The New York Times and the Figaro group have just published their financial results. Both show uneven figures for the print and promising increases in digital activities that amount to 20% of the income of the Figaro with an increase of 40% of Internet ads in 2010. The Times has reduced its losses for the third term of the year but the circulation of the print newspaper is going down by 4%. However, the website registers a steady rise of advertising.
Still it is a long way before the web provides enough resources for top newspapers like the NYT, the Figaro or le Monde. The I-pad and I-phone applications won't be the solution as the cash they provide will be shared with avid tablets makers such as Apple and others.
The figures delivered by Mediametrie for the audience on mobiles are not very exciting for the media. Figaro is 11th and le Monde is 19th. Google and Facebook dominate the market and will, doubtless get the reward in terms of advertising. Obviously, a new strategy has to be thought out if the media intend to depend less on social networks and agregators.
