End of an Era at La Presse
Those who like their morning coffee to come with a side of newsprint and smudged ink got some bad news this week as La Presse, one of Canada’s oldest newspapers, announced it will move to a near-exclusive online service starting January 1.
The Montreal-based paper, which is owned by Power Corp (TSE: POW), will retain its Saturday print service, something it described in a statement as “a potent, engaging ritual to which many people are profoundly attached.”
According to the Montreal Gazette, La Presse Publisher Guy Crevier said the change reflects “a permanent shift in advertising spending.”
Thirty months after bringing in their tablet edition, La Press+ – developed at a cost of $40 Million according to the CBC – the tablet edition is beating the print version with 460,000 digital readers on a weekly basis, compared to roughly 81,000 print subscribers.
Crevier also told the Gazette that the tablet edition has been a success with their advertisers. That’s more than a perk in an industry that has lost 63% of its revenue over the last 10 years.
While Crevier says that the Saturday edition continues to earn solid advertising revenue and attract a different audience, La Presse’s tablet edition is expected to bring in three quarters of their advertising revenues by December, with a further 10% coming from mobile and other web platforms.