Alarm of decline

There is now a large portfolio of traditional TV alternatives such as paid streaming service Netflix, social video platforms like TikTok, Pluto TV, Prime Video or YouTube TV, said Nicole McCurnin, a director at advertising tracking firm Guideline.

According to an April report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau, these digital TV services will account for an estimated $62.9 billion in U.S. ad spending by 2024. That represents 52% of the projected spending on video ads this year, showing how viewing habits have changed in nearly 20 years.

In the most recent quarter, Walt Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery Channel, Fox, Comcast's and NBCUniversal all reported declines in domestic TV advertising revenue.

Media analyst Richard Greenfield at LightShed Partners said many streaming services were launched to take advantage of changing consumer viewing behavior, while the traditional TV business was in decline.

According to PwC's Global Media and Entertainment Outlook (2020) for the period 2020–2024, "global newspaper advertising (print and online) will decline rapidly from 49.2 billion USD in 2019 to 36 billion USD in 2024, meaning a decrease of more than a quarter (27%) in 5 years". In Vietnam, the revenue of press agencies has also decreased seriously, in 2023 the revenue of TV stations has decreased by 40%.

Recognizing this reality, journalist Nguyen Thu Ha - Deputy Director of the Center for Digital Content Production and Development, Vietnam Television said that in that context, many press agencies are trying to keep a portion of advertising revenue, regardless of concessions and sacrifices of journalistic principles in exchange for benefits for advertisers. The trend of finding ways to "sensationalize" information to attract viewers, or to mix advertising into content is relatively common.

These changes, although sometimes commercially successful, can undermine the quality of journalism, affecting the objectivity and integrity of news reporting.

According to Thu Ha, as advertising revenue declines, some newspapers and magazines have turned to subscription strategies to generate stable revenue. For newspaper and magazine brands in developed countries, long-term subscriptions are a valuable source of revenue because readers are high-end customers with brand loyalty. Revenue from this source of subscriptions is also more stable than revenue from advertising.

Some popular newspapers and magazines such as the New York Times and The Economist have achieved great success with this strategy. Notably, this subscription model applies to platforms, including digital platforms.

However, when newspapers focus only on serving subscribers, their information can be biased, and exclude readers who cannot afford to buy information, which means they do not serve the common good of the community. This subscription fee model is also exclusionary and therefore does not meet the criteria of journalistic information as it is, affecting the functions of journalism such as information, education and enlightenment.

" Basically, despite efforts to diversify revenue sources by implementing many service activities, the lost revenue gaps of the press are still not compensated. These challenges are the cause of the decline in the press sector. This leads to a decline in the supply of news from the mainstream press," said journalist Nguyen Thu Ha.

Digital Advertising: A Game-Changing Move

Report No. 2418 dated May 7, 2024 of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education shows that, with the development of digital technology and social media on transnational digital platforms, the revenue of press agencies is decreasing. In addition, difficulties and obstacles in implementing financial mechanisms make the operations of press agencies even more difficult.

Faced with this situation, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thanh Loi - Editor-in-Chief of Economic & Urban Newspaper said that developing digital advertising is the way that the press must go.

According to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Loi, the production of high-quality content, big data products, the application of modern communication technology, or artificial intelligence often creates valuable experiences for the press and media public. Recently, there have been a number of press works that create interaction with readers, creating closeness between journalists and the public, therefore, the press economy in the digital transformation trend has gradually approached the keyword that someone has mentioned, which is "digital press economy".

To develop digital advertising, Mr. Thanh Loi said that in the context of digital transformation of newspapers, in addition to focusing on content development, it is necessary to pay attention to technical factors.

"For a long time, press agencies have developed a public-centric strategy, however, the story is different now, technology changes so quickly that traditional press does not know which platform is the most important in reaching the public. That shows that, in addition to focusing on content, press agencies also need to invest heavily in technical solutions. Without the support of technology, a large newspaper can even "lose" to bloggers in terms of information dissemination, digital advertising will decline," said Mr. Thanh Loi.

According to the Editor-in-Chief of Kinh te & Do thi Newspaper, more than ever, press agencies need to build a new advertising network. More specifically, advertising space on electronic newspapers needs to be sold directly to advertisers, avoiding dependence on social media "powers" such as media companies or Google Adsense.

"In fact, advertising revenue of press agencies through Google Adsense is quite low. Moreover, Google ads sometimes display illegal ads, even violating the law, directly affecting the reputation of the newspaper," said Mr. Loi.

The Editor-in-Chief of the Urban Economy Newspaper said that research by scholars around the world shows that the business strategy for press agencies in the digital transformation trend is not only concerned with how much advertising is earned but also needs to return to the core values ​​of journalism: what to produce? For whom to produce and how to produce? This is the issue of retaining readers, considering readers as the "center".

"Each press agency needs to clearly identify the needs of readers by researching readers, monitoring, and testing ideas to meet readers' needs, to answer the question: "The public is number 1", Mr. Nguyen Thanh Loi emphasized.

Some of the innovations being adopted by media outlets around the world include NBCUniversal, which is developing new advertising tools that allow marketers to place advertising content anywhere and anytime. For example, T-Mobile's ads can air during the live TV show "Saturday Night Live," as well as appear on social platforms like X, TikTok, and YouTube.

In addition, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery announced during their advertiser presentation that they would bundle their Disney+, Hulu and Max streaming services into a single programming package. Such a combination could reduce the number of subscribers canceling and could convince money-losing competitors to follow suit, analysts said.

But the challenge for broadcasters remains enormous, with digital companies like Amazon and Netflix still sucking up the advertising dollars that have been shifting toward them.

It can be seen that the strong development of new media poses many challenges for press agencies, especially print newspapers and magazines that are struggling to cope with the "forces" from social networks. In the current media environment, especially the trend of digital transformation, how the Vietnamese press needs to build, innovate and develop the press economy is a problem that needs to be solved.

Hoa Giang