Gordon Fisher is returning to Postmedia’s flagship daily the National Post as president, a role he previously held between 2010 and 2013. Announcing the appointment, Postmedia president and CEO Paul Godfrey called Fisher one of the national daily’s “biggest champions.”
He arrives at what Godfrey called a “key time” in the Post’s evolution, charged with leading a renewed focus on product development as well as enhancing advertiser relationships.
Fisher’s long newspaper career includes stints as Post publisher, as well as president of news and information for the now defunct Canwest Global Communications Corp. He has also served as editor-in-chief, general manager and publisher of the Ottawa Citizen; publisher of the Kingston-Whig Standard and managing editor of The Vancouver Sun.
Fisher helped launch the Post in 1998, holding various roles with the national daily before leaving in 2013 to take a role as president of the company’s Pacific Newspaper Group – which includes The Vancouver Sun and The Province. He will continue in that capacity.
He drew considerable attention among news media for a blunt internal memo sent to PNG employees shortly after his arrival in 2013, in which he said the Sun and Province were in “serious difficulty,” created by “alarming and unprecedented” revenue declines, most notably in print advertising.
Toronto-based Postmedia reported print advertising revenue of $93.1 million for the three months ended Nov. 30, a 20.1% decline from the year-earlier period. In its analysis, Postmedia management said the shift of ad dollars from print to digital appears to be permanent, and predicted the print advertising market would remain “challenging” throughout fiscal 2015.
Newspapers attracted approximately $1.4 billion in print advertising revenue in 2014, according to the most recent ad spend forecast from ZenithOptimedia, accounting for approximately 12.5% of the total Canadian ad spend. The report called for revenues to decline to $1.05 billion by 2017, as ad dollars continue migrating to digital.
Last week, Postmedia received notice the Competition Bureau would not challenge its acquisition of Sun Media Corporation’s English language assets, including the Sun chain of dailies and their associated web properties, as well as 24 Hours commuter products in Toronto and Vancouver. The company said the $316 million purchase from Quebecor Media could close within the next few weeks.
