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Ashley Highfield

Ashley Highfield66 posts

Ashley Highfield is a British media executive. After starting his career as a management consultant he worked in interactive TV before he was hired by the BBC in 2000. While at the BBC he oversaw the launch of the iPlayer, and grew the corporation’s online business. He is currently the CEO of Johnston Press, a regional newspaper publisher.

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22 Mar, 2016

Profits rise by more than a fifth but further cuts loom

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Johnston Press reports total revenue for 2015 was down by 6.8% from £260m in 2014 to £242.3m last year. However, profits increased by 22.6% to £31.5m by reducing costs to £191.7m from £205.3m in 2014. CEO Highfield says the group hopes to sell some brands and some of its key assets. However, he said he “could not rule out” closing some titles. Debt is down by £14.8m to £179.4m from £194.2m in 2014, with interest payments reduced by almost £10m to £19.1m. The number of people reached through Johnston’s digital titles was up by 40.7% to 22.6 million, with digital advertising revenue rising by 12.4% to £30.6m.

We are a plc and our primary objective is to keep the business moving forward … we have to make profits. We are all on the same side here, which is try to get the business back to growth and get the long-standing debt off our shoulders. The tough trading conditions have already been highlighted by DMGT and Trinity Mirror. We are being prudent in not anticipating it getting better and we are going to make sure we are cutting our cloth appropriately.

Highfield also says Johnston has filled all but two of 50 roles for i for when it takes control of the title on 10 April, filling the roles from The Independent within two weeks.

17 Feb, 2016

City AM interview

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Highfield says of the £24.4m acquisition of the i newspaper from Evgeny Lebedev. He intends to build the brand’s digital presence, increase the distribution of the print edition, targeting small- and medium-sized retailers like post offices and newsagents, and expand to all areas of the UK, including Northern Ireland, where the paper is not currently sold. He will improve editorial by taking 17 existing members of staff and hiring others to form a team of 50. The paper will also draw content from Lebedev’s The Independent’s website and the Evening Standard for £850,000 a year, as well as from Johnston Group’s regional papers. Highfield says that the purchase is about building scale for Johnston Press and attracting bigger advertising. He says scaling by acquiring small regional media groups would have taken a long time and been very expensive.

We are in one quarter of the coun­try and we want to be in all of it, not least because this is a scale game and we wanted to go after more national advertising revenue and have a bigger train set across which to offer our digital services. I’ve always had a fundamental belief that video didn’t kill the radio star. New technology comes along, but it rarely wipes out what came before it. I think people will still want print for many years to come.

12 Feb, 2016

Johnston Press buys i newspaper

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Johnston Press reaches a deal to buy the i newspaper from ESI Media for £24m. Highfield:

This is a transformational acquisition for Johnston Press and an important step towards delivering our long-term strategy. i is a highly-regarded newspaper with a clear market position and a loyal readership. By joining with Johnston Press the combined circulation will be equal to 9% of national daily circulation, making us the fourth-largest player in the market. This enhanced reach represents a significant growth opportunity for Johnston Press in terms of national print and digital advertising revenue. It also rebalances our revenues towards less volatile circulation revenues. With our considerable digital experience the combination of Johnston Press and i will also allow us to grow digital audiences and revenues through the creation of inews.co.uk.

19 Nov, 2015

Local newspaper closures ‘blown out of proportion’

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Speaking to the House of Commons culture select committee, Highfield says the number of local newspapers closed over the last decade has been “blown out of all proportion”, with most of the 300 being shut not “papers of record” that are vital to most UK communities.

This is something that is often blown out of all proportion. The papers that have been closed were often the freesheets that were opened in the 1990s to mop up low-yielding advertising revenues when the times were good… I think you’ll find the numbers of papers of record that have closed over the last decade is incredibly low. That is something that needs to be understood.

27 Sep, 2015

Rejects BBC local journalists plan

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Highfield responds to the BBC’s suggestion that it would fund 100 local reporters to provide public service material for regional papers.

[It’s not an olive branch], More like an olive leaf. It looked to us like BBC imperialism through the back door. The whole idea was flawed. Essentially, by hiring more journalists, it meant the BBC putting another workforce into the regions who could well end up competing with us. We are worried about the BBC’s plans to get more local, as per their charter announcements, and worried also about their false belief that there is a market failure [by us] which gives them the right to fill the vacuum.

Rejecting the 100 reporters idea, the publishers prefer a quota system in which 25% of the BBC budget spent on regional news would be made available for publishers to fund their own journalists to provide content for newspapers and the BBC.

There are issues around impartiality, but our guys can write impartial copy. It is solvable. And it would be an attractive proposition for our staff to have the chance to appear on camera. It will make working for the local media more attractive. I believe we can find a symbiotic win-win relationship. The BBC can take our content and pay for it. And we can take BBC content and extend our audiences. What’s not to like?

He also addresses the conflict addresses the conflicts arising from his role as a member of the advisory panel created by the government to review the BBC.

I’ve been absolutely transparent about it. John [Whittingdale] knows I have views on how the BBC should work with regional publishers. But that is being dealt with through a clear and separate channel, so no one can be in any doubt about the situation. I’m extremely proud of having worked there…I’m a big fan of the BBC. It’s simply about finding the right ecosystem.

14 Jul, 2015

Issues profit warning as advertisers cut spending

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Johnston Press reports that full-year profits would be down by around 5.5% and half year profits by around 5% after it saw a fall in advertising revenues and circulation sales in the 26 weeks to 4 July 2015. The company said advertisers chose to hold off and slash spending across print and online amid the uncertainty caused by the election. The share price falls by more than 16%. CEO Highfield:

Trading conditions in the first half of 2015 have undoubtedly been challenging, especially in the period around the general election – a time when there was also a high degree of uncertainty in the wider market.

1 Jun, 2015

Media Briefing interview

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Highfield is interviewed by MediaBriefing’s Thackray about how Johnston Press has been addressing the structural challenges facing the business, how it is adapting to digital, and how it plans to tackle mobile. Highfield:

People do not buy a local paper to turn to the small ads and sell a push bike. With that having migrated… you can argue it was a major missed opportunity for the regional press not to make more of those verticals like motoring or property… but that’s the past, and now we have a much more stable environment, and our audience numbers… have never been bigger.

20 May, 2015

Appointed Vice Chairman of NMA

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Highfield is named vice-chairman of the News Media Association, which represents the national and regional newspaper industry.

Newsbrands are experiencing a renewed surge in confidence as their digital audiences and revenues continue to grow, and the power of print as a highly effective editorial and advertising medium is more widely acknowledged. The NMA has a critical role to play in highlighting the strength and adaptability of of newsbrands – in print and digital – as communications medium.

27 Apr, 2015

Received £1.65m pay in 2014

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The Guardian reports Highfield received £1.65m in pay in 2014, including a £645,000 bonus, more than triple the £592,000 he was awarded in 2013. The company’s remuneration committee also granted him a pay rise of almost 7.5%, or £26,000, from £404,000 to £430,000 for 2015. Johnston Press reported a pre-tax loss of £23.9m last year. Underlying profits rose from £54m to £55.5m. Highfield received a £483,000 annual bonus, including cash and a deferred element that became due after three years, for hitting a number of performance targets, such as increasing digital revenue by 20% from £24m to £28.8m, and growing the company’s digital audience by more than 30%. He also received an additional bonus for reducing the company’s debt from £302m to £184.6m, and further compensation from a share performance package, equivalent to 125% of his initial salary, which vested last year.

10 Mar, 2015

Journalists job losses warning

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While speaking at the Digital Media Strategies conference, a gathering of more than 400 CEOs and senior leaders from the media industry, Highfield warns that the number of full-time journalists working across the group’s local titles will fall from its current figure of about 1,000. He says Johnston Press is aiming to increase the proportion of its revenue from digital advertising to about 23% in 2015, up from 17% in the current financial year, and that the group is headed towards a point at which digital ad revenue is growing four times faster than print declines.

The economics of this business means we will end up with fewer full-time journalists on our books. What you end up with is a much more fluid model with contributors producing a larger percentage of the newspaper. That’s not something we can duck. The economics of the digital world are going to mean our businesses can grow, not just survive but grow, but we need to go about things in a different way. It doesn’t mean the front of the book or the quality of editorial oversight will be diminished.

6 Feb, 2015

BBC’s future of news ‘misguided’

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Highfields writes an editorial for The Yorkshire Post, about the BBC’s moves into regional news.

When I first read the BBC’s Future of News report last week I’m not sure what depressed me most – the inflammatory language used, the misguided sentiment behind it, or the fact that the BBC intends parking a tank on every local lawn and offering its version of hyper local news controlled from London W1A…Ithe BBC needs to focus on what it’s brilliant at – creating world-class content – and stop trying to be all things to all people. The BBC sets the standard for national and international news. They simply don’t have the resources to be brilliant at everything..I do still dare to believe that we can actually create a genuinely collaborative partnership – one which allows the BBC to play its role in the provision of local news but which still allows local media to thrive in the communities they have been serving for hundreds of years…Fast forward to a digital world where there is not supply from a television and radio broadcaster to a print publisher, but a flow of digital content to and from a national media brand to hyper local titles.

4 Nov, 2014

MediaPlay 2014 interview

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Highfield is interviewed by Douglas at Media Playground 2014 conference. They talk about the death of print, going mobile-first, the long-running spat between the regional press and the BBC and the future of local journalism.

You need to get digital growing pretty rapidly to make up for print decline. We are getting to that digital tipping point.

Torin Douglas interviews the CEO of Johnston Press, Ashley Highfield Part 1 of 2

29 Oct, 2014

‘Worst is over’ for local papers

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Highfields says, contrary to the predictions of media pundits, that Johnston Press will still be printing newspapers in five years. The decline in Johnston Press revenues has slowed from 4.3pc in the first half of the year to 3.1pc in the third quarter. The company cited 40pc year-on-year growth in the audience for its websites, to 27 million users in September, as the main force behind the improvement.

We’re increasingly confident in saying the worst is over for the regional press. We might not be completely out of the woods but the growth in digital audiences, and in fact the performance of print, tells us we’ll get there.

27 Feb, 2014

Media & Telecoms 2014 speech

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Highfield gives a speech at the Media & Telecoms 2014 conference, titled Reinventing Local Media.

I became convinced, reading enough articles by Mark Sweeney, that the official name of our company was “beleaguered Johnston Press”…There was a tsunami that hit the regional and local press industry. In just one year, 2007-2008, Johnston Press’ share price fell 99%. The dotcom crash that hit the local press industry happened eight years after the dotcom crash, but my God, it was every bit as severe, and every bit as rapid. That was the shift of the classified industry, particularly in motors and property, away from print and on  to Autotrader and Rightmove. Well that shift’s happened. That’s gone. The industry that we are now in, of providing local news and information to people in communities that really matter to them, is a pretty stable business. Since then we have had a four-fold increase in share price.

7 May, 2013

Future of News interview

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Highfield talks to Future Medialab about the future of news, responding to the question: In five years’ time, how do you expect news to have changed?

In some way, news will be the same, people will still want to know what’s going on around them, particularly local and regional news news. The want to know things that matter in their community. What will change profoundly is the medium through they get their news. Increasingly on mobile people want utility information: traffic, travel, weather, breaking headlines, sports results. And in the newspaper they want more in-depth, investigative journalism. Things they can pore over for longer.

Ashley Highfield (JohnstonPress-CEO): the future of news

28 Mar, 2013

Received £700,000 compensation

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It is reported that Highfield earned more than £700,000 last year, his first full year at Johnston Press, His compensation comprised £400,000 salary, with bonuses and pension contributions of £301,000.

21 Mar, 2012

Rules out paywall. Launches iPad apps

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At the MediaGuardian Changing Media Summit 2012, Highfield says he will not introduce a paywall at Johnston Press. He plans for Johnston Press’s 255 titles to derive 20% to 25% of advertising revenue from digital within three years. Currently 5% of total income comes from digital.

The danger with content behind a paywall as News International did is that it is not indexed [on internet search engines such as Google], you then fall off the social graph and then no one cares what The Times says. It can be a spiral, a dangerous place to end up. Regional [newspapers] are about community, engaging with communities, and you have to be by and large free to do that. It is interesting but nothing we are about to follow soon.

Highfield is also launching a combination of paid-for iPad apps and 140 free mobile phone apps, such as the Scotsman at £7.99/month, to drive revenue and readership for its regional papers. The mobile apps have added 2 million new unique users, boosting the publisher’s total digital audience to 10 million. Highfield also says that he can see new models such as “newspaper first to digital first” and perhaps by 2020, “digital daily, print weekly”.

We need to make a digital transition, we need to do it and need to do it quickly. But this is not a panic situation. I don’t believe in a glide path to oblivion, but I’m not saying we don’t have to grasp the nettle. [Regional newspapers] are social, local and mobile but we just haven’t claimed that territory. It is going to be hard but there is survival.

28 Jul, 2011

Appointed CEO of Johnston Press

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Highfield is appointed CEO of Johnston Press. He will start on November 1.  He will be given a £500,000 “golden hello” share package, in a compensation package that is biased towards equity. The publisher currently has only about 7% of total revenues from digital sources, and it is struggling with a huge debt burden and tough advertising market. Chairman Russell:

His combined online and media sector pedigree will be a major strength in enabling us to grow our business again. On behalf of the board I would also like to thank John for his major contribution to the company and wish him well for the future.

20 Jun, 2011

IAB Mobile Engage speech

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Highfield speaks at IAB Mobile Engage 2011. He talks about the growth in the mobile phone market, the lag of mobile advertising behind consumer uptake.

I think that mobile advertising is going to increase much more rapidly i.e. we are going to get through 5 and 10% of total budgets within two years, not the four or years it took Internet advertising. It’s self evident why: Most brands and companies have gotten used to digital advertising. I think that the benefits of mobile advertising, highly-targeted, highly social, highly engaging, is going to mean that the rate of adoption is going to happen far, far quicker.

6 Dec, 2010

Sky News Tech Talk

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Highfield is asked four questions by Sky News Tech Talk. Why did Microsoft create MSN? How successful is MSN today? How will the online media landscape and MSN evolve going forward? and If you had to leave your job today, what three businesses would you start? On the latter:

The first trend is obviously mobile. We [Microsoft] have seen the explosion of mobile consumption of all our services. So something around the mobile, particularly in location services…like the next generation of Foursquare. On the web, highly-visual search…we are just at the beginning of a new journey, a different way of navigating and searching. And the trend that we are seeing with the launch of xBox Kinect, where we see a user interface that requires no remote control…That’s the beginning of a journey where natural language, voice commands and motion commands are going to be huge.

Q1/4: Sky News Tech Talk Exclusive: Microsoft UK MD, Ashley Highfield