ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, October 15, 1996 TAG: 9610150057
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ALAN SORENSEN STAFF WRITER
IT'S A FIRST for The Roanoke Times, and it may signal the wave of the future.
In an effort to serve readers with varied interests, The Roanoke Times today launches a new publication, The Daily Market Report.
It marks the first time the newspaper has offered a special-interest publication to subscribers for an additional fee, meaning it also is a trial of what publishers say may be a wave of the future.
Starting today for the next three weeks, home-delivery subscribers will find a complimentary copy of the section with their newspaper. .
For subscribers who order it, we'll deliver this 20-page tabloid Tuesdays through Saturdays, for 49 cents a week. It offers complete listings of every stock traded on the New York, Nasdaq and American stock exchanges and every mutual fund in the United States. To subscribe, call 981-3211 or, outside the Roanoke calling area, (800) 346-1234, ext. 211.
The Roanoke Times' daily Business pages will continue providing stories of the stock and mutual fund markets, as well as a brief report on stocks of companies with a major impact on the regional economy. Tabular material about commodities, farm markets and dividends will remain on the main newspaper's Business pages.
But as of today, The Roanoke Times has stopped publishing stock tables in the main newspaper that goes to all our readers. The space freed will make room for more local news and features, including business news, and planned new content that may appeal to a greater number of readers.
While seven other U.S. papers are offering separate sections with financial tables on a weekly or quarterly basis, The Roanoke Times is the first to provide it daily, said Randy Picht, Associated Press assistant business editor for stock services.
Most newspapers have over the past five years been offering less of the stock market and mutual fund tables as growth in those markets has outgrown the space devoted to them, Picht said.
"Certainly, you are among a handful of papers providing the full markets," he said.
Why are we trying this?
The Roanoke Times' president and publisher, Walter Rugaber, said the newspaper wants "to test reader interest in targeted delivery of specialized information."
The theory reflects a shift evident throughout the economy, from the mass production of standardized goods to the flexible delivery of customized services. But the goal here, Rugaber emphasized, is to supplement, not replace, the newspaper product that is delivered to all subscribers.
"There will always be a core newspaper," he said. "If the Dow drops 100 points, you won't need The Daily Market Report to read about it."
The new publication is possible because of cost and readership trends, he said, and because recent improvements in customer service make it possible to deliver a customized package to readers.
Stock listings are a logical place to begin that experiment, newspaper officials said. The cost of newsprint has risen sharply in recent years, and the number of stocks and mutual funds has soared. In the early 1970s, for example, there were just 400 mutual funds in America; today, there are more than 5,000.
Also, trading on the Nasdaq stock market has risen more than 380 percent since 1985 as investors have shown interest in new technology-based companies and U.S. shares in foreign companies, according to the National Association of Securities Dealers. Stocks of more than 100 Virginia-based companies are traded on Nasdaq.
As a result, comprehensive listings have not been feasible for some time in the newspaper that all subscribers receive.
Roanoke Times Editor Wendy Zomparelli observed that if we reported every stock traded in every market - more than 10,000 stocks and more than 5,100 mutual funds - we would have little room left for news and features. No evidence suggests that readers want that.
In fact, recent research of Roanoke Times' readership indicates that fewer than 20 percent of readers routinely turn to the stock tables.
Those readers who do look for stock results are, however, keenly interested in them, said John Levin, The Roanoke Times' business editor. He has spoken with hundreds of readers in the past six years who have called to express dissatisfaction with receiving incomplete stock tables.
An AP computer program has allowed newspapers to tailor their financial listings based on how much space they can devote to the data. Our previous tables included the most actively traded stocks each day. Even so, on a typical day, we reported about 13 percent of the total stock prices listed on the Amex, New York and Nasdaq exchanges and mutual funds.
For some readers, that's not enough. "We've learned there are people who want to be able to comparison-shop for stocks, as well as check trading prices on the ones they already own," Levin said.
And interest in investments is growing, he said. "People who don't consider themselves investors have begun watching the markets because their retirement savings are linked to the stock market through mutual funds and 401(k) plans."
The number of U.S. newspapers carrying stock and mutual fund listings, currently about 550, is growing, Picht said. "More readers are interested. The problem is papers are trying to present the information in a limited number of pages."
To answer readers' needs for more market information and to please as many people as possible with a one-size-fits-all product, the Roanoke Times has sought solutions in new technology.
Customers can telephone the Stock Quote Hot Line, which is part of our InfoLine service. And computer users can click into comprehensive stock-reporting services on our Roanoke Times Online Internet site: www.roanoke.com Stock prices are updated every 15 minutes during trading days, providing the daily closing prices after 4:30 p.m.
The Daily Market Report is intended as a third option for readers who need regular full stock reports. The tabloid provides all U.S. listings, printed in a more readable typeface, with more columns of data about each stock and mutual fund. It includes a daily market summary, with results of 11 market indexes such as the Dow Jones. There also is a guide to help investors understand how to use the tables.
In the long-term future, many people will get market data electronically, Rugaber said; but in the meantime, the newspaper has all of this information.
Improvements in delivery service make the section possible. In the past five years, The Roanoke Times has developed the ability to distribute specialized products - including magazines, advertising fliers and The Wall Street Journal. Such delivery has proven possible to any or all households in its market, at the same time as it circulates the daily newspaper, and with no sacrifice in delivery times.
"We are one of the few newspapers in the country with a carrier force capable of delivering different things to different households," said circulation director Helen Burnett.
Depending on customer interest and costs, other publications could follow The Daily Market Report, such as special sections on stock car racing, schools, arts and culture, or international news and commentary.
Rugaber likened the possibilities to what has happened with television. Viewers can still get the game of the week on a major network that broadcasts to anyone who owns a TV. But you can also watch sports 24 hours a day on a cable channel if that's what you want. The idea, he said, is to "allow people to pay for things they value, and not pay for what they don't value."
THE DAILY MARKET REPORT AT A GLANCE
* A 20-page new publication to include complete lists for the national stock and mutual fund markets plus information on how to read the tables.
* Published every Tuesday through Saturday, except days following stock market holidays.
* Delivered with The Roanoke Times to subscribers who order it. The new section now costs an additional 49 cents a week.
* To subscribe, call 981-2311 or (800) 346-1234.
Comparing the financial report Listings in: Daily Market Report Previously in The Roanoke Times New York Stock Exchange 3,482 1,160 Nasdaq stock market 6,238 560 American Stock Exchange 935 88 Mutual funds 5,115 293 (1,386 on Sat.)
Source: Associated Press, based on Oct. 1 listings
LENGTH: Long : 153 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN/Staff. Roanoke Times makeup editor Bobby CNBAdams compiles the new Daily Market Report on a computer terminal.
The Associated Press' Grand Central Stocks program sends customized
financial tables to its member newspapers via telephone lines, with
statistics flowing into prepared templates. color.