1987-02-27 Warren Buffett.The Buffalo News
o Operating results at The Buffalo News continue to reflect a truly superb managerial job by Stan Lipsey. For the third year in a row, man-hours worked fell significantly and other costs were closely controlled. Consequently, our operating margins improved materially in 1986, even though our advertising rate increases were well below those of most major newspapers.
o The Buffalo News 的经营结果继续体现了 Stan Lipsey 出色的管理工作。连续第三年，劳动工时显著下降，其他成本得到严格控制。结果是，尽管我们的广告费率上调幅度远低于大多数主要报纸，1986 年经营利润率仍大幅改善。
Our cost-control efforts have in no way reduced our commitment to news. We continue to deliver a 50% "news hole" (the portion of the total space in the paper devoted to news), a higher percentage, we believe, than exists at any dominant newspaper in this country of our size or larger.
我们的成本控制努力丝毫没有削弱我们对新闻内容的投入承诺。我们持续提供 50% 的“news hole”（报纸总版面中用于新闻的比例）。我们相信，这一比例高于本国与我们同量级及更大规模的任何占主导地位的报纸。
The average news hole at papers comparable to the News is about 40%. The difference between 40% and 50% is more important than it might first seem: a paper with 30 pages of ads and a 40% news hole delivers 20 pages of news a day, whereas our paper matches 30 pages of ads with 30 pages of news. Therefore, given ad pages equal in number, we end up delivering our readers no less than 50% more news.
与 the News 可比的报纸，其平均 news hole 大约为 40%。40% 与 50% 的差别比乍看之下更重要：一份有 30 个广告版、news hole 为 40% 的报纸，每天提供 20 个新闻版；而我们的报纸用 30 个广告版匹配 30 个新闻版。因此，在广告版数相同的前提下，我们向读者提供的新闻至少多出 50%。
We believe this heavy commitment to news is one of the reasons The Buffalo News has the highest weekday penetration rate (the percentage of households in the paper’s primary marketing area purchasing it each day) among any of the top 50 papers in the country. Our Sunday penetration, where we are also number one, is even more impressive. Ten years ago, the only Sunday paper serving Buffalo (the Courier-Express) had circulation of 271,000 and a penetration ratio of about 63%. The Courier-Express had served the area for many decades and its penetration ratio - which was similar to those existing in many metropolitan markets - was thought to be a "natural" one, accurately reflecting the local citizenry’s appetite for a Sunday product.
我们相信，对新闻内容的重投入，是 The Buffalo News 在全国前 50 家报纸中工作日渗透率（在报纸主要营销区域内每天购买报纸的家庭占比）排名第一的原因之一。我们的周日渗透率同样位居第一，更为亮眼。十年前，服务于 Buffalo 的唯一周日报纸（the Courier-Express）发行量为 271,000 份，渗透率约为 63%。the Courier-Express 服务该地区数十年之久，其渗透率——与许多大都市市场的水平相近——被视为“自然”的，准确反映了当地居民对周日产品的需求。
Our Sunday paper was started in late 1977. It now has a penetration ratio of 83% and sells about 100,000 copies more each Sunday than did the Courier-Express ten years ago - even though population in our market area has declined during the decade. In recent history, no other city that has long had a local Sunday paper has experienced a penetration gain anywhere close to Buffalo’s.
我们的周日报纸创办于 1977 年末。如今其渗透率达到 83%，每个星期日的销量比十年前的 the Courier-Express 多约 100,000 份——即便在这十年间我们的市场区域人口有所下降。近代史上，其他长期拥有本地周日报纸的城市，没有哪一个的渗透率提升能接近 Buffalo 的水平。
Despite our exceptional market acceptance, our operating margins almost certainly have peaked. A major newsprint price increase took effect at the end of 1986, and our advertising rate increases in 1987 will again be moderate compared to those of the industry. However, even if margins should materially shrink, we would not reduce our news-hole ratio.
尽管市场接受度出众，我们的经营利润率几乎可以肯定已经见顶。一次主要的新闻纸涨价在 1986 年末生效，而我们 1987 年的广告费率涨幅相比行业仍将偏温和。然而，即使利润率显著收缩，我们也不会降低“news-hole”比率。
As I write this, it has been exactly ten years since we purchased The News. The financial rewards it has brought us have far exceeded our expectations and so, too, have the non-financial rewards. Our respect for the News - high when we bought it - has grown consistently ever since the purchase, as has our respect and admiration for Murray Light, the editor who turns out the product that receives such extraordinary community acceptance. The efforts of Murray and Stan, which were crucial to the News during its dark days of financial reversals and litigation, have not in the least been lessened by prosperity. Charlie and I are grateful to them.
当我写下这些时，距我们收购 The News 已整整十年。它带来的财务回报远超我们的预期，非财务回报亦然。我们对 the News 的敬意——在收购时就已很高——此后一直与日俱增；我们对编辑 Murray Light 的敬重与钦佩也同样提升，他打造出的产品获得了社区非同寻常的认可。在财务逆境与诉讼的黑暗时期，Murray 和 Stan 对 the News 的付出至关重要；繁荣并未让他们的努力有丝毫减弱。我与 Charlie 对他们深表感激。
报纸在报表上的排序仅次于保险，广告的商业模式至今都是非常好的。
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