With newspaper publishers increasingly focused on cost-control and shedding unprofitable assets, Metroland’s York Region Media Group is bucking the trend by adding a new community newspaper in the fast-growing Ontario town of East Gwillimbury.
The free East Gwillimbury Express debuted Sept. 11 with a weekly print run of 8,000 copies. East Gwillimbury had previously been the only market in York Region not served by its own community newspaper, with its local coverage provided by the neighbouring Newmarket Era.
Situated about an hour north of Toronto, East Gwillimbury’s population has grown to 24,000 in recent years, and is projected to reach 65,000 people by 2031. “It’s just a real hotbed of development and residential growth,” said John Willems, general manager of Metroland’s York Region Media Group.
Despite the generally negative outlook for the newspaper industry, Willems said that Metroland has “continued positive expectations” for its community papers. Unlike their big-city counterparts, Willems said they have managed to remain a sought-after option for advertisers.
“Community newspapers are in such a different position than our dailies,” he said. “National advertisers continue to experiment a lot more than local advertisers, and categories that we had a lot of challenges in [such as classified, with the exception of buy and sell] have stabilized and are growing.”
Willems said that Metroland has made “great strides” in ensuring its community newspapers are evolving in tandem with advertisers’ expectations, introducing enhanced digital opportunities and in some cases reducing frequency.
The latter has been an effective strategy, with Willems noting that advertisers are more inclined to invest with community publications on a weekly basis rather than two or three times per week.
While local advertisers continue to invest in digital media, Willems said that Metroland has successfully wooed advertisers with its combination of print and digital assets. “In our markets, we’re seeing a strengthening in the placement of local dollars,” he said, noting that he’s taken to using the term “print renaissance.”
Clients have told Willems that while their cost per customer acquisition for social media is lower than print, the absolute number of new customer acquisitions requires them to layer in other media such as print. “They can’t sustain themselves on that kind of cash flow,” he said. “Newsprint is more expensive, but it’s driving more volume through their doors.”
As with other Metroland newspapers, the Express will rely on a mixture of run-of-press advertising and flyers.
Flyers have long been an important revenue source for Metroland papers, which come bundled with anywhere from 20 flyers on a slow week to 60 during a key ad period. Willems said that one paper in the Metroland Central region last November weighed slightly over six pounds.
The York Region Group is now comprised of 10 publications in York, plus the Bradford Topic in neighbouring Simcoe County. Last year, Metroland added a new paper in King Township called the King Connection that Willems said has scored “several key victories” against the established independent, the King Weekly Sentinel.
“We firmly established our position in the market, and the feedback we get is very favourable in terms of a different perspective,” he said. “Over the last 10 years there’s been a reduced diversity of voices in the newspaper segment with consolidation, and we’re happy to be part of a process that’s going in another direction.”
