How biz media use consolidated media reporting

Sean Callahan of BtoB Magazine writes about how business news media such as American City Business Journals and the Economist are using consolidated media reporting, which measures how many people the media are reaching in print, online and through other media delivery formats.

Callahan writes, “The Economist began using the CMR earlier this year. Paul Rossi, managing director-exec VP, Americas, for the publication, said, ‘The response [from media buyers] has been, “This is great, but we want more.’ This isn’t perfect, but it’s the first step in transparency.’

“In its CMR, The Economist measures its print and digital paid subscribers (893,208); unique downloads of its app (255,825); average subscription price ($105.11); page views (14.9 million); monthly unique visitors (3.6 million) and Twitter followers (2.3 million).

“‘Increasingly, we are being asked by marketers to put together solutions that access all of our reach,’ Rossi said. He added that print requests for proposals have been flat so far this year compared with last year, but multimedia RFPs are up 30%.

“ACBJ’s Fisher said 45% of the company’s total audience is in print, while 55% is reached via email, websites, events and other media.

“Media brands see these multimedia reports as a means to focus on the quality of their audience (particularly their online audience) rather than the quantity of that audience. The goal is to avoid selling on a CPM basis, which many publishers view as a race to the bottom.”

Read more here.