Friday, December 14, 2012

News Int'l Denies Times Merger Rumour

News International denies Times merger rumour:
Speculation has arisen since The Times editor James Harding resigned on Wednesday (12 December) after five years in his post. In his resignation speech to editorial staff Harding said: "It has been made clear to me that News Corporation would like to appoint a new editor of the times. I have therefore agreed to stand down." Harding will terminate his contract at the end of the year and his replacement will be decided by the national independent directors of The Times. UK media has speculated that Harding's departure would pave the way toward merging the two titles to become a single, seven-day newspaper. This would mean News International reneging on its governmental commitment, set when the news giant bought the titles in 1981, to keep The Times and The Sunday Times separate. The pledge was agreed in order to preserve the editorial independence of the titles under competition law.

German Mag Paper Market

http://www.euwid-paper.com/news/singlenews/Artikel/price-negotiations-on-the-german-magazine-paper-market-are-well-advanced-in-december.html
In Germany, there has been some movement in the negotiations for magazine paper. It appears that not all paper producers are insisting on the proposed price hike. Forecasts of falling demand in 2013 are intensifying the already strong competition among paper mills, who are concerned about their capacity utilisation. EUWID respondents reported that suppliers were therefore demonstrating flexibility on certain points in contract talks, which has lead to the signing of contracts in several cases.

 

Paper Mill Pension Outcomes Very Different

http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/241480-paper-mill-pension-outcomes-very-different?utm_source=website&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=most_read
All Tony MacDonald knows is the deal he signed up for: Make paper at Point Tupper for 32 years. Make a decent paycheque. Make Stora Enso North America a bunch of money. Retire with dignity.
The 67-year-old former mill worker now knows over the past year his promised pension has been cut $700 a month. Including Canada Pension Plan payments, he has to survive on $1,200 a month. “I was just coming to terms with that, thinking that I’ve got to accept it and deal with it,” MacDonald said Tuesday. “Then I picked up the paper this morning and it was a kick in the arse with a frozen boot if I ever got one.” What MacDonald read in the newspaper Tuesday is that the province will cover the nearly $100-million unfunded liability of the former Bowater Mersey pulp and paper plant in Brooklyn as part of a deal that will see the province buy the company for a dollar from Resolute Forest Products and take ownership of its 220,000 hectares of forest land.  Meanwhile, nearly 1,000 pensioners from the Point Tupper plant will see their pensions cut from 31 to 42 per cent because the previous mill owners, Stora Enso North America and NewPage, didn’t pay their share. That allowed an unfunded liability of $200 million to accumulate from the plant’s four pension plans.


More Tablet Owners Prefer Yearly Mag Subs

More Tablet Owners Prefer Yearly Magazine Subscriptions:
At MPA Digital’s Social Media Summit Thursday, Ethan Grey, vice president of digital with the association, revealed results from its latest study slated to be released in January. The data, which was conducted with Gfk MRI and surveyed 796 adults aged 18-plus who owned a tablet, shows that in general, tablet owners prefer to buy yearly subscriptions to digital magazines. About 56 percent of respondents prefer to purchase a one-year subscription, 31 percent prefer to buy monthly subscriptions, 11 percent normally buy half-year subscriptions and just 2 percent prefer multi-year subscriptions.
When asked about the type of digital magazine content they prefer, more than half—55 percent—say they read current and back issues. The remaining 45 percent prefer to only read the most current issues.

Webinar-The Future & Promise Of Print Media

Media Life webinar Dec. 18 at 1 p.m. Eastern.
Newspapers and magazines are not dying, as is so widely believed. Far from it. They are working mightily to reinvent themselves for the digital age, and they could well pull it off. But to do so they must come up with new business models that shift revenue from advertisers to readers. They must also exploit new opportunities, in the case of newspapers by expanding into local marketing services and events. Here to explain the coming revolution in print media is Ken Doctor, a widely followed news industry analyst and the author of the book "Newsonomics: Twelve New Trends That Will Shape the News You Get."  http://www.medialifemagazine.com/webinar/

 

USPS Taps Pitney Bowes Automated Tech

USPS Taps Pitney Bowes Automated Services Technology:
Pitney Bowes technology was selected by the U.S. Postal Service to begin providing support and maintenance of its network of postal meters. A 6-year contract valued at up to $32 million for meters and meter supplies will enable the Postal Service to nationally standardize its meter needs using a single leading edge design.

Swiss Invest In Pulp Plant In Russia

Swiss businessman to invest $70 million in new pulp plant in Dagestan
A group of Swiss entrepreneurs, headed by Alan Broglie, has signed an agreement with Russian TVS and Tehrezerv companies for the construction of a plant for deep wood processing and pulp production in the Russian Dagestan region. The preliminary cost of the project is 2.44 billion rubles (USD$70 million). The majority of future production of the new plant will be sold in Switzerland, Germany and the domestic Russian market.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

IP to Sell Temple-Inland Building Products to GP

International Paper Reaches Agreement to Sell Temple-Inland Building Products Division for $750M:
International Paper today announced that it has reached an agreement to sell its Temple-Inland Building Products division to Georgia-Pacific LLC for $750 million in cash, subject to certain pre-and post-closing adjustments.

Port Workers Give Leader Strike Authorization

http://www.afandpa.org/ 
Before contract talks started Monday for negotiators representing East and Gulf coast port workers, and employers, the employees' union leaders of the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) provided ILA pres Harold Daggett with the authority to call a strike if needed.
The vote occurred before contract talks opened on Monday in Delray Beach, FL. The deadline for an agreement is Dec. 29. The contract covers 15 East and Gulf Coast ports.

Burgo Increases Woodfree Paper Prices

Burgo to hike CWF and UWF paper prices by 5-6% for all deliveries from Feb. 1, 2013
The price increase will apply to all CWF and UWF grades, both sheets and reels, and will be effective for deliveries as from February, 1st 2013.
Rising production costs, particularly related to transportation, energy, chemicals and raw materials, have made the price hike necessary.

IP to Stay in Memphis

International Paper will stay in Memphis:
The company settled on an incentive to stay in the Bluff City, which could include an expansion involving multiple real estate buildings.

Postal Regulators OK Revised Standard Mail Flats Price

Green Light for Revised USPS Standard Mail Flats Rate Rise:
US postal regulators have finally approved controversial new Standard Mail Flats prices at the US Postal Service.
USPS had suggested the Postal Regulatory Commission was going a little further than its remit when it rejected its original proposals last month, and demanded an above-average price rise for the rate category that includes items like catalogues.
Under protest, USPS went away and proposed a fresh rate increase, which yesterday was approved by the regulators.
As approved, Standard Mail Flats rates will increase by an average of 2.617% as of 27th January, 2013.

Hearst with New Imprint & Sales Channel

Ever since Hearst Corp. sold William Morrow to News Corp. in 1999, its book publishing activities have focused on partnering with different houses to publish books based on content from its magazines. That strategy will change January 2 when Hearst releases 7 Years Younger: The Revolutionary 7-Week Anti-Aging Plan under the new 7YY/Hearst Magazines imprint. Now in a third printing with 72,000 copies before publication, the book is the cornerstone of a new franchise devoted to helping baby boomers and others look and feel younger.

Old Navy Part of Divas Concert

Old Navy's presence during VH1's popular Divas concert on Sunday night will include pricey 30- and 60-second spots during the cable channel's telecast. At the same time, there's a potentially fun digital component to point out.
The retailer is sponsoring a GIF photo booth on the red carpet and backstage at show, which will take place at Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium. In a nutshell, the technology takes photos and creates limited-motion GIFs of those in the booth.

Avon Announces Cuts

Avon Products Inc. (AVP), the world’s largest door-to-door cosmetics seller, will cut about 1,500 jobs globally and exit South Korea and Vietnam as part of plan to save $400 million by the end of 2015.

Publishers: Plan for Change

In Sales, Plan for Change:
Best practices for avoiding the pitfalls of a shifting media landscape.
Publishers need to stop being afraid of social media. That was the message delivered today by panelists at the MPA Digital Social Media Summit at the Time Life Building.

Most Marketers Not Satisfied with Metrics

Most marketers not satisfied with customer experience metrics:
Only 11% of marketers gave their companies a “good” rating on customer experience metrics, according to a study from research firm Temkin Group. 

Transcontinental Predicts Slow Magazine Growth

Transcontinental Inc. Predicts Slow Magazine Growth:
Transcontinental Inc., the largest printer in Canada and the fourth largest in North America, and publisher of over 30 magazines, saw a mixed end to 2012, reporting an increase in its revenues by 12 percent and adjusted operating income by 21 percent in the fourth quarter. The company’s community newspaper business remained strong and performed better than expected, but the same cannot be said for its portfolio of glossies. 

StrongMail: 2013 Marketing Budgets Up

StrongMail: Marketing budgets to rise next year: Redwood City, Calif.—Marketers plan to increase their budgets next year, with the greatest attention paid to email, social media and mobile, according to a report by cross-channel marketing company Strongmail. StrongMail's "2013 Marketing Trends Survey" found 45.2% of businesses plan to increase their marketing budgets in 2013, while 43.9% plan to maintain their current spending levels.

Executives Want Better Access to Data

Executives want better access to social, mobile data: New York—Although a large number of companies have adopted a data analytics strategy, 60% of management teams don't seem to have the right access to marketplace data needed to make strategic decisions about their social media or mobile media or mobile media efforts, according to a study by auditing company KPMG.