Bolton News Price Increase

[Horwich]

From 45p a day to 65p a day

 

Shit the bed

[Carlos]

Bargain.

[DazBob]

Apart from the obituaries, why on earth would anyone ever buy that rag any more?

[Traf]

A near 45% rise?

Give over.

[tomski]

I'll have to get a loan from somewhere at them prices. Any suggestions?

[Gonk]

I think I'll set up a facebook group to protest.

That's ridiculous

[zurichwhite]

well they have to justify paying people to write such newsworthy items as this riveting article

 

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/10448195.League_Cup_date_revives_unhappy_memories/

[Sweep]

Do people actually still pay for a proper copy of that rag instead of just reading it online?

[DazBob]

well they have to justify paying people to write such newsworthy items as this riveting article

 

http://www.thebolton...happy_memories/

 

Lets not forget all the man hours that went into this one.

 

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/10444292.Car_blaze_in_Johnson_Fold/

[zurichwhite]

"The car was parked on the road and is believed to belong to a family"

 

move over CNN

[C86]

80p on Saturdays, it will have a 7 day tv guide, so 1980's. Deluded.

[Breightmet Boy]

80p on Saturdays, it will have a 7 day tv guide, so 1980's. Deluded.

 

Saturdays is their worst for newspaper sales

[leigh white]

If the Buff goes up, I am fucking it off.

[Guest Blixa]

Their only ad revenue of substance seems to come from BWFC and the council, both of which ar cutting back.

 

They have a large writing and admin team and circulation that's probably a fraction of the number viewing this site.

 

Pricing up is the only solution - it's unlikely to affect the loyal customer base they have. Unfortunately, it's an ageing market, so those numbers keep dropping off each year. That and technology will kill it off in under 10 years.

[Casino]

Their only ad revenue of substance seems to come from BWFC and the council

 

so don't be expecting much comment on fat cliff and quidco anytime soon

[Guest Blixa]

No - that's always noticeably absent.

[kent_white]

Blixa's right. I'd be surprised if it's still publishing in 10 years, as a daily at least. The amount of revenue local newspapers have lost since the internet is unreal. Most local papers used to be propped up by their recruitment sections, advertising in which used to cost a fortune. The BEN's gone from having a pull out section to less than half a page in a little over a decade. It's the same for most of the advertising platforms. The only ones left worth the name are property and motors and you can see which way they are going.

[tomski]

Don't they make their moneys from internet advertising now?

[Sweep]

I remember many years ago when for some strange reaon they decided to publish a full colour picture/poster of "Adam and The Ants" - I was well pleased when I got that........and a few weeks later, they published a full colour picture/poster of "Shakin Stevens" - I'll not say who put that up on their bedroom wall

[tomski]

I remember many years ago when for some strange reaon they decided to publish a full colour picture/poster of "Adam and The Ants" - I was well pleased when I got that........and a few weeks later, they published a full colour picture/poster of "Shakin Stevens" - I'll not say who put that up on their bedroom wall

Ha ha

[Guest Blixa]

Don't they make their moneys from internet advertising now?

 

They do I guess (site is loaded with them), but they don't chase internet advertising like others do. Not sure if that's by choice or if they simply don't understand the market.

 

They tend to hold back stories for print (instead of publishing online) - guessing they must see the money they generate from added paper sales as being worth more than the ad campaigns or pay per click money they can get. If they were doing the net revenue things properly, they would have had at least 5 or 6 Quick Quid stories online already to stur up feeling and drive traffic (see Daily Mail for this).

 

In time, they'll have to change over. A printed paper isn't a viable option with large(ish) offices and a large staff as the net becomes more dominant.

[Leyther_Matt]

Blixa's right. I'd be surprised if it's still publishing in 10 years, as a daily at least.

It'll be a weekly within 18-24 months I reckon.

[kent_white]

Don't they make their moneys from internet advertising now?

 

 

They make extremely little from Internet advertising. Definitely not enough to run a hard copy newspaper.

 

Plus the BN's owned by an American company now called Gannett. Gannett are gargantuan and the Bolton News is like a smudge on a page to them. It's part of the reason why the Bolton News is a bad read nowadays. To save money, a lot of the articles are syndicated, so you end up with a couple of pages of local news, followed by articles which appear in all Gannett newspapers which have been written cheaply at a central source. The whole culture has changed. Years ago, most of a reporters time would be spent in the pub news hounding stories or on the street. Nowadays they're stuck in an office with Sky News on trying to find something relevant to write about.

 

Add to that that the printing is done in Scotland and the artwork is done in Mumbai (that's not a joke by the way) and you rip any sense of being local away, and people whether that be staff or readers can sense the change.

 

Regional Newspapers will soon be consigned to a bygone age....

[Guest Blixa]

It'll be a weekly within 18-24 months I reckon.

 

Not sure about that. Some folk (like my mum, for example) still rely on the BEN (as was) for what's going on in the town. We tend to think of everyone on the net, but not everyone is. But as that older generation drops in numbers, that's when the paper will start to suffer.

[tomski]

Fair do's. Sounds like you'll be right then, can't see it lasting long in the current climate.