Washington Post 2010 Annual Report Download - page 42

Competition
Kaplan’s businesses operate in fragmented and competitive markets. Kaplan Higher Education competes with both
facilities-based and other distance-learning providers of similar educational services, including not-for-profit colleges and
universities and for-profit businesses. Kaplan Test Preparation division’s test preparation and tutoring business competes
with a variety of regional and national test preparation businesses, with individual tutors and with in-school preparation
for standardized tests. Kaplan Test Preparation division’s professional and licensure business competes in each of its
professional lines with other companies that provide alternative or similar professional training, test preparation and
consulting services. Overseas, each of Kaplan’s businesses competes with other for-profit companies and, in certain
instances, with governmentally supported schools and institutions that provide similar training and educational programs.
Students choose among providers based on program offerings, convenience, quality of instruction, reputation, placement
rates, student services and cost.
Cable television systems operate in a highly competitive environment. In addition to competing with over-the-air reception,
cable television systems face competition from various other forms of video program delivery systems, including DBS
services, telephone companies and the Internet. Certain of the Company’s cable television systems have also been
partially or substantially overbuilt, using conventional cable system technology, by various small to mid-sized independent
telephone companies, which typically offer cable modem and telephone service, as well as basic cable service. Local
telephone companies compete with cable television systems in the delivery of high-speed Internet access by providing DSL
service. In addition, some telephone companies have entered into strategic partnerships with DBS operators that permit
the telephone company to package the video programming services of the DBS operator with the telephone company’s
own DSL service, thereby competing with the video programming and cable modem services being offered by existing
cable television systems. Satellite-delivered broadband and high-powered WiMAX services will increasingly provide
competition to Cable ONE. Finally, video programming is becoming increasingly available on the Internet, where
viewers can watch programming for free, as well as access pay-per-view offerings. Cable ONE distinguishes itself from
its competition by providing excellent local customer service and consistently attaining very high levels of customer
satisfaction.
The Washington Post competes in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area with The Washington Times, a newspaper
that has published weekday editions since 1982. The Post also encounters competition for advertising revenue and
circulation in varying degrees from other newspapers and specialized publications distributed in the Post’s circulation area
(including newspapers published in suburban and outlying areas and nationally circulated newspapers), and from
websites, television, radio, magazines and other advertising media, including direct-mail advertising. Express similarly
competes with various other advertising media in its service area, including both daily and weekly free-distribution
newspapers. The Washington Post competes for readers and advertisers based on the quality of its journalism, the
demographics and size of its subscriber base, advertising results and rates and customer service.
The Post’s website and the websites produced by The Slate Group face competition from many Internet sites that provide
news and information, sites that cover niche content, sites that aggregate content from different sources and sites where
users generate content. The Company’s websites compete for advertising revenue with these types of websites, as well as
with a wide variety of other print publications and online services, plus other forms of advertising. Display advertising is a
key source of revenue for Company websites. With advertising inventory continuing to increase and advertising networks
becoming more prevalent, the online display advertising marketplace is experiencing some pricing pressures, and the
Company’s websites are not immune to this trend. The Post’s website also relies on classified advertising as a key revenue
source. Classified advertising has become a crowded field online, with a number of national and local competitors, often
with a vertical focus. For example, Carmax.com and Autobytel.com aggregate national car listings; Redfin.com and
move.com aggregate national real estate listings; Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com aggregate employment listings.
All of these vertical-niche sites can be searched locally. Finally, several services challenge established business models.
Some nationally managed sites, such as Yelp and OpenTable, also offer local information and services. Major search
engines have also entered local markets. For example, Google and Yahoo! have launched local services that offer
directory information for local markets with enhanced functionality, such as mapping and links to reviews and other
information. In addition, other forms of digital distribution, such as smart phones, tablets and e-readers, are also
competitive with Company news sites.
The Company’s other print products compete with a variety of newspapers, including regional and national publications,
as well as a wide variety of other media outlets, including the Internet, radio, magazines and television (including over the
air, cable, DBS and Internet) for readers and advertising revenue.
PNS competes for audiences and advertising revenues with television and radio stations, cable television systems and
video services offered by telephone companies serving the same or nearby areas; with DBS services; and, to a lesser
26 THE WASHINGTON POST COMPANY