Mail Online has become the world’s most popular newspaper site thanks to its mix of titillating and accessible photo-led news stories. Now it plans to plough money in to video.
Reporting full-year earnings, the site’s publisher said:
“Over the next year, there will be increased investment in expanding the New York and Los Angeles editorial bureaus, as well as the teams of UK and US video editors, which will be accompanied by significant investment in technology.”
Many newspapers first invested in video ambitions, including newsroom TV studios, a few years ago, but many have also pulled back, baulking at the associated costs. Now at least the online video consumer opportunity is beckoning, with devices like tablets and internet TVs proving more attractive video platforms than the desktop web.
Mail Online revenue for the year to September 30 grew 74 percent to £28 million after traffic exceeded 100 million unique monthly browsers.
Its stablemate Metro’s website earned the remaining £3 million of what was £31 million in digital revenue for Associated Newspapers. But, despite Mail Online turning a first quarterly profit earlier this year, Associated’s digital segment still chalked up an annual loss of £900,000.
Associated parent DMGT’s separate division of online classified sites clocked up 23 percent higher revenue of £93 million and a £6.4 million profit.
Although the division’s sites, like Jobsite, are most leveraged through DMGT’s Northcliffe regional news publisher, it is not clear that they are passing in DMGT’s sale of Northcliffe to Local World. Northcliffe’s new owner has, however, said that Northcliffe sites will continue to use these classified sites as before.