Greetings from Evansville, Indiana. I am banging away at a computer in the lobby of an Econolodge, located on a busy highway that could be anywhere. The shops, the traffic, the sprawl make the outskirts of Evansville look exactly like the outskirts of just about every city in the US. Local color may be lacking, but progress isn’t — I’ll be out of Indiana and into Illinois in two days.
This has been a very productive week. Walked fast on roads all week and covered lots of ground. My strategy has been to walk on roads that pass through towns that are likely to have places to feed me. Not only has this kept me reasonably well nourished, but my route has been direct and efficient. Have logged several 25-mile-plus days, far more than I could have by wandering through the woods and dirt roads specified by the American Discovery Trail. The only downside to my alternative to the ADT is traffic. In a couple of spots the truck traffic booming past me was scary and uncomfortable, something the ADT route avoids. I’ve chosen to trade off bucolic quiet for progress, and as long as I don’t join the possums and raccoons flattened on the side of the road, the trade-off is paying dividends.
Talked with three publishers along my route this week, each with a different story.
John Tucker is the publisher of the Evening News in Clark County, and the Tribune in neighboring Floyd County, located across the Ohio River from Louisville, Ky. I read the Tribune when I stayed in New Albany last Saturday, and found it to be a solid, entertaining community daily. It wasn’t always that way, Tucker told me. In the years before he got to New Albany, the papers had lost a lot of circulation and total revenues had fallen for five years — and this was before the rest of the newspaper industry was struggling. Tucker attributes the losses to his predecessor’s single-minded focus on cutting expenses, which gutted the local content of the papers. The Louisville Courier Journal had gained a circulation lead in the home territory of the Evening News and the Tribune.
Tucker’s strategy to turn the situation around was a disciplined focus on local content. He said that the Ohio River creates a logical separation from Louisville, and his efforts to exploit that separation and the separate identity it creates have been successful. Circulation has started to grow again, regaining parity with the Louisville daily, and local advertising revenues have boomed — up 15 percent in the last two years. He’s also beefed up revenue with new special sections and niche publications.
John’s winning strategy — focus on local content and nurture his Mom and Pop advertising base — is consistent with what we’ve learned elsewhere.
John O’Bannon, publisher of the Corydon Democrat, took on a different set of chores when he and his wife left big jobs in Indianapolis to come home to run his family’s paper on the death of his father, former Indiana governor Frank O’Bannon. The paper’s franchise was strong, but its performance was sluggish. John has responded by trimming some jobs while adding new newsroom positions and niche publications. His wife, an ace pharmaceutical rep, has injected new focus and energy into the sales effort, and ad revenues are trending up.
The historic Corydon market (the city was Indiana’s state capital from 1815 to 1825) is growing robustly, but the growth is fueled by thousands of Louisville commuters who have moved into the market in recent years. John’s strategy to hang onto his loyal readers and attract the newcomers is similar to John Tucker’s — provide great local coverage that the Louisville paper cannot possibly duplicate. And he’s growing ad revenues with sales hustle and new products.
The Corydon Democrat‘s website is also beginning to attract readers and advertisers. John said that low broadband penetration in his market has dampened Internet use, and that the relatively low rate of Internet acceptance in the market is giving him time to develop a strong gameplan that can take his family’s business into the future.
I had breakfast this morning at the Locust Street Cafe, just around the corner from Gary Neal’s office on Boonville’s town square. And then I walked the short 12 miles or so into Evansville. Gary is
publisher of the Boonville Standard, a 4,500-circulation paid weekly; and the New Burg Register, an 11,000 free weekly. Both papers are part of a group of dailies and weeklies around Evansville.
My question to Gary was how does he successfully compete with the big daily just down the road? The answer won’t surprise you: Provide disciplined, encyclopedic coverage of his local market, nurture the local advertisers, and add to revenue growth with new niche publications and special sections. That’s the same approach that is working in the other small markets I’ve visited. And it’s certainly working for Gary: Revenue grew 8 percent last year, and paid circulation is up 8.6 percent this year.
All three publishers noted that auto and real estate advertising have slowed down, but that the small local retailers and service providers that continue to thrive in the shadow of the nearby big-city malls offer plenty of opportunity for ad revenue growth.
Today was a short day on the trail. Checked into my hotel early, got a haircut and did laundry. To bed early tonight to rest up for the sprint into Illinois.
