Monday, February 11, 2013

USAT | Ex-AOL executive named general manager; challenges include flagging advertising, circulation

USA Today disclosed today that it hired a former AOL Huffington Post Media Group executive, Derek Murphy, as general manager in charge of day-to-day operations. Murphy, who was GM of multicultural media at AOL, replaces Susie Ellwood, who resigned three months ago to become publisher of Cox Media's Austin American-Statesman.

Murphy
Murphy reports to Larry Kramer, who has been publisher of Gannett's best-known brand since May. USAT did not provide his age in its announcement or in a story on its website about his appointment.

USAT was vague about Murphy's specific responsibilities. Kramer was quoted as saying that his "role will be to manage the transition of USA Today to a digital-first enterprise. He will lead a dynamic senior leadership team to grow the USA Today brand."

Even before Kramer's arrival, however, several of USAT's traditional key functions were spun off to other Gannett executives or divisions -- including advertising sales and marketing, which are managed by Chief Marketing Officer Maryam Banikarim's office, and production and circulation, which are now part of Gannett Publishing Services. That leaves a relatively diminished portfolio anchored by editorial for Murphy and Kramer to manage in the struggling paper's current turnaround.

Advertising, circulation fall
USAT faces challenges on several fronts, starting with advertising revenue. Gannett's national advertising sales, which are a proxy for USAT's financial health, continue to decline, albeit at a smaller rate. In the fourth quarter, national ad revenue fell 6.4%, GCI disclosed last week. While that includes the entire company, USAT accounts for a disproportionate share.

The trend is improving. National fell 7.6% in the third quarter; 18.2% in the second quarter, as Kramer was coming on, and 14.5% in the first quarter.

Circulation is another weak spot. USAT's circulation fell 3.9% to 1.7 million during the six months ended Sept. 30, a period when its two national rivals reported gains. The New York Times' soared 40%, to 1.6 million, on the strength of digital subscriptions instituted with a paywall. The Wall Street Journal's jumped 9.4% to 2.3 million, also due to digital subscriptions.

Lone among Gannett's dailies, USAT does not charge for digital access, and it has not publicly disclosed any plans to do so. In September, the paper redesigned its website, digital and print editions.

A top minority exec
Murphy's educational background is unusual for a publishing executive, especially in newspapering: He holds a bachelor of science degree in engineering and management from Tufts University, according to today's announcement. It's unclear which type of engineering Murphy studied, however.

Murphy is African-American, and his appointment immediately makes him one of Gannett's highest-level minority executives when the company's management ranks have been growing less diverse at the most senior levels. Historically, GCI has led the newspaper industry in workforce diversity efforts.

At AOL, he led the "overall strategy, audience development, operational and business performance for the launch and management of several new multicultural websites and related content and advertising partnerships," today's announcement says. "Murphy joined Huffington Post in 2009 as senior vice president, business development, where he was responsible for structuring strategic partnerships to scale the business and deliver material growth in content offerings, brand presence, audience engagement and revenues."

Before that, he was vice president, business development and operations for CNN News Group, where he developed strategic content syndication, marketing and distribution partnerships for CNN digital and select CNN television network properties.

20 comments:

  1. Granted, USAT is a bit larger than most our sites, but what is the point of having a GM and a publisher who have essentially the same duties?

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  2. Really? An AOL executive? Sam Zell wasn't available?

    On the other hand, if CNN went from "News Leader" to increasingly irrelevant on his watch, then he's PERFECT for the job.

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    1. Similar reaction as anyone with Huffington Post experience is the last thing Gannett needs to build what little credibility it has left. Then again, it is better than an exec from Media Matters.

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  3. "Historically, GCI has led the newspaper industry in workforce diversity efforts."

    The truth is GCI has led the newspaper industry in workforce diversity efforts for people NOT in senior level management. Take a look across the company and you can actually SEE where the diversity is NOT. And I'm talking about racial diversity. Gender diversity has been relatively solid when you compare GCI w/most companies. And it's clear the the current CEO wanted to make a statement in that direction after with all hires of white females.

    You can tell how serious a CEO is about diversity when you look at the make-up of the people that report directly to them. It's obvious GCI's CEO isn't all that serious about it. And, when you look at the make-up of the people that report directly to the people who report to the CEO you can get a decent picture of how serious the company is about diversity overall. It's clear that GCI is not all that serious.

    So, good for GCI in hiring a AA to a senior exec position. You get a gold star and a cookie. Now you can count on one hand (or at most, two) the number of senior execs that are NOT white in a company of 30K people.

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  4. Most of newsroom management and reporters are incapable of thinking and executing digital first. Laughable if it weren't so true. That goes for two if three executive editors, most Managing Editors and DMES.

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  5. Circulation means nothing to USA Today/GPS. One of the district managers with the highest growth in USA Today sales over the past several years was shown the door by Tony Simmons in KY a few weeks ago. In the old Cincinnati market, he won every award imaginable and made the rest of us look bad. New DMs were sent to KY to be trained since he knew the right way to do things. We're still in shock at the loss, Tony Simmons must be as inept as advertised.

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  6. Before the snarkery takes hold, everyone at USA Today who has met Derek have been mightily impressed by his knowledge base, his grasp of where we need to go and his communication skills.

    A great hire, at least it appears. Can't wait for him to get started.

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    Replies
    1. Everyone? Every single one?

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    2. Lincoln said the same thing about George McClellan.

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  7. Black, white, blue or pink with polka dots...doesn't matter. Bottom line is the job was not needed when Ellwood had it and it's still not needed with the new guy. The amount of redundancy in senior management is boarderline criminal.

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    1. "boarderline"? A rooming house queue?

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  8. If you look up his LinkedIn profile, you can see why he's been hired: business development.

    http://www.linkedin.com/in/derekjamesmurphy

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  9. CNN... Payne crony?

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  10. Someone please take control of ad sales at USA Today. This Gannett corporate BS isn't working.

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    1. 1:19 USAT ad sales are above plan so you have no clue what you are talking about.

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    2. Does that ad sales plan include a current quarter revenue goal that is higher than the fourth quarter's actual revenue? The same? Lower? And how does the current quarter's plan compare to Q1 in 2012?

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    3. Yes and above. Sorry Jim. The stock is up too! And your revenues are down. Ironic huh?

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    4. Sales might be above plan b/c they lowered the expectations and projections. They are going to do this all year long. Let's see where they will be in Q3. Without the Olympics and Politics, let's see if this company can hold it's on. I think we all know the answer to that. They can't and they won't. All those jumping for joy at $20/share, keep jumping.

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  11. Above plan? If "plan's" a penny. They beat it!

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  12. USAT is ahead of plan period. Sorry Jimbo. The only thing lagging are your revenues. You need to beg harder. Haters stop being so cheap. Instead of paying union dues for nothing send your money to Jimbo. Sparky can't support him forever

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