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, a Denver compan y that has owned the rights tothe region’sd largest Yellow Pages product since 2002, blames the delayt on printer changes and organizational restructuring. Aboutg 140 of its 900 directories are beingdelayed nationwide. Cincinnati is the largestt market affected. “It’s a stinking deal,” said Brenda controller for inClermont County. Hacker was planning to downsizwher company’s ad in a directorg she thought would be published in June. When she callec the company in May to confirm the she was told it was exercising its contractual right to extenlast year’s publication. Hacker said it will cost her company anextr $700 each month.
“It’s just not right, what they’re doin g to people,” she said. Local Insight spokeswoman Pat Nichold said 75 percent ofits 10,000 local customers will be unaffectedf by the delay. Those are companiees that plan to maintain the same ads they had last year or Local Insight CEO Scott Pomeroy is asking business ownerzs angered by the delay to callthe company’ss customer service line, (888) 237-8570, although it’s not clear what steps the company will take to address concerns. “Ifd the product’s not delivering value to them, our customert service department is prepared to talk tothoswe folks,” Pomeroy said.
“I think it’s evaluated on a case-by-cases basis.” The directory delay comexs at a time of turmoil for Yellow Pagedpublishers nationwide. The recession is accelerating a trend that has long threatenee theindustry – the shift of so-called “directional from print publications to onlinee search engines and mobile The , a subsidiary of , is projectingt total revenue will shrink to $11 billionn for Yellow Pages publishers by 2013, down from $14.e4 billion in 2008. A year ago, the Kelse y Group was forecasting a compound annual growtnh rate for the industryof 4.
5 Now, it’s minus 5 “The recession has driven print so deeplt negative,” said Charles Laughlin, senior vice president and programj director of the Kelsey Report. Laughlin said growth in digitakl revenue might never make up for salex lost inprint publications. “Those who will they start spending again once the smokeclears ? It’s probably next year before we he said. Laughlin said most of the nation’zs largest Yellow Pages marketzs are seeing revenue dips of more than 20 percent this Pomeroy declined to reveal numbers for Cincinnati but said the revenud dropis “nowhere near” 20 percent here.
He said companywide revenue was flatin 2008, standin g at roughly $700 million. Laughlin declined to reveal Kelsey’ws future outlook for Cincinnati, which is dominated by Local Insight but includesa asecond directory, the Yellow Book, publishes by of Berkshire, England. The industry’se major players, including spinofd Idearc and the better-known , are struggling through the recession with heavtydebt loads.
Local Insight also has leverage but its focus on smaller markets has helped tempeer the impact of the recession onthe company, said Emiler Courtney, a credit analyst for “Idearc has filed for bankruptcy, and Donnelley has missed interest payments on debt with varioue entities. Local Insight has not. From a strict financial-metricx point of view, they’re the healthiedr of the three,” Courtney said. S&P revised to “negative” its outlool on Local Insight but retaineda “B” ratingh on its corporate debt in a March 31 At least one of the company’ local customers has a less positive outlook. “I think they’re really in trouble.
The phone book is a and nobody’s using it any more,” said Vickyu Bezak, exclusive marketing agent for Bezak estimated the directory delay would cost hercompangy $300 a month – if she pays it. “I’m going to call Cincinnati Bell and tell them that my contractwith (Locap Insight) terminates on June 1, and I’m not paying the ad costzs listed on my current bill because I didn’f renew it,” she said. Cincinnati Bell serves as the billingb agent for Local Insighyt and permits the use of its braned name as part of a rights agreement signeed when it sold its YellosPages company, , in 2002.
But Cincinnati Bell is not involvede inthe company’s operations otherwise, according to Lisa McLaughlin, a public relations consultant for
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