Washington Post 2012 Annual Report Download - page 41

the prices actually paid for newsprint by the Company’s subsidiaries because of quantity discounts and other factors. The
Company believes that adequate supplies of newsprint are available to the Post and the other newspapers published by
the Company’s subsidiaries through contracts with various suppliers. Approximately 77% of the newsprint consumed by
WP Company’s printing plant includes recycled content.
Competition
Kaplan’s businesses operate in fragmented and competitive markets. KHE 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. PACE competes in each of its professional lines with other companies that provide preparation for exams
required for professional licenses, certifications and designations. KTP competes with a variety of regional and national
test preparation businesses, with individual tutors and with in-school preparation for standardized tests. Overseas, each of
Kaplan’s businesses competes with other for-profit companies and, in certain instances, with government-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 that typically offer Internet 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, on their own or via strategic partnerships with DBS operators that permit telephone companies to package the
video programming services of DBS operators with telephone companies’ own DSL service, some telephone companies
are competing with the video programming and Internet services being offered by existing cable television systems.
Satellite-delivered broadband and high-powered WiMAX services will increasingly provide competition to Cable ONE.
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 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 Post competes for readers and advertisers based on the
quality of its journalism, the demographics and size of its subscriber base, advertising results, rates and customer service.
Washingtonpost.com 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, online services and social networking sites, 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 and programmatic buying becoming more prevalent, the online display advertising
marketplace is experiencing 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. Online classified advertising has become a
crowded field, with a number of national and local competitors, often with a vertical focus. For example, Edmunds.com
and AutoTrader.com aggregate national car listings; Realtor.com and Zillow.com aggregate national real estate listings;
and Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com aggregate employment listings. All of these vertical-niche sites can be searched
locally. 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 sought to capitalize on access to
information about local markets, sometimes in direct competition with services provided by the Post. 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. Daily deal sites have also emerged to compete with
traditional forms of local, and increasingly, national advertising. In addition, other forms of digital distribution, such as
smart phones, tablets and e-readers, are also competitive with Company news sites.
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