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America's Oldest e-newsletter est.1993
The question should be, is it worth trying to do, not can it be done.
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Dateline: Charlottesville Va
In This Issue
Biggest local media company you've never heard of
By Sara Fisher
N2 Publishing, a local magazine company, will rebrand this week as “Stroll,” bringing all of its 650+ local print magazines under the same branding, executives tell Axios.

Why it matters: The rebrand marks a major milestone for the company, which has grown to bring in more than $131 million in annual revenue.

  • "If you produce unique content that people want to read about, they will read it. And in a very digital world, print is now cool again," said Duane Hixon, co-founder and CEO.

  • The rebrand represents a shift in focus from delivering community news to finding ways to help neighborhoods build stronger connections.
By the numbers: "We just turned 18, and we’ve now had 17 years in a row of profitability," said Hixon.

  • Stroll operates nearly 600 hyper-local magazines across 48 states.

  • About 250 people work at the company.

How it works: Stroll licenses its branding and services to local businesses or entrepreneurs that franchise the local titles on its behalf.

  • The company distributes free, local magazines to readers by mail for free each month.

  • The magazines are operated and managed by local constituents, who can leverage Stroll's national printing, copy editing and operational resources.

  • Stroll keeps a cut of the ad revenue local business owners make from selling local ads in the magazines.
  • Stroll's national team has editorial oversight over what's published in each hyper-local issue, to ensure local magazines meet its editorial standards of nonpartisan, community-focused local news.

  • The magazines typically feature local articles written by residents about everything from spotlights on student-athletes to local homes.

The intrigue: None of the magazines are available online, as a way to ensure the content and experience remain hyper-local. They are only sent by mail to local residents.

Catch up quick: N2 was launched in 2004 by two North Carolina-based sales entrepreneurs. The company is bootstrapped and has received no outside funding.

  • Co-founders Hixon and Earl Seals, who still own and operate the company, harnessed their personal business networks to encourage friends to launch their own local magazines in their hometowns.

  • In addition to its local magazines, Stroll operates a few national products, including a local digital marketing company, which are also included in its annual revenue figures.

What's next: Altogether, "our company is on track to double in revenue in the next four to five years," Hixon said. The company has no plans to sell or go public, he noted.
U.S. digital newspaper ad revenue to surpass print by 2026
By Sara Fisher


The U.S. is expected to make history in 2026 when it becomes the first major media market in the world to see digital newspaper ad revenue eclipse print newspaper ad revenue, according to a new report from PwC.

Why it matters: Newspapers have been slower to migrate advertising revenues to digital than the broader publishing landscape because of their local footprint.

  • "It's not a difference in a willingness to digitally transform, but a marketplace difference," said CJ Bangah, a principal at PwC who focuses on media and is a co-author of the new report.

By the numbers: U.S. newspaper publishers will lose $2.4 billion in ad investment between 2021 and 2026, largely due to print advertising losses. While digital will grow marginally, it won't be enough to stop the industry from losing ad revenues overall.

  • Print advertising will shrink from $7 billion last year to $4.9 billion by 2026. That 7.7% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is well ahead of the global average decline, which is -5.1% CAGR.

  • Digital ad revenue will expand 1% CAGR, adding just $251 million from 2022 to 2026, per the report.

The big picture: Newspapers that cater to local markets struggled to offer competitive digital advertising rates for local businesses online, Bangah said.

  • Local businesses that previously relied on newspapers to geographically target users at the local level found more cost-efficient options on Big Tech platforms.

What's next: News companies are relying on subscription business models to subsidize slowing ad revenue losses.

  • PwC predicts that newspaper circulation revenues, in both digital and print, are expected to surpass advertising in 2022.

  • Data: PwC; Chart: Axios Visuals
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"Heard on the Web" Media Intelligence:  
Courtesy of The Precision Media Group.   
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