Election over, media executives pin hopes on consumers

For northern Nevada media, the bad news is the election is over. The good news is indicators in the local economy are looking up.

Local television viewers watched candidates and outside political group inundate Nevada with ads in the lead up to the 2012 election. Nationwide, $2.7 billion was spent on TV advertising with 70 percent of that going to local markets, according to MagnaGlobal, a division of Interpublic Group in New York City.

As one of nine battleground states, Nevada was a target and the state's TV stations reaped the benefits. Las Vegas stations raked in about $47 million in campaign-related ad sales, according to ProPublica, a national non-profit news organization, while Reno TV stations took in about $30.5 million, according to research conducted by the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Lawson Fox, general manager of Reno's CBS affiliate, KTVN, says record ad revenue from the 2012 election cycle is allowing KTVN to invest in high definition television, or HDTV, service its debt and shore up its financial situation.

"It's breathed life back into the operation," says Fox. "Like every business, we've been way down from where we were before the recession."

And Fox remains cautiously optimistic about the year ahead.

"Car sales, housing prices and some of the core sectors continue to improve," he says.

Automobile advertising drives ad revenue throughout media, from TV to newspapers. In the first nine months of 2012, taxable sales of cars were up in most of the northern Nevada counties, including 19 percent in Carson City, 30 percent in Churchill, 22 percent in Douglas, 9 percent in Elko, 21 percent in Humboldt, 66 percent in Storey and 17 percent in Washoe. Only Pershing, where taxable sales of autos dropped 11 percent, and White Pine, where they fell 32 percent, recorded lower numbers than the same period a year earlier. Statewide, taxable motor vehicle sales jumped 16 percent.

"Things are stabilizing and (news organizations) are starting to add some people back," says Barry Smith, executive director of the Nevada Press Association in Carson City. "It mirrors the economy, where there is some hiring here and there."

Advertising and circulation for print media is in upheaval, though, as newspapers and magazines everywhere continue to wrestle with the evolution to online.

In 2011, online advertising for newspapers nationwide was up $207 million while print ad revenue was down $2.1 billion, according to the Newspaper Association of America. In other words, print ad losses were 10 times greater than online gains. In the first half of 2012, that ratio ballooned to 25 to 1 print ad sales lost $798 million while digital ad revenue grew by just $32 million.

Then there is advertising on mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets, which is a miniscule but growing fraction of overall sales. Phones and tablets are also increasingly the platform of choice for access, especially for younger users, but require a rethinking of the way content is packaged.

"Mobile is the same conundrum newspapers faced going online," says Smith. "How much do you want to invest and how much can you get on the return."

Another challenge is circulation. Circulation is holding steady at most newspapers nationwide, but more and more are charging for online subscriptions after years of unfettered access.

"They let Pandora out of the box giving it away for free," says Phil Weidinger, president of Weidinger Public Relations in Stateline. "But they're recognizing that is the way to go."

The Nevada Appeal in Carson City, the Elko Daily Free Press, the Lahontan Valley News in Fallon, the Record-Courier in Gardnerville and the Reno Gazette-Journal have all instituted so-called paywalls which require a paid subscription for some or all online content, according to News & Tech, an industry analyst in Denver.

Weidinger thinks despite all the technology changes and challenges, good, old-fashioned print continues to have its advantages.

"I still like reading the newspaper," he says. "There will always be people that want the surprise of turning a page."

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What to watch in 2013

Continued improvement in employment and consumer spending in northern Nevada are critically important to media outlets that rely on advertising from car dealerships, furniture stores and the like.