INFORMANT Closes

[Thomass]

The problem is the Digital World has taken over...even though this was available on Digital...

..so much free info these days

[SLB2.0]

Sad to hear - that's where I first started.

Presumably they're staying online? No real need for a newspaper anyone. If you're not using a computer, you're not making them much money.

[Chief Stipe]

Just now, SLB2.0 said:

Sad to hear - that's where I first started.

Presumably they're staying online? No real need for a newspaper anyone. If you're not using a computer, you're not making them much money.

No.  Closing everything.  My sources tell me that they have been done over for some time by the NZRB.  Time for all good industry stakeholders who like independent thought to rally to the cause.

Probably one less salary at the NZRB would keep the publication going.

[SLB2.0]

From memory there were only around 4 people working in the office and then a couple working as printers.

The former boss, who has since passed away, was essentially keeping it running because of passion more than anything else.

[hunterthepunter]

bettor too keep the informant and get rid of the Riu

[The Centaur]

A publication these days starts with advertisements then if you can fit it in the articles. Any other approach won't work.

 

[SLB2.0]

It all comes down to affiliates. Because the TAB won't allow offshore bookmaker advertising in New Zealand - and the NZ TAB doesn't run an affiliate scheme (which is mind boggling) - then there's no way they can make substantial money.

[Joe Kidd]

Friday Flash, Turf Digest, Best Bets, Informant R.I.P.  All a bit like the Yellow Pages which still surprises me when another years edition lands on my doorstep. Must be at least 10 years since I actually used one as a reference source.

Online is where it's at now and will become even more so in future. That's a bummer as having options is always the best scenario.There are many places punters can be reading the form etc that they wouldn't take their computer.

[Chief Stipe]

1 hour ago, Joe Kidd said:

Friday Flash, Turf Digest, Best Bets, Informant R.I.P.  All a bit like the Yellow Pages which still surprises me when another years edition lands on my doorstep. Must be at least 10 years since I actually used one as a reference source.

Online is where it's at now and will become even more so in future. That's a bummer as having options is always the best scenario.There are many places punters can be reading the form etc that they wouldn't take their computer.

You didn't mention that at one stage the first three were all competing with each other.

Secondly the Turf Digest and Best Bets were in one stable Fairfax.  Fairfax wanted out and at the same time starting asking for exorbitant amounts for Newspaper liftouts.

Along came the NZRB and paid way over the top to Fairfax.  Way over.  I knew one of the editors at Fairfax and to say they were laughing all the way to the bank would be an understatement.

The Informant steps up.  Not only did they provide a hard copy form guide and editorial but they took on many unemployed New Zealand racing journalists.

So the NZRB trying to make things profitable arguably used anti-competitive behaviour to make it difficult for any other entrants.  Access to form feeds was denied.  The Racing Desk became a propaganda machine for their bosses and we were left to digest banal cookie cut articles each week about racing.

If you combined the circulation of the current non-profitable Best Bets with The Informant then you would have at the very least a break even model combined with a stable full of enthusiastic independent journalists.  

Your statement about online is where it is at is indicative of the NZRB's lack of understanding of the New Zealand market.  Hence the lack of take up of the new flash TAB website and app.  You would find that many who subscribe to Best Bets and The Informant don't even have email addresses let alone know how to drive around a website.

I assure you that I'm as technically savvy as anyone and I still like getting my hard copy form guide each week which is supplemented by any online research that I may have done.

NZRB have got it completely wrong - the young technically savvy market may be where the future is at but the future for NZ Racing looks a long way off.  You don't butcher your bread and butter market to move into a high risk albeit lower cost market.

Free to view, closing provincial racecourses, no newspaper inserts, closing TAB outlets, no hard copy form guides, difficult to use TAB websites and so on and so on.  Any one would think the NZRB is on a death march!

[Hedley]

Yes., the deathmarch is on track and begining to bite by design..none of the current woes are by accident, they have been implimented year on year season by season. I've been forewarning about this agenda for well over 10years by now..being left on my own opinion each time of writing.

[Chief Stipe]

2 minutes ago, Hedley said:

Yes., the deathmarch is on track and begining to bite by design..none of the current woes are by accident, they have been implimented year on year season by season. I've been forewarning about this agenda for well over 10years by now..being left on my own opinion each time of writing.

Yes Hedley you have shown foresight however I for one have not left you on your own.  The Informant's demise might just be the rallying cry that the industry needs.

[Joe Kidd]

38 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

 

Your statement about online is where it is at is indicative of the NZRB's lack of understanding of the New Zealand market.  Hence the lack of take up of the new flash TAB website and app.  You would find that many who subscribe to Best Bets and The Informant don't even have email addresses let alone know how to drive around a website.

I assure you that I'm as technically savvy as anyone and I still like getting my hard copy form guide each week which is supplemented by any online research that I may have done.

NZRB have got it completely wrong - the young technically savvy market may be where the future is at but the future for NZ Racing looks a long way off.  You don't butcher your bread and butter market to move into a high risk albeit lower cost market.

Free to view, closing provincial racecourses, no newspaper inserts, closing TAB outlets, no hard copy form guides, difficult to use TAB websites and so on and so on.  Any one would think the NZRB is on a death march!

So I see things differently to you and this equates to my lack of understanding? 

I don't question you being technically savvy but unsure why you even put that on the table.  As a young fella, I spent many very early Saturday mornings with the Friday Flash spread over the lounge floor, newspaper lift out alongside and an ash tray nearby slowly filling up. Now, none of those including the ash tray apply. The game has evolved. Prior to Trackside / Action TV, I was sent videos by the TAB showing all the race meetings from the previous week. They were my new and improved racebook etc. Now, I do all of my study online. I spend hours every week reviewing replays of races but seldom look at hard copy. One of the issues people have with hard copy is just how up to date the information is. I had this discussion numerous times with Leo George and took on board his frustrations that he would happily share in his usual colourful way. R.I.P Leo. A common complaint over the years has been a total lack of coverage in race books of the meetings second day on the Sunday and Monday. Punters start seeking that information elsewhere when supply dries up. Another common complaint was the non availability of race books in areas for one reason or another. Couple that with the gradual decline of newspaper horse racing lift outs and the writing, pardon the pun was on the wall or should I say online. I'm an old school punter. Started out as a boy at school around 1970, years before Radio Pacific. If we wanted to listen to races we would occasionally get the double legs broadcast on the ZB network or wait till night to stand outside holding the transistor with one foot in the air facing Mecca just to get slightly improved reception. This is obviously another area of the game that has evolved. I see myself as the generation of punters that are a dying breed. Younger generations have virtually always got their device nearby. Books etc are almost antiquated with a growing % of the population. I remember seeing a meme of a group of kids standing around with devices in their hands looking down at books on the ground saying "what are they?". 

I'm in business and are "savvy" enough to comprehend that if there is a $ in something, then someone will service that market in fact, people will push each other out of the way to get their product in front of you. I'm sure you enjoy your hard copy guide each week but obviously there are not enough people like yourself to make it worthwhile for publishers. The only time I make a point of buying hard copy is if I'm going on track. I'm confident the same applies with many others and as we all know, course attendances have dwindled over the years. I'd like the Informant to stick around as I'm a believer in having choices and options but the future for anyone brave enough to take on this market must surely be mainly via an online format.  

[Chief Stipe]

2 minutes ago, Joe Kidd said:

So I see things differently to you and this equates to my lack of understanding? 

I don't question you being technically savvy but unsure why you even put that on the table.  As a young fella, I spent many very early Saturday mornings with the Friday Flash spread over the lounge floor, newspaper lift out alongside and an ash tray nearby slowly filling up. Now, none of those including the ash tray apply. The game has evolved. Prior to Trackside / Action TV, I was sent videos by the TAB showing all the race meetings from the previous week. They were my new and improved racebook etc. Now, I do all of my study online. I spend hours every week reviewing replays of races but seldom look at hard copy. One of the issues people have with hard copy is just how up to date the information is. I had this discussion numerous times with Leo George and took on board his frustrations that he would happily share in his usual colourful way. R.I.P Leo. A common complaint over the years has been a total lack of coverage in race books of the meetings second day on the Sunday and Monday. Punters start seeking that information elsewhere when supply dries up. Another common complaint was the non availability of race books in areas for one reason or another. Couple that with the gradual decline of newspaper horse racing lift outs and the writing, pardon the pun was on the wall or should I say online. I'm an old school punter. Started out as a boy at school around 1970, years before Radio Pacific. If we wanted to listen to races we would occasionally get the double legs broadcast on the ZB network or wait till night to stand outside holding the transistor with one foot in the air facing Mecca just to get slightly improved reception. This is obviously another area of the game that has evolved. I see myself as the generation of punters that are a dying breed. Younger generations have virtually always got their device nearby. Books etc are almost antiquated with a growing % of the population. I remember seeing a meme of a group of kids standing around with devices in their hands looking down at books on the ground saying "what are they?". 

I'm in business and are "savvy" enough to comprehend that if there is a $ in something, then someone will service that market in fact, people will push each other out of the way to get their product in front of you. I'm sure you enjoy your hard copy guide each week but obviously there are not enough people like yourself to make it worthwhile for publishers. The only time I make a point of buying hard copy is if I'm going on track. I'm confident the same applies with many others and as we all know, course attendances have dwindled over the years. I'd like the Informant to stick around as I'm a believer in having choices and options but the future for anyone brave enough to take on this market must surely be mainly via an online format.  

Maybe your lack of understanding derives from not having all the facts.  There is still a strong market for a hard copy form guide.  However it will never be profitable as long as one inefficient player in the market has a monopoly on inputs and uses its very large source of revenue to exert unfair competition.

You would find if the playing field was fair and even then a hard copy AND an online version with opinion pieces and editorial would survive.

But no one can compete fairly with the NZRB behemoth who for the last 20 years have wasted 100's of millions of dollars.

 

[Dark Beau]

4 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

You didn't mention that at one stage the first three were all competing with each other.

Secondly the Turf Digest and Best Bets were in one stable Fairfax.  Fairfax wanted out and at the same time starting asking for exorbitant amounts for Newspaper liftouts.

Along came the NZRB and paid way over the top to Fairfax.  Way over.  I knew one of the editors at Fairfax and to say they were laughing all the way to the bank would be an understatement.

The Informant steps up.  Not only did they provide a hard copy form guide and editorial but they took on many unemployed New Zealand racing journalists.

So the NZRB trying to make things profitable arguably used anti-competitive behaviour to make it difficult for any other entrants.  Access to form feeds was denied.  The Racing Desk became a propaganda machine for their bosses and we were left to digest banal cookie cut articles each week about racing.

If you combined the circulation of the current non-profitable Best Bets with The Informant then you would have at the very least a break even model combined with a stable full of enthusiastic independent journalists.  

Your statement about online is where it is at is indicative of the NZRB's lack of understanding of the New Zealand market.  Hence the lack of take up of the new flash TAB website and app.  You would find that many who subscribe to Best Bets and The Informant don't even have email addresses let alone know how to drive around a website.

I assure you that I'm as technically savvy as anyone and I still like getting my hard copy form guide each week which is supplemented by any online research that I may have done.

NZRB have got it completely wrong - the young technically savvy market may be where the future is at but the future for NZ Racing looks a long way off.  You don't butcher your bread and butter market to move into a high risk albeit lower cost market.

Free to view, closing provincial racecourses, no newspaper inserts, closing TAB outlets, no hard copy form guides, difficult to use TAB websites and so on and so on.  Any one would think the NZRB is on a death march!

An absolutely accurate summary of the current situation and where the overpaid NZ Racing Board has taken us. 

[Weasel]

Can someone enlighten me on The Informant business model?

I have always liked the publication but baulked at paying the price to subscribe I like hard copy and online access to relevant topical info.

I used to get irritated at TI cos you could only read the first par of a handful of articles, having to pay for full access online. Many large and small publishers - probably all of them, really - have had to make a decision ...a free/cheap publication with high circulation/reach, or pay to read it edition by edition and/or annual subscription at a cheaper rate.

Perhaps the biggest difficulty for TI was having the time needed to collate form updates, print and distribute nationwide when there are so many minor meetings weekdays/public holidays etc. Sad to see the demise of another independent publication.

 

[Chief Stipe]

14 minutes ago, Weasel said:

Can someone enlighten me on The Informant business model?

I have always liked the publication but baulked at paying the price to subscribe I like hard copy and online access to relevant topical info.

I used to get irritated at TI cos you could only read the first par of a handful of articles, having to pay for full access online. Many large and small publishers - probably all of them, really - have had to make a decision ...a free/cheap publication with high circulation/reach, or pay to read it edition by edition and/or annual subscription at a cheaper rate.

Perhaps the biggest difficulty for TI was having the time needed to collate form updates, print and distribute nationwide when there are so many minor meetings weekdays/public holidays etc. Sad to see the demise of another independent publication.

 

I'm not sure what your question is.  However to provide independent interesting and on the edge editorial and opinion costs money.  In New Zealand the NZRB pay mega bucks for bland banal cookie cut articles from their marketing budget.

An independent publication like The Informant relies on subscriptions and advertising to pay those who write decent articles.

Compare our scenario to what happens in OZ.

What I like about the OZ model is the say it as it is, the irreverence, the finger in the air.  Doesn't it make sport interesting?

[Weasel]

I guess my question was related to whether they made it hard for themselves by making it too expensive to buy each week in hard copy...and by limiting what you can read for free reduces the digital site traffic, making it less appealing to the advertisers (unless you have a high subscriber base, you cant make a good case to advertisers).

I have seen a number of specialist publications close down as the digital age takes over..but it strikes me that high circulation and 'free to readers' content is most likely to succeed... racing as  a specialist industry, though, is not print-friendly when there are daily updates/changes/new information becoming relevant. TI probably should have gone digital only long before now because of that ...but it is always easy to look a cow in the arse from behind. Perhaps that is still an option, though I can understand why current owner(s) have had a gutsful. They tried very hard for a long time in a tough market with little or no help from the governing body.

Edited April 4, 2019 by Weasel

[Fred]

anz bloodstock news is an interesting daily email -it obviously has to rely on heavy advertising. Perhaps a NZ based similar enterprise could succeed. It does not cover fields/form, just items of general interest.

[The Centaur]

2 hours ago, Fred said:

anz bloodstock news is an interesting daily email -it obviously has to rely on heavy advertising. Perhaps a NZ based similar enterprise could succeed. It does not cover fields/form, just items of general interest.

Yes The Informant should have tried a different format ditching the form supplement, reducing the price to $2.00 just as an incentive for the retailer and relied on advertising, Also making a deal with NZR/HRNZ/GRNZ and sports bodies for supply of content.

Circulation and advertising go together. Years ago I suggested to Dennis Ryan to have the Form supplement separated but he was adamant it must be included. I really think he was a late acceptor to the fact race form is best suited online.

[Fred]

3 minutes ago, The Centaur said:

 

. I really think he was a late acceptor to the fact race form is best suited online.

And where is it available online in an accepted format ?

[The Centaur]

3 minutes ago, Fred said:

And where is it available online in an accepted format ?

Just go to clipform.net   Been there for twenty years same format. Not guaranteed being 100% accurate but quick to to get a comprehensive idea of the form.

[Weasel]

58 minutes ago, Fred said:

And where is it available online in an accepted format ?

TAB .pdf format in several options for all fields here and overseas

[Chief Stipe]

15 hours ago, The Centaur said:

Yes The Informant should have tried a different format ditching the form supplement, reducing the price to $2.00 just as an incentive for the retailer and relied on advertising, Also making a deal with NZR/HRNZ/GRNZ and sports bodies for supply of content.

Circulation and advertising go together. Years ago I suggested to Dennis Ryan to have the Form supplement separated but he was adamant it must be included. I really think he was a late acceptor to the fact race form is best suited online.

You are assuming that they didn't have deals with some industry stakeholders.  The retail network would have been a drag on costs and direct courier delivery a cheaper option.

However my understanding is that the biggest impediment to The Informant was the NZRB and NZTR.  Both used their leverage and dare I say it anti-competitive behaviour to force The Informant down.

It would be interesting if someone laid a complaint with the Commerce Commission for anti-competitive behaviour.

[Fred]

14 hours ago, Weasel said:

TAB .pdf format in several options for all fields here and overseas

Thanks -found it, eventually.

[SLB2.0]

What would you think the price of sale would be?

I heard through the grapevine that Brendan Lindsay was possible interested