- Nihon Shinbun Kyokai
- NSK News Bulletin
- ＮＳＫ News Bulletin April 2013
ＮＳＫ News Bulletin April 2013
Japan Times, New York Times Tie Up in Newspaper Publishing in Japan
The Japan Times, Ltd. and The New York Times Company on March 25 announced a business tie-up agreement on newspaper publishing in Japan.
Under the agreement, the companies will on Oct. 16 start Japan-based publishing of what will be called The Japan Times / International New York Times -- a combined product of The Japan Times and the newly planned International New York Times.
The new publication will consist of two sections. The first will feature the regular Japan Times content and the second will be the International Herald Tribune, whose name will be changed to the International New York Times. Editorial responsibility for each section will rest with the respective publishing company.
The companies aim to raise reader satisfaction by combining The Japan Times’ coverage of domestic news with The International New York Times, a premium source of a broad range of international news. The Japan Times is also considering expanding its coverage of Japanese news, its officials said.
The Japan Times / International New York Times combination will be distributed Mondays through Saturdays, with The Japan Times section alone to be circulated on Sundays.
Ｎikkei, Financial Times Tie Up in Content Syndication, Sales, Other Areas
Nikkei Inc (Nikkei) and The Financial Times (FT) on March 25 announced an expansion of their longstanding partnership to further extend into content syndication, sales, education and other new business areas.
Building on solid ties, they aim to grow their audiences and strengthen their brands and influence in the Asia-Pacific region.
Nikkei has been publishing translations of FT content in its newspaper and on its website, Nikkei.com. In addition, Nikkei has begun supplying articles to The Financial Times’ website, FT.com.
In the education business, Nikkei and Pearson Group, the FT’s parent company and the world’s leading learning company, have developed and begun marketing English-language learning software called ‘GlobalEnglish Nikkei edition.’ The software uses FT and Nikkei content as a language training tool to serve learners of media English and business English in Japan’s business community.
In addition to already partnering up on individual subscription sales in Japan, Nikkei will expand sales under the new agreement to include corporate customers, while cross-marketing both websites to draw new digital subscribers.
Nikkei and The Financial Times will also collaborate in organizing events, symposiums and seminars, and in drawing advertisers to their respective Chinese-language websites.
Tsuneo Kita, president and CEO of Nikkei, said; “We would like to expand and deepen our partnership with The Financial Times, a highly trusted member of the business-world media, through continuing cooperation in a wide range of areas.”
NSK Survey: Japanese Newspaper Digital Content Services Diversifying
The NSK Media Development Committee on March 22 released its 2013 survey on electronic media, reporting that 27 Japanese newspaper companies are now providing fee-based digital content services, including electronic newspapers.
The annual survey also found that the forms of digital content services are becoming increasingly diversified. For instance, The Mainichi Shimbun and The Sports Nippon are jointly providing digital content, through their “TAP-i” application, exclusively to users of smartphones and tablets. The Yomiuri Shimbun and The Chunichi Shimbun are limiting the users of their digital content services to subscribers to their print editions, while The Nishinippon Shimbun has launched a new fee-based website “qBiz” exclusively covering local business and economic news.
The number of companies offering digital news services to users of smartphones and tablets has increased by 14 from a year ago to a total of 57, according to the survey. In terms of content-display methods, more companies are adopting a browser type, instead of an app display type. An increasing number of companies are also tying up with social media like Facebook and Twitter.
The annual survey was conducted via a questionnaire circulated at the start of this year, covering the 109 NSK member newspaper companies and news agencies. A total of 86 member companies responded to this latest survey.
According to the survey, a total of 12 electronic newspapers and fee-based digital content delivery services were newly launched in 2012, including the Mainichi’s “TAP-I” app (launched in December), the Yomiuri’s “Yomiuri Premium” news website (May), the Chunichi’s “Chunichi Shimbun Plus” website (June), and the Nishinippon Shimbun’s “q-Biz” website (October).
In July, The Minami-Nippon Shimbun launched its “Ohayo Net” services to deliver PDF files of its daily’s front page and the city news page to subscribers living in remote islands in Kagoshima Prefecture where the delivery of its print edition is chronically delayed. Also in July, The Yamanashi Nichinichi Shimbun began new services called “Yama-nichi Plus Digital,” to package subscriptions to its print edition with access to its digital morning and evening editions.
The Sankei Shimbun started the “Sankei Shimbun Optical Flets Edition” in August, the “Sankei Shimbun Kindle Edition” in December and the “Yukan Fuji Smart-Path Edition” in November. The Fukui Shimbun launched the “Fukui Shimbun Fast” in July and the “Fukui Shimbun Siesta” in December. The Kobe Shimbun opened the “Kobe Shimbun Next” in November and the Nara Shimbun started its “Nara Shimbun Electronic Edition” in February of this year.
When it comes to services for users of smartphones and tablets, the survey pointed to a clear shift away from the marketing of applications, to the collection of fees from mobile phone operators for browser-type services to provide news content. For instance, 33 out of the 57 companies are now using Kyodo News’ “NEWSmart,” a platform that delivers news content from its subscriber newspapers to users of mobile phones on a fee basis. Kyodo News’ “NEWSmart” terminated its services to market an application for iPhone users in September.
According to the survey, a total of 66 companies, up 12 from a year ago, are tying up with outside social media services. A total of 63 of those companies are distributing news content via their own Twitter accounts, while also using social bookmarking. Many media companies are attempting to establish interactive communications between readers and individual reporters, special task forces and reporting sections. Of the respondents, 10 companies said that they are operating their own social networking services, but The Nikkan Sports News, The Jomo Shimbun and The Shikoku Shimbun said that they had all closed down their own such services.
