HARD TIMES FOR CHINA TIMES -- TAIWAN'S DAILIES FACE REVENUE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 TAIPEI 001541 DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R, EAP/TC, EAP/P, EAP/PD DEPARTMENT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KPAO TW SUBJECT: HARD TIMES FOR CHINA TIMES -- TAIWAN'S DAILIES FACE REVENUE PROBLEMS ¶1. (U) Summary: The China Times, one of Taiwan's oldest and most respected newspapers, has laid off half its staff, seen its circulation drop by half, reduced its daily page count and announced its intention to transform itself into an "elite" daily. Advertising expenditures on the island have fallen across the board and for newspapers in particular. The price of newsprint surged by 50 percent last year. Taiwan's public increasingly receives its news from television and the Internet, and although the China Times Group has two TV stations and a Web presence, so far it has not figured out how to prosper from electronic news media. As in other developed markets, newspapers as a news delivery medium are becoming outdated and unprofitable, and the China Times could become the highest-profile casualty of the decline of the newspaper business in Taiwan. The general decline of newspapers as a news medium also lessens the U.S. ability to deliver complex policy messages to the Taiwan public. End Summary. -------------- Rise and Decline of Taiwan's News Dailies -------------- ¶2. (U) Nearly two decades after an explosion in newspaper publication in Taiwan with the coming of democracy in the 1980s, the newspaper market in Taiwan is feeling the squeeze. The Independence Morning Post ceased publication in 1999, followed by three other island-wide Chinese-language dailies in 2006: Min Sheng Daily News, Central Daily News and Taiwan Daily. The venerable China Times, one of the four largest remaining Chinese-language dailies in Taiwan, announced on June 18 that it would soon transform itself into an "elite" newspaper, reducing the number of pages and streamlining its operations. The China Times Group -- composed of two newspapers, two TV networks, a weekly magazine, a publishing company, an online media company and a travel agency -- is an influential conglomerate in Taiwan whose assets were once assessed at over NT$10 billion (US$307 million). The group closed its 17-year-old evening paper, the China Times Express, in November 2005 and has been suffering severe deficits over the past few years. ¶3. (U) The paper cited the rising cost of operations and shrinking advertising revenues as the reasons for its "transformation." Chou Sheng-yuan, then-publisher of the China Times, was quoted in June as saying that the paper would shut down one of its three printing houses and close all its regional bureaus around the island. Sources from within the paper confirmed in early September that the paper has reduced its work force from 1,200 people to about 700, with Publisher Chou among those who left. Beginning August 1, the China Times reduced its page count from thirteen to ten or fewer broadsheets, expanded its editorial and op-ed pages, and moved the international (mostly wire service) news to its front pages -- an unusual move among Taiwan's Chinese-language dailies, which focus heavily on local news. This is a striking change for this 58-year-old island-wide daily, which once ran as many as 25 broadsheets on weekdays and ranked among the top-circulating newspapers of the mid-1980s. It continued to run neck-and-neck with its rivals, the United Daily News and the Liberty Times, into the late 1990s. -------------- Newsprint Up; Revenue Down -------------- ¶4. (U) According to China Times then-President (now Publisher) Lin Sheng-fen, the overly competitive media environment in Taiwan in recent years and huge drop in advertising revenue has made it difficult for the China Times to maintain its current operations. Lin attributed the difficult newspaper environment to the soaring cost of newsprint, which has surged 50 percent from US$600 per metric ton to US$900 last year. An Apple Daily reporter told AIT in September that Hong Kong-based Apple Daily, with circulation of over 500,000, had signed a seven-year futures contract for newsprint when it set up its Taiwan edition. They would undoubtedly feel the heat in 2011, however, when the contract is to expire. ¶5. (U) Weber Lai, an associate professor at the Graduate School of Applied Media Arts at National Taiwan University of Arts, elaborated further. Lai said a majority of local newspaper managers were traditionally promoted from the ranks of editors and veteran journalists. They lack real management skills and the ability to deal with challenges of a digital era, in which many people receive their news online without having to pay a cent. China Times union TAIPEI 00001541 002 OF 004 leaders as well as some media watchdog organizations, by contrast, blame the newspaper's managers for hollowing out the daily's assets by expanding operations too rapidly. In addition, they acquired two TV networks, in 2002 and 2005, respectively, but the financial results have been mixed, with the entertainment channel making money and the terrestrial station and the all-news cable channel not faring well. ¶6. (U) In a legal filing by China Times to the Taipei District Court in June, as reported by Taiwan's Business Weekly, China Times has suffered accumulated losses of over NT$4.5 billion (US$138 million) between 2001 and 2005. Adding in the financial losses of the paper over the last two years, it is estimated that China Times' deficit has exceeded NT$5 billion (US$154 million) since 2001. Statistics from the Taiwan Advertisers' Association (TAA) also show that China Times' advertising revenues have shrunk severely over the past few years, plunging to barely a third of those in its best year, 1998. -------------- --- Declines in Advertising Hurt Most Taiwan Dailies -------------- --- ¶7. (U) China Times is not the only paper that has suffered such a downturn. TAA's statistics show that advertising revenues for Taiwan's dailies in general have been declining successively over the past nine years. With the sole exception of the sensationalist Hong Kong transplant Apple Daily and the economically-oriented Economic Daily News, advertising revenues for most Taiwan dailies have dropped nearly 10 percent over the last two years, according to TAA. ¶8. (U) A study in the June issue of the Taiwan magazine "Brain" revealed that China Times suffered the most severe losses in advertising income among Taiwan's twelve major dailies: a 15 percent slump from NT$2 billion (US$62 million) in 2006 to NT$1.7 billion (US$53 million) in 2007. The other dailies include three other general Chinese-language dailies, two papers specializing in economic news, one evening paper, two regional papers and three English-language dailies. Liberty Times had the highest ad revenue in this group with NT$3.8 billion (US$117 million) in 2007. ¶9. (U) NowNews, a Taiwan online news network, reported in mid-August that the United Daily News, whose advertising income plunged by 12 percent in 2007 from the previous year, had laid off, and would continue to lay off, more senior employees. Jimmy Lai, Chairman of Next Media, Ltd., and founder of the Apple Daily, which was the only general daily to register an increase in advertising revenue in 2007 (6.7%),also complained of a severe drop in profits last year. ¶10. (U) Newspapers specializing in economic news in Taiwan have fared better, thanks to a more targeted readership and advertisers. Economic Daily News of the United Daily News Group registered 16 percent growth in its advertising revenues in 2007. The Commercial Times, a publication of the China Times Group, was able to retain the same level of advertising income as in 2006. ¶11. (U) Not only did advertising revenues for most newspapers see a decline, but the entire advertising market in Taiwan has suffered a slump as well. China Times President Lin Sheng-fen noted that Taiwan's overall advertising revenue has dropped from NT$100 billion (US$3.07 billion) in 1990 to NT$50 billion (US$1.54 billion) in ¶2006. Statistics from a study by Nielsen Media Research on the five major media -- television, newspapers, magazines, radio broadcasting and outdoor advertising media portfolio (including billboards, buses, etc) -- indicated drops of between two to ten percent in Taiwan's advertising market from 2005 to 2007, varying by medium. Newspapers are the media that have been hit hardest by the advertising slide, the study said. ¶12. (SBU) Central News Agency Chairman Huang Chao-sung, who is the former president of the China Times Group, told AIT in September that, during his tenure at the China Times Group, the real estate companies in particular put the squeeze on the newspapers. Aware that they were the largest single source of advertising for newspapers, they negotiated advertising discounts with the newspapers, nearly halving the revenues from this sector. In addition, the food giant Uni-President stopped advertising in Taiwan entirely and devoted all its advertising to mainland China, with the exception of ads for its 7-11 stores. Nielsen statistics for the TAIPEI 00001541 003 OF 004 first half of 2008 indicate that Taiwan's advertising on cable networks accounts for 30% of the market, versus a 28% market share for newspapers. -------------- Newspapers Not the Public's Medium of Choice -------------- ¶13. (U) Not only has the shrinking advertising market dealt a heavy blow to Taiwan's newspapers, but changes in the public's media consumption patterns have also taken a toll of print media. A survey released by Taipei's Shih Hsin University's (SHU) College of Journalism and Communications in December 2007 revealed that 66.6 percent of respondents said they acquire news from television. Only 16.3 percent said they read news from the print edition of newspapers and 10.2 percent said they get news online. Dr. James Hsiung, dean of SHU's College of Journalism and Communications, also told AIT that the future trend will be for more and more people to get their news online. ¶14. (U) A study conducted by Dr. Su Herng, chair of Taipei's National Chengchi University's Department of Journalism, in September 2007 illustrated the same point. Newspaper subscription rates saw a sharp drop over the past few years. People also spend less time reading newspapers every day, particularly since more and more TV anchors in Taiwan tend to read the news in the newspapers to their audience. Su's study further revealed that Taiwan newspaper readers nowadays favor soft news over hard news and prefer graphics to words. Even though most readers still focus on current events, those who prefer news about entertainment, recreation and lifestyle have increased. ¶15. (U) In addition, since rapport with political and business elites acts as a guarantee to secure more advertising income for newspapers in Taiwan, newspaper managers are bound to maintain close relationships with the political and business leaders. Taiwan's papers are "under the dual delimitation of economic and political power," Su noted. When discussing the difficulties of China Times in July, some journalists speculated that, without a powerful political backer and not being a "squarely Blue" daily like the pro-KMT United Daily News, the somewhat centrist but KMT-leaning China Times has gradually lost its appeal among "pro-Blue" Taiwan readers. The paper's financial fortunes saw no upturn with the KMT's return to power in May 2008. ¶16. (U) Even after the current revamping of China Times, industry sources believe there will be another wave of downsizing for the paper before the end of 2008. Sources within the paper also revealed that China Times has cut the print run from around 400,000, a level it had maintained for the past several years, to 220,000. As the paper's deficit continues to widen, China Times is mulling over innovative approaches to improve the situation. Its plan is to slash the number of copies printed to between 120,000 and 150,000, sources said. -------------- - Advertising from the PRC? No Salvation for Now -------------- - ¶17. (U) Taiwan's "Business Today", a popular business weekly, disclosed in June that TOM Online has been in close contact with the China Times Group since last year. TOM Online is a leading Chinese wireless Internet application company controlled by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, who also established Cite Publishing, Ltd., which owns more than 40 magazines in Taiwan. The China Times Group is reportedly hoping that TOM Online will invest in its operations. Neither the China Times Group nor Cite Publishing was willing to comment on the matter, according to Business Today. Market sources said that several parties are interested in buying the China Times Group. Only Apple Daily Founder Jimmy Lai's Next Media Group is seen as the likely winner, however, as it is willing to accept a package deal (China Times, Commercial Times, and CTI TV),while the other bidders only want to purchase the more profitable CTI TV network. Takeover talks are reportedly near completion, and an announcement about the deal is likely to be made in early November. If the takeover materializes, it would make Next Media the largest media group in Taiwan with one TV station, one magazine, and four newspapers. ¶18. (U) During a meeting with the Government Information Office in TAIPEI 00001541 004 OF 004 June, the Taipei Newspaper Association suggested a new approach. The Taiwan authorities should lift the ban against Chinese businesses, particularly the real estate industry, placing advertising in Taiwan's print media, so as to increase newspapers' advertising revenues. But Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council told AIT that the proposal is still under consideration, and the ban on advertising from China is not likely to be lifted in the near future. Without external financial support or assistance from the Taiwan authorities, this 58-year-old paper could become the next casualty of the decline of Taiwan's newspaper business. -------------- Comment: TV - A Less Thoughtful Medium -------------- ¶19. (SBU) The decline of China Times and the general hardships faced by Taiwan's news dailies reflect the woes of print media in many places elsewhere: the decline in popularity of the daily newspaper as a news medium. As more people - especially young people - turn to other media sources, circulation drops. Advertisers, already suffering from unrelated economic difficulties, buy fewer ads. This leads to less revenue to newspapers, thus diminishing newspapers' capacity to produce a quality product, thus further diminishing circulation. And so the downward spiral continues. ¶20. (SBU) Although the China Times has no more sterling a record for accuracy than some of its print rivals, it functions on a 24-hour news cycle, which allows at least a moment's reflection before publishing news - a chance to check facts and consult several sources. This is a positively stately pace compared to that of Taiwan's six breathless round-the-clock cable news channels which broadcast first and think later. As circulations of comparatively responsible print media decline and more people in Taiwan turn to TV for their news, the overall standard for news reporting is likely to continue dropping, while sensationalism becomes more prevalent. YOUNG