To give a little more context - this letter was sent after an announcement that Berkshire Hathaway was purchasing all of the newspapers owned by Media General.
Warren Buffett on newspapers [pdf]
11–20 of 53 posts
Re: Warren Buffett on newspapers [pdf]
#12Our Rochester, NY USA paper just raised rates 50% for subscribers and are backing that with an online version of the paper that looks exactly like the print version. I canceled my subscription.
I want local news. I want to pay a reasonable rate (was $12 / month for 5 day delivery, now $18 / month). I don't care for an online version that looks just like the printed paper. I would sign up for a reduced (like $6 / month) version delivered to my iPad (or similar) that just had the local stuff (no AP, stocks outside upstate NY, no national sports, etc) because I do care about what's going on locally. I get the national stuff for free online lots of places, I can't get the local stuff easily.
Buffett seems to agree with my take, it'll be interesting to see where Birkshire takes their papers wrt the internet.
Re: Warren Buffett on newspapers [pdf]
#13Our Rochester, NY USA paper just raised rates 50% for subscribers and are backing that with an online version of the paper that looks exactly like the print version. I canceled my subscription. I want local news. I want to pay a reasonable rate (was $12 / month for 5 day delivery, now $18 / month). I don't care for an online version that looks just like the printed paper. I would sign up for a reduced (like $6 / mont…
Why do you think a version delivered to your iPad should be cheaper than the print version? Do you not receive the same value in both cases?
Re: Warren Buffett on newspapers [pdf]
#14"I have some strong political views, but Berkshire owns the paper - I don't."
Why can't all CEOs think this way?
Re: Warren Buffett on newspapers [pdf]
#15Although he doesn't mention it here, Berkshire also owns about 18% of the Washington Post: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assets_owned_by_Berkshi... Not sure if this is related at all, but Adrian Holovaty (co-creator of Django, founder of EveryBlock) also worked at the Washington Post -- he has been a big proponent of the hyper-local strategy for Newspapers (the original reason why Django was developed). Probab…
Berkshire bought into the Washington Post Company because of Kaplan, not the newspaper division.
Re: Warren Buffett on newspapers [pdf]
#16I think in a way he's talking about newspapers getting back to their real roots as being genuine 'NEWS' papers. That's instead of the trashy gossip magazines that so many of them have turned in to.
Most local news is trashy gossip.
Re: Warren Buffett on newspapers [pdf]
#17Our Rochester, NY USA paper just raised rates 50% for subscribers and are backing that with an online version of the paper that looks exactly like the print version. I canceled my subscription. I want local news. I want to pay a reasonable rate (was $12 / month for 5 day delivery, now $18 / month). I don't care for an online version that looks just like the printed paper. I would sign up for a reduced (like $6 / mont…
Why do you think a version delivered to your iPad should be cheaper than the print version? Do you not receive the same value in both cases?
How could you possibly believe all of the efficiency gains from having a digital supply-chain wouldn't lead to a cheaper product?
Re: Warren Buffett on newspapers [pdf]
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why do you think a version delivered to your iPad should be cheaper than the print version? Do you not receive the same value in both cases?
How could you possibly believe all of the efficiency gains from having a digital supply-chain wouldn't lead to a cheaper product?
To play the devil's advocate, a product that is cheaper to produce, doesn't necessarily sell for a lower price to consumers. The pricing could relate to consumer demand for the product, competitors' prices, etc., rather than being a simple function of the price of production. I'm not an economist, and I might be wrong.
Re: Warren Buffett on newspapers [pdf]
#19I love how Warren Buffett uses plain language in everything he releases. It's easy and pleasant to read for simple folk like me.
Re: Warren Buffett on newspapers [pdf]
#20Our Rochester, NY USA paper just raised rates 50% for subscribers and are backing that with an online version of the paper that looks exactly like the print version. I canceled my subscription. I want local news. I want to pay a reasonable rate (was $12 / month for 5 day delivery, now $18 / month). I don't care for an online version that looks just like the printed paper. I would sign up for a reduced (like $6 / mont…
Just want to point out how insane is is that none of us would price even the most basic SaaS product at less than $30/month, but people balk at paying $18/month to have a professionally edited newspaper printed and DELIVERED TO THEIR DOOR.
Newspapers are so hosed.