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One of the promises of high-speed continuous feed inkjet presses is that they will change the way we produce newspapers allowing personalization, targeted advertising and short run publications. So far this has not happened. What we have seen is the use of such presses for printing what are termed international newspapers at overseas locations.
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Discussion
By Don Piontek on Jul 26, 2011
Digital presses for newspapers have been discussed for many years now in the U.S. EU and UK markets are quite different from the U.S. base. Lots of "kiosk" distribution on these, whereas most U.S papers are subscriber-based with home delivery. Remote center printing with digital is a great idea. Would really reduce transport costs. Major U.S. dailies have looked at this, and the printer vendors have been all over them. Problem is 1.) capital investment required, and 2.) relatively low output of digital ink-jet compared to offset (more digital presses required. High-value, specialized (and lower circulation) papers will probably adopt first. But many U.S. metro dailies have still not developed a profitable business model for this type of production.
By Gregg Parnell on Jul 26, 2011
While digital printing for newspapers offers some advantages in short-run versions, it would be hard to justify the investment based only on that advantage.
The real payback will come when newspapers can target specific messages within their customer base. Unfortunately most newspapers have outsourced their carrier systems and have little or no data on individual subscriber; and data is what will drive the digital presses of the future.