NZ newspaper consolidation flagged for Fairfax and APN

While speculation mounts as to a joint print venture for rivals Fairfax and News Limited in Australia, across the Tasman APN and Fairfax are in negotiations about ways to combine some of their printing facilities. 

Faced with flagging revenues and over capacity in highly capitalised printing plants, newspaper groups thorughout the region are looking for ways to rationalise their production facilities. The new round of merging specultion was kicked off by new Fairfax CEO, Greg Hywood, who said: "I don't think it's any secret that the industry is, in a broader sense, interested in trying to rationalise printing and distribution and, you know, we're interested in doing that.”

This not only applies to Australia but also to NZ where an article in The Australian this week claimed that discussions have taken place between Fairfax and APN for a joint NZ print and distribution model. In New Zealand, APN’s newspapers include the New Zealand Herald, seven dailies and 40 community papers, compared to Fairfax’s nine dailies and 60 community papers.

There are many difficulties in rationalising newspaper printing, despite the attraction of lower costs. Multiple formats, sizes and folds plus the need for competing newspapers to be printed at the same have ensured that the idea never gets past the discussion stage. So far.

The talk in New Zealand follows ongoing speculation on a joint venture taking place in Australia between News Limited and Fairfax. However, one authoritative source cast doubt on the likelihood of this happening. “In Sydney, I just can’t see it,” he told Print21. “Neither plant is big enough to do them both [newspapers] … there was talk of it in Hobart once, but both companies like to have the latest breaking news and there is a lot of politics involved in who prints first and things like that.”