Ad Systems. Although most major vendors update software (both server and client) often, when was the last time you upgraded the Adobe Suite? Anyone still running CS2? Sure there are. We expect miracles without paying the price.

So, sorry for the tangent, but if every one is working off a common platform, think of the expense savings in server maintenance, software support and maintaing licenses at each property. It's pretty huge. And, when you factor in payroll savings, it gets a little bigger. Sure, it's a transfer of work, and there will be local knowledge lost, but fundamentally, a florist ad is a florist ad. It can be built and processed just about anywhere.

Now, as for costs, 2Adpro charged a per ad fee, depending upon how fast you wanted it back. The details were worked out with Corporate and were posted an intracompany charge, with each site paying its own way. The costs would vary depending on how many ads were sent, how fast you wanted them back and if they were print or digital.

Really, overall, this does make financial sense. The devil, they say, is in the details and those are not yet public (or even semi-public).

[Guest]

So, are the smaller papers going to be cut first? Seems to me it would be easier to try it on a smaller scale than on a big one.
This is to exgannettoid: How much profit is enough? Well, with Dumbow needing his multi million dollar salary, his golden parachute, his huge bonus for doing squat, the profit margins must be very high. All while the man on the street slaving away gets HIS PAY FROZEN. I think Dumbow needs to go personally to each site and explain WHY HIS BONUS WASN'T FROZEN, HIS GOLDEN PARACHUTE WASN'T TAKEN AWAY, AND HIS SALARY WASN'T DRASTICALLY SLASHED! They expect the rest of the workers to take the brunt, I think him and his little trolls should be taking a bit hit, also.

[exgannettoid]

My understanding is that the larger papers, those with the most payroll savings, will go first. It does seem to makes sense to move slowly, but that's probably not happening.

Now, as for the executive salaries, I can't say much. I was glad to have my salary frozen, because, as others have said, it was MY paper and MY town. I had a bond with my paper, and would do anything to make it financially healthy. I took my furloughs and held my head high. I have no regrets or hatred in that arena.

The executive branch does deserve a lot of what they get. I can't say all, because I don't know if I can honestly say that.

However, keeping talent costs money. We can argue all day long about Dubow and the USCP senior management, but the reality is the Board has decided he's staying. Does he earn everything he's getting? That's not for me to say. All I know is that I would not want to be in his chair most days, and I'm ambitious.

All I'm saying is that talent costs money. CNN, I believe, had a story today of the 10 highest paid CEOs. One chief executive earned $700 million (mostly in vested stock options). Dubow doesn't come close.

Sure, the company stock is down and its assets are troubled. So is every other major, and minor, media chain in North America. It's the state of media space.

[Guest]

I can understand being ambitious. I've been around a long time, seen a lot of different people in my life. BUT, there is a big difference in being ambitious and honest, and being ambitious and dishonest, liars, no morals, etc. And sadly, the ones that I have seen climb the ladder have been people just like those, did not care who they stepped on to get there, who they hurt, who they lied about, who's talent they stole, who's talent they took the credit for, just plain vicious and heartless people. And this new program they want to come out with to save money is thought up by someone who is vicious and heartless. You read what their golden parachutes consist of. That is absolutely obscene that they would grant benefits that extreme to themselves, and squeeze every last drop they can from all the sites they acquired. They have ruined our paper. When they took our press away, they also took the soul of the paper away. All of these so called necessary cuts has turned it into a morgue. All in the name of profit. Profit for who? And yet they stand up and say how good it is for the community! What a crock. Yes, this is MY paper, of which I have worked 16 years. I chose to stay here because I wanted a small community, where everyone knew everyone, where integrity counted, for extremely low wages. Not anymore. Now I am just ashamed. People ask "What has happened to the paper?" What do I say? The Emperor wants his profits? The local advertisers are upset because we are no longer printed here. And when the ads are no longer created here?

[Guest]

Not to be bashing anybody, or anything, but the photo quality for the RTC isn't the highest. What kind of ad quality will be coming out of a consolidated ad production facility? And will the advertiser be able to make considerable changes (as ours do constantly) at a moment's notice? I see this as being a major problem.
Are they going to do this in the West Group any time soon?

[exgannettoid]

Question for all:

Is the photo quality that bad, or is the pressmanship that bad? I've seen great photos back from the RTC that were horrible on newsprint. The numbers were dead on, and due to a variety of reasons, the final product was bad.

Not to say that everything the RTC did was great. They have their fair share of mistakes, but overall, I didn't see anything that was so horrible I wouldn't have run it.

I don't believe anyone fully knows the scope of the Consolidated Production Centers yet. Maybe a few, but they ain't talking. Will there be workflow changes? You betcha. Will there be last minute corrections? I suspect so. The question to answer now is: how can you best prepare yourself for the future?

I don't mean to alarm anyone, but massive change is on the horizon. Take stock of what bills you may be able to pay off. Reduce your expenses. Don't buy that next bottle of wine. Don't do whatever, but do be aware of the change and how it will affect you.

Think about it. Do you have a résumé that's current? Do you have local contacts? Have you started looking? These are things that are best prepared in advance, IMHO.

[Guest]

The photos are pretty flat. I've seen a lot worse, I've seen a lot better.

I know changes, they are a comin'.