Optimarketer: The Marketing Optimization Blog

Yep, the New York Post Hearts "Love Gov" Eliot Spitzer

Rupert Murdoch must literally be laughing all the way to the bank. The conservative media baron and New York Post owner has license to run headlines like "DISGRACE -- and don't let the door hit you on the way out."

But don't think for a minute the in-your-face coverage of ex-governor Eliot Spitzer's downfall is just a right-wing thing. The Post has been identifying -- and milking -- quintessential tabloid stories for decades. (See Dapper Don, Subway Vigilante, Preppy Killer, Coma Baby, Son of Sam, and of course, Mayflower Madam.)

Glance at the Alexa chart and you'll get an idea of how lucrative this "Love Gov" stuff is for the tabloid that once ran a story with the headline, "Headless torso found in topless bar." Looks like nypost.com page views rose a good 100% or so after the Spitzer story broke.

From yesterday's table of contents, it's easy to conclude that the percentage of the Post devoted to this story is way over the top. But let me ask you this: If you were the paper's editor, what would you do?

       

The Sensational New York Post Story

"Your readers are our shoplifters."

-- Bloomingdale's Marvin Traub to News Corporation's Rupert Murdoch

Things sure have changed since Marv's famous slapdown of the Australian media baron.

Today I picked up the Sunday Post at the newsstand and found a glossy, full-color, 96-page Page Six Magazine inside.

And get this: Magazine advertisers included Mercedes-Benz, Calvin Klein and (wonder of wonders) Bloomingdale's.

The Post has been one of the few bright spots in an industry that hasn't had much good news to report lately. While many newspapers were reporting declines in circulation, the Post recently grew to a weekday circulation of 725,000, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulation. Last year they even whipped past their perennial cross-town rival, the Daily News.

Anyone still think newspapers are dead?