Mill Media takes on Reach in Birmingham | Inside Mail Metro Media's ad business
And PA Media's chief executive is set to retire after 14 years
Good morning and welcome to your daily media news briefing on Wednesday 25 October.
Joshi Herrmann and Mill Media’s ingress into the UK local news media market is continuing to grow, launching into its fourth city this week.
Notably it is another city already covered by Reach, which has a different strategy online compared to Mill Media’s Substack newsletter-based approach of publishing fewer but deeply-reported pieces.
Lots has been said about the merits of these different strategies but, like in many areas of life nowadays, people tend to take sides and espouse one camp only. In fact it is more nuanced than that and a city that can benefit from both one of the biggest newsbrands in the UK giving them much of their day-to-day news alongside a smaller outlet highlighting certain issues is a lucky one indeed.
Also today we take a look at DMGT’s advertising business, including its preparations for the end of third-party cookies and how a Boris Johnson splash led to a commercial deal with Burger King.
And finally a big change at the top is coming at PA Media Group where CEO Clive Marshall is preparing to retire after 14 years in the role.
New from Press Gazette
Mill Media to compete against Reach’s Birmingham Mail with fourth title The Dispatch
“To be honest, one of the things that makes Birmingham attractive to launch a new title in is that the main newspaper is owned by Reach. Because we know – from Manchester, from Liverpool – that loads of people really hate having a local newspaper that’s Reach.”
Mail reveals how it tracks and profiles readers so advertisers can target them
Mail Metro Media’s managing director for digital said its ad targeting capability had delivered “over 270 million clicks to merchant landing pages” in the prior 12 months and sold “over £180m worth of products on Amazon alone”.
PA Media CEO Clive Marshall to retire after 14 years
“This has been a tough decision but it’s time for me to retire from this full-time role and spend more time ticking off the dozens of Scottish Munro mountains I still have left to climb.”
News in brief
Americans are following the news less closely than they used to, according to Pew Research Center. In 2016, 51% of US adults said they followed the news all or most of the time - this was down to 38% in 2022. (Pew)
The National Crime Agency is launching its own podcast series about some of the criminals it has caught, hosted by investigative journalist Ellie Flynn. It said: “Hearing about these cases from our experienced officers allows us… to show the public how we keep communities safe."
Washington DC council members plan to introduce a bill that would give city residents government-funded vouchers to donate to local newsrooms of their choosing. The scheme would allocate $11m a year among DC newsrooms. (Axios)
Podcast 58: How the Daily Mail become a hit on Tiktok
Mail Online head of social video Phil Harvey, who joined the publisher in March, told Press Gazette how and why their Tiktok strategy has transformed this year and why it is worth the investment.
He also revealed which British politician and their dog has become an unlikely Tiktok star for the Daily Mail.
Previously on Press Gazette
Biggest news publishers on Youtube: GB News and Piers Morgan Uncensored pass 1m subscribers
The Countryman magazine folds after 96 years citing ‘unviable’ conditions
GB News immigration discussion broke due impartiality rules, Ofcom says
Race to buy The Telegraph: Who are the latest runners and riders?
Half of top newsbrands see fall in search visibility after latest Google core update
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