Time and Money

I didn't listen in on the analyst call that McClatchy CEO Gary B. Pruitt held yesterday, but there must have been some chuckles when, according to The N.Y. Times, "Mr. Pruitt, tried to persuade his listeners that newspapers remained vital parts of peoples' lives. He said that while 90.7 million people watched the Super Bowl, on that Sunday 124 million read newspapers." Yes, well sure, and 175 million people had breakfast.

The fact is that newspapers are important to tens of millions of people, as is watching television, listening to the radio or using telephone directories. eMarketer reports today that we watched an hour more of television per week in 2005 than in 2004 and 14 more hours a week than in 1975. But we all know network ratings are declining because people have a lot more choices today than they used to.

Bridge Ratings completed a survey that found commuters who drive an hour or more a day and use their phones in the car listen to the radio 26 minutes a day now compared with 32 minutes a day in 2003. That 28 percent decline was matched by a 29 percent increase in in-car cellphone usage.

The message is not complicated, but it is subtle. The vast majority of us have a limited amount of money and we all have a finite amount of time. Consumers will balance their time and their money and use them both in ways that best provide for their information and entertainment needs.

At the Drilling Down on Local conference to be held March 26-28, this is one of the topics we will explore:

Mass Media to MyMedia: Profiling the New 'On-Demand' Consumer
Each day it becomes more apparent that the Internet, on-demand video, wireless phones and iPods are creating a new global and local media universe — one that is highly personalized, customizable and not tied to time, place or even a single medium. The Kelsey Group will present new consumer research that outlines this emerging consumer paradigm and discuss the most significant implications for advertisers (national and local) as they try to reach these new, more empowered consumers.
Greg Sterling, Program Director, Interactive Local Media, The Kelsey Group