Large newspaper companies around the world are becoming multi-dimensional and are increasing their stakes in television, radio, magazines and other businesses. They are also operating online news websites to take advantage of economics of scale achieved by sharing resources while providing a range of outlets to advertisers.

The most important characteristic of Newspaper industry is the significant start-up cost that is required for buildings, presses, establishing distribution channels and large editorial staff to develop original content on a daily basis. Building brand value and maintaining a large circulation volume therefore is crucial to recover these high fixed costs. While the rate of renewed subscription is usually high, gaining new subscribers gets difficult in tough competition scenarios.

Advertising is a major source of revenue which directly depends on the health of the economy. Advertising also depends on Circulation, which is the second most important source of revenue and is based on the number of copies sold and subscription rate charged. As circulation drops, advertising revenue also falls. Thus a small fall in circulation can have a much higher impact on a newspaper company’s total revenues.

Newsprint cost comprises of a large proportion of newspaper publishing cost. While it is procured by weight, its production is measured in number of copies produced, commonly referred to as GSM (grams per square meter). Normal wastage of newsprint during this process of conversion is around 3% to 5%.

Historically, newspaper has always been a profitable industry. Despite significant start-up and fixed costs, once a newspaper is able to establish its brand, its dominance is indisputable. However, the last decade witnessed melt-down of several large newspaper companies across US and Europe only because they ignored the threat coming from growing Internet penetration. Several newspapers have filed for bankruptcy or are already looking for a buyer.

Ironically, while analyst across the globe are debating whether any valuation proposition still exists in the outdated newspaper model, one industry continues to hold promises for future growth; the Indian Newspaper Industry. While American newspapers have been struggling to survive the competition from growing internet advertising, Indian newspaper experienced dramatic growth during 2000 and 2005.

Circulation of Dailies in India increased from 5,91,29,000 in 2001 to 7,29,39,000 in 2003 to 7,86,89,000 in 2005. The key drivers for the growth of newspaper penetration in India are the expanding middle class and improving literacy rates. Marginal (though increasing) internet penetration is also one of the important reasons why Indian newspaper industry has not yet come across stiff competition from this medium.

According to a KPMG-FICCI report, Indian print media can be expected to grow conservatively at around 9% over the next 4 to 5 years. However, the industry has been experiencing growing margin pressures due to increasing newsprint costs which are not yet being passed on to readers due to intense competition. Newsprint costs soared almost 50% last year. While Indian newspapers are the cheapest in the world, industry experts opine that it may not be long that newspaper companies will increase their circulation charges and advertising rates to counter the increasing newsprint costs.

Last year, several publishers postponed their plans to expand their capacity in the wake of drastically increasing newsprint costs. On the other hand, they were unable to increase advertising rates as advertisers are slowly moving to other cheap medium like the internet. Publishers are not concerned about the slowly shifting advertising revenue to mediums such as radio and internet.

Despite such concern one important growth area for Indian newspaper publishers is that several rural areas are still untapped. Improving literacy rates, increasing income and benefits from development schemes of the Government will definitely open up penetration opportunities for Indian publishers.

Homeownership is without a doubt, one of the best ways to achieve wealth for yourself and for your family. Homeownership instills a sense of community and pride that is conducive to a safer and more socially fulfilling living environment.

It’s simple. When people invest in their neighborhood, they care what happens to it. Afterall, it’s the biggest investment that they will probably make during their lifetime.

According to the U.S. Census bureau homeownership for all races have been steadily rising. This is great news for the African American community, but more work needs to be done to narrow the gap in homeownership between segments of the population. The statistics for homeownership in the year 2005 were as follows:

Non hispanic white: 75% Asian & Native American: 59.4% Latino: 49.7% African American: 48.8%

Studies show that, homeownership still eludes low income families. If you are thinking of owning a home, know that the dream is possible. The Housing and Urban development provides the following guides for consumers of all income ranges, when considering homeownership.

1.Figure out how much you can afford. This is extremely important as it sets the tone for your home search. What neighborhoods should you consider? What type of home should you buy: condo, townhome, single-family-home (SFH)?

2. Shop for a loan. Find a service that offers multiple loan quotes at no charge. Do this first BEFORE you seriously start looking for a home. Most sellers require pre-qualification before they allow you to make an offer. In addition, it ensures that you can qualify for the right loan amount.

3. Shop for a home. Based on how much you can afford and how much a mortgage lender has qualified you for, you can now find a home that meets your needs.

4. Make an offer. If you are working with a real estate agent, they can make an offer to the home seller.

5. Go to closing. A settlement attorney will draw up the final paperwork to ensure that the title for the home is free and clear of any liens.

Lastly, congratulate yourself. Keep the dream alive!