Suddenly, print media firms started imbibing the culture of sitting printing presses in different parts of the country. Arguably, Thisday Newspaper started this innovation before others began to emulate it. The idea of simultaneous printing is to arrive at the newsstands very early and satisfy the target market profitably. To a reasonable extent, the issue of early arrival has been addressed but the same news items are being served the readers in all the sales locations, in most instances. In other words, the cover pages of these newspapers remain the same for all the markets in the various regions.
Available records show that the national newspapers own over 30 printing presses. The Punch has three; one each in Magboro, Ogun State, Port Harcourt, Rivers State and Abuja. It also has another commercial press at Mangoro, Ikeja in Lagos State. ThisDay has one each in Agbor, Delta State, Lagos State and Abuja. The Nation has one each in Lagos & Rivers states and Abuja. Nigerian Tribune has one each in Ibadan, Oyo State and Abuja. The Sun has one each in Lagos, Aba in Abia State and Abuja. These machines are being used to print the New Telegraph, a publication owned by The Sun’s Publisher. Daily Trust has one each in Lagos, Kano, Borno states and Abuja. The Guardian has one each in Lagos State and Abuja. Independent has one each in Lagos, Delta states and Abuja. Vanguard has one each in Lagos, Delta states and Abuja. New Nigeria has one each in Kaduna and Lagos states. National Mirror had one each in Lagos, Ogbese in Ondo state and Abuja. It has a commercial press at Oregun area of Lagos state. Leadership and Blueprint has one each in Abuja. All these are besides the printing presses that are being operated by various state governments and the commercial printing presses. Conservatively, the total number of printing presses in Nigeria is in excess of sixty.
The management of these media firms acted very late and would definitely be regretting their actions now. This is due to the fact that the concerned media firms sold more copies when they serviced all locations from their headquarters than now when the printing presses are closer to their markets. If they had acted earlier, they would have recovered their returns on investments in no distant time.
It is a known fact that none of the media firms is doing up to 5% capacity of its printing press! This is one of the reasons why qualities of most newspapers are very poor. While attempt is on to get “registration” or what is known as a good colour separation done, the total print run must have been completed. In most cases, the total generated wastes copies are more than the number of good copies per operation.
Checks carried out by AbingMO3 Marketing Management Consultancy revealed that most of these printing presses print between 800 and 1,500 copies per day and the total waste copies being recorded in an attempt to attain perfect print (colour separation) range from 500 to 700 copies per printing session. Otherwise, the copies meant for the readers/buyers would be very horrible. This scenario is an indication that the sales value of the printed copies, if all are even sold, won’t be able to cover cost of plates alone talk less the inks, newsprint, etc.
Furthermore, the total print run of all the national newspapers is not up to capacity of one printing press! Yes, because full production speed is 100.000 copies per hour on a Goss machine. A newspaper firm prints between 3,000 and 3,500 copies for its markets in South West, South East and South South. Another media house prints 800 copies for the eleven states in the South East and South South. A newspaper owned by a Niger Delta indigene prints in Asaba, he uses another Niger Deltan facility and circulates 1,500 copies for all the states in the South East and South South; unsold is above 50%. In Port Harcourt, a newspaper that makes waves in the South West prints and circulates copies that are not up to 1,500 in the entire South East and South South. This has made it to hand over its sales outlets to the appointed agents who are being paid stipends of not more than N30,000.00 per month, depending on the location. A northern newspaper prints 1,000 copies for its readers in the South West. These print runs include complimentary copies. Market leader in Ibadan, Oyo state supplies 1,200 copies per day; the next newspaper supplies 800 copies, the next media firm supplies 700 copies per day, the next media firm sends 200 copies to Ibadan daily while majority are supplying as low as 50 copies. Unfortunately, the copies are just like “back to sender”.
The entire Northern market has collapsed completely because many of the sales locations cannot be accessed due to the security challenges. Outside Abuja, Niger, Kogi, Kwara and by extension, Plateau, Kaduna, Kano, Nasarrawa and Benue states, other locations in the region do not get supply of newspapers on a daily basis. However, Daily Trust finds a way around this because that is where its main market is. This does not mean that it is selling as such. Covid-19 has compounded the woes of the media firms. Needed advert revenue is missing and pagination has stagnated at 32 pages. AbingMO3 Marketing Management Consultancy is presently compiling the supply figures of major newspapers to all the sales locations in Nigeria.
Knowing these figures are easier to come by. Our consultancy outfit has addresses of all the newspapers distribution centres in Nigeria where supplies to these locations can be verified and confirmed, (interested persons can reach us via email for the addresses). Also, establishing the print run of most media firms is possible especially if the interested person can be generous enough to the so many non-staff (collators, wrappers, transporters, etc) that are involved in the production processes in the media outfits.
Unfortunately, staff members are not aware of these abysmally low figures and management hides this from them thereby leading to uninformed arguments by the staff that their newspapers are performing better in the market while the reverse is the case. Management needs to be open to its staff members. Full disclosure may even make the staff members to see reasons with the management in the running affairs of the company.
In order to minimize the risk of dwindling revenue and yet keep alive the opportunities for survival and growth, each of theses media houses must formulate add-and-drop policy. The total number of staff is surely on the high side vis a- vis the number of copies being printed and the revenue from space sales. Printing machines need to be reconfigured, merger is also an option and diversification can be considered.
Findings by AbingMO3 Marketing Management Consultancy revealed that the first real newspaper presses were produced by Koenig & Bauer. The Times in London was printed at first on a rotary/flat machine press instead of a hand press in the night from 28 to 29 November 1819. Today also other manufacturers such as Goss, Manroland Web Systems, TKS, Mitsubishi and TPH are in the press market.
The typical newspaper press is divided into two parts: printing and folding. The first functions of a newspaper press are loading and unwinding of newsprint reels. These functions are provided by the printers. Printers unwind paper reels and automatically change paper reels at full production speed.
The towers consist of four printing units to print Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black ink onto the newsprint. The newsprint web travels upwards in the printing tower during the colour is applied to it on both sides of the reel. Usually for every page there is one individual printing plate per colour. This printing plate is mounted onto the plate cylinder within the printing unit which again is part of the printing tower.
Modern day presses can print full colour on every page. Four colour printing units are used for printing on one side of the paper web and another four printing units apply the backside print onto the paper web. Printing front and backside can happen simultaneously (blanket-to-blanket-configuration) or after another (satellite configuration) The printing units cannot just print one page like in digital printing, instead printing towers in newspaper presses can print up to 24 broadsheet pages in full colour. If the press consists of several towers many more pages can be printed at once.
The folder starts where the printed webs come together. The folder can produce ribbons and combine these ribbons in such a way that the pages are sorted on top of each other. The folding process starts in the so called super structure and ends in the main folding units at the end of the press process. The ribbons are cut in such a way that the pages of the newspaper are separated from each other and the folder lays down the newspaper copies onto the delivery belt.
Regrettably, virtually all the printing machines are configured to print newspapers only. As a way forward, they have to be reconfigured so that the idle time can be reduced. After the reconfiguration, the printing machines will thereafter be able to print calendars, textbooks, exercise books, files, etc. Marketing unit is to be established in each press so that the operatives can go out and source for customers. As a form of motivation, commission should be earned on any completed business. Non utilization of each press to its full capacity leads to avoidable idle time.
Media firms can diversify into a recycling business. Paper for recycling can be from unsold newspapers, off-cut/tear-off; these could be recycled with little or minimum effort. Unsold and production waste copies have to undergo some processes whereby papers are filtered (in order to remove pin, staples, tape, dirt, etc) bleached and dried thereafter. Unsold copies of the newspapers can serve as tissue papers after thorough processing by a mill. Media firms can go further to set up smaller firms with the responsibilities of manufacturing coffee filter, diapers, egg cartoons, shoe boxes, insulations, fibres board, glass cup packaging or animal beddings.
Merger of some of these media firms can also be considered. Some of them are not different from one another in many ways. Virtually, all of them publish the same news items because their sources of news are the same; just little difference in presentation. The publishers just have to swallow their prides before things gets worst.
The writer was gladdened when he learned in May 2020 that newspapers proprietors are considering or planning joint printing and distribution in order to reduce the cost of operations. However, nothing has been done not even a meeting has been called, fuelling speculation that there is an ego problem among the members.
The rate of failure and positive impact of simultaneous printing should necessitate a rational and tedious process of scrutinizing any business ideas before taking final decision in future. It is true that a business strategy that made sense few years ago may become obsolete now due to technological changes.
Abiola Ayankunbi is MD/CEO at AbingMO3 Marketing Management Consultancy
0802 305 1315
abiolaayankunbi@yahoo.com
