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Moves Toward Reinvention Key to Challenges in 2013

Local media trends point toward makeovers next year.

Aaron Kushner, the new owner of Irvine-based Freedom Communications Inc. and publisher of the Orange County Register, intends to continue buying newspapers he sees potential in and has confirmed interest in buying the Los Angeles Times from bankrupt owner Tribune Co. in Chicago.

Kushner faces possible competition for the Times from Rupert Murdoch, chief executive of News Corp. and owner of The Wall Street Journal; Douglas Manchester, real estate investor and owner of U-T San Diego; and various wealthy Angelinos interested in restoring local ownership to the paper.

Costa Mesa-based PBS SoCal will continue working out strategies on how to connect with its expanded audience beyond OC. PBS SoCal plans to open satellite offices in Los Angeles and other areas in the future.

Irvine-based Specific Media LLC, owner of social media and music website Myspace, has been cooking up ideas to take on music-player rivals Spotify and Pandora by making Myspace a popular music destination via its Myspace Music Player. Specific Media also hopes to acquire more brands.

Marketing Diversity

Trends in the marketing world point to continued diversification of client services, as agencies attempt to become a one-stop-shop for clients.

Firms have added Web design and Internet marketing services, among other services, to attract more business from clients.

If an agency isn’t proficient in one category, companies can cherry-pick a different agency to work on different parts of a campaign. Earlier this year, the Irvine office of Draftfcb lost the media-planning segment for its client, Irvine-based Taco Bell Corp. Draftfcb retained the creative work for Taco Bell.

COMPANY TO WATCH: SPECIFIC MEDIA

Irvine-based media-buying agency Specific Media LLC caused a stir when it bought struggling social media site Myspace from New York-based News Corp. for $35 million in June 2011, but its hopes to transform the site into a hub for music and entertainment remain just that—hopes.

Myspace’s primary competitors are YouTube and social media sites Facebook and Twitter, as well as music sites Pandora and Spotify.

Word circulated last month that Myspace plans to raise $50 million to take on Spotify and Pandora in the digital music business. The company plans to use $10 million of the proceeds to fund marketing for a Myspace relaunch.

Myspace stakeholder Justin Timberlake previewed a demo video of the new Myspace on Twitter in September. The new site is invite only at this point with no word as to when the public launch will happen.

Myspace launched its Myspace Music Player last December. The feature gives users access to a library of 42 million songs for free and without advertisements.

New York-based Kantar Media said the Myspace saw its unique U.S. visitor count jump by 30% to 23.8 million between February and May but tapered to about 18.8 million by October.

That pales in comparison to Facebook, which had 161 million unique visitors in October. Pandora has surpassed 175 million registered users, while Spotify has some 16 million active users.

Myspace is projected to account for about $15 million of Specific Media’s $228 million in revenue this year, according to company documents.

—Heidi Kulicke

PERSON TO WATCH: AARON KUSHNER

Orange County Register Publisher Aaron Kushner says he’s “a little crazy”.

Orange County Register Communications—which includes the Register, a Spanish-language weekly, 24 community newspapers, and other publications—has reversed field and begun hiring journalists since Kushner came on the scene as the newspaper’s publisher and chief executive of Irvine-based parent Freedom Communications Inc. His Boston-based investment group, 2100 Trust LLC, acquired Freedom in June.

2100 Trust didn’t disclose financial terms of its Freedom acquisition, but the Business Journal has estimated the transaction at about $200 million.

“I’m a little crazy, but I just have a strong belief in mission- driven institutions,” Kushner said in a recent address to the Orange County Press Club.

The Register hires buck an industry trend to slash the newsroom and follow broad layoffs at the Register in previous years. The newspaper has used the added staff to increase space devoted to Business, Opinion and other sections.

Paywall

Kushner recently confirmed speculation that the Register will install a paywall on its website, possibly in the first quarter. He also acknowledged interest in buying the Los Angeles Times, following its exit from bankruptcy reorganization under Tribune Co.

Last month, Freedom sold the Colorado Springs Gazette—its second-largest remaining paper at the time, after the Register—for an undisclosed amount.

The company has been selling off newspapers during the past year, and Freedom’s Irvine headquarters building is on the sales block. Staff members at the headquarters were shifted to the Register building in Santa Ana.

—Heidi Kulicke

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