Commentary
Can Local Newspapers Build National Scale In Ad Sales?
- by June 5, 2020
Local newspapers have suffered immensely during the coronavirus pandemic, which led to lockdowns on some of their most important advertisers, including
retailers, real estate brokers and various small businesses. It's an unfortunate situation, given that many publishers have seen a jump in web traffic among homebound readers.
Another challenge is having the scale to be worthwhile to national advertisers, such as carmakers that support local dealerships or restaurant chains whose promotions are coordinated with
regional franchisees. Those bigger advertisers can find better economies of scale in national media outlets.
In announcing the collaboration with McClatchy, The Washington
Post hinted there will be a possibility for major advertisers to achieve greater scale among the local publications that have adopted its technology framework. WaPo is developing a
premium ad network called Zeus Prime as part of its suite of tools. They include Zeus Performance for faster download speeds and Zeus Insights for contextual targeting.
WaPo has ambitions to expand the adoption of its platform among local publishers, including a partnership last month with the Local Media Consortium to provide services for its 3,500
outlets among 90 media companies.
Ideally, the expansion will provide those publishers with a source of incremental revenue, not only during a period of financial distress but
also during the recovery. Local news outlets are crucial in serving their communities, which are working to rebuild after the COVID-19 crisis and the ensuing economic slowdown.
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