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Trinity Mirror has no time for reflection

Posted in Media December 15th, 2006 by Branwell Johnson

So, following acres of newsprint speculation recently on the future of Trinity Mirror, the publisher has plumped on the radical step of – selling The Racing Post?

Trinity Mirror engaged the not inexpensive services of investment bank NM Rothschild to conduct a lengthy strategic review into the ailing newspaper group. The conclusion is that it should dispose of the successful Racing Post title as it is not a core asset. The publisher is also to unload several dozen of its regional titles and will now concentrate on the national newspapers, key regionals and digital assets.

Those who thought that Trinity Mirror might split its national and regional businesses were wrong and chief executive Sly Bailey retains her grip over the full empire. But how long does she have to turn things around for a newspaper group that seems in steeper decline than the rest of the troubled market?

The Daily Mirror’s average net circulation for November was down 3.18 per cent on October and down six per cent for the six months June to November to 1.62 million. The Sunday Mirror was down 5.27 per cent for the six month period and The People down a steep 11.29 per cent for the six month period.

Regional papers are also losing readers at a rapid rate and their lifeblood of classified ad revenues is draining away to dedicated websites. Trinity Mirror has reported an 8.6 per cent fall in ad revenues across its regional division. Group M’s just-published media forecast This Year Next Year shows a 14.1 per cent drop in Retail revenues for the regional press for the year to September and a 19.1 per cent drop for Motors.

Who is going to want to buy Trinity Mirror’s ailing regionals now? Daily Mail & General Trust put its own regional press division Northcliffe on the auction block earlier this year but had to withdraw when no serious buyer appeared.

But really Bailey should not be spending time on the fire sale. She should be looking to ramp up the publisher’s digital ventures as quickly as possible because this is where the slim chance of salvation might lie.

Like its traditional paper publishing rivals Trinity Mirror has recognised the power of the internet and even acquired several classified sites. But unlike its rivals it has been very slow at leveraging its long-established brands into the digital world – “slack is too kind a word,” according to one press buyer.

The Sun is racing ahead in developing new platforms, including its MySun social networking site, and News Group Newspapers managing director Mike Anderson is an evangelist for expanding onto new platforms.

Bailey has now made all the right noises about adopting “a new, technology-led operating model that will ensure we serve our advertisers and readers better from a significantly lower cost base” and about creating a “multi-platform media business.”

But Bailey, already in the job for nearly four years, now has to find the drive and determination to motivate her troops to realise this vision. Expect some more blood-letting among management and the same kind of pain – if not worse – that the Telegraph Group has recently been experiencing.