Reformatting the Reader

As of last week, the free alternative weekly Chicago Reader is shrinking. They've gone from four sections down to three. I have to admit that, although I noticed the announcement on the front page of the paper, I didn't take too much note of the fact until I noticed this story from Editor & Publisher. The Reader's former fourth section was overwhelmingly made up of classified ads, with a few comic strips, "News of the Weird," and "Savage Love." All of those features have been spread between the first two sections, but there don't seem to be as many ads as there have been over the past few weeks. Publisher Michael Crystal told E&P that although advertisers in the Reader are have the choice of appearing in the actual paper and on the Website, many are preferring to simply limit themselves to online ads. What happens when this trend becomes overwhelming? It wouldn't surprise me if classifieds are mostly gone from the hard copy paper in the next few years. I don't know how much of the paper's revenue comes from classifieds versus regular advertising, and I don't know how much they're making from people who advertise online rather than in both media, but I can only assume that the Reader's cash flow is undergoing an adjustment. They're saving some cash by cutting from four sections to three, but I can't imagine that there won't be some more money-saving maneuvers in the future.