Honestly, it's hardly news that advertising in print is down considerably. What is news is how the decline continues to accelerate. McClatchy just reported November numbers that were down 19.4%. The only bright spot was the fact that Internet revenue was up 7.5%. October's revenue was down a "mere" 17.4%. The stock was down nearly as much as the revenue.
Eventually the year over year comparisons have to get easier right? Last year's Q4 was down 14-15% compared to 2006.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
What's Black and White and Dead All Over?
Newspapers of course.
I guess its good that the plight of newspapers is making it to the Daily Show. At least we can laugh while we pack our boxes...
Monday, December 8, 2008
Tribune Goes Chapter 11, who is next?
The news of Tribune's bankruptcy filing has been well chronicled already after plenty of rumors. Clearly it's one of those things that was expected eventually given the overall industry decline, but even six months ago Tribune was claiming they had enough cash until at least mid 2009. The filing preceded the sale of the remarkably valuable Chicago Cubs franchise, which was kept out of the filing. My supposition is that they were far enough in the hole that even a billion or so wouldn't have made much difference. It will be a bit of mess for the employees who technically own the company through the stock ownership plan created when Zell structured the take over. I hesitate to call it bought, given the limited amount of personal exposure Zell had in the deal.
The market reaction to the news among peer companies was one of the most interesting factors at play here. News such as this can often have a widespread effect on the sector. Some, such as AH Belo (AHC) and the New York Times (NYT) were fairly static (It's telling that this seems unchanged these days). McClatchy (MNI) and Media General (MEG) finished up the day over 10%, while Lee and Journal Register plunged ever closer to zero. If the market is voting rationally, Lee and Journal Register are perilously close to joining Tribune. While I can believe that AH Belo's stability given it's relatively low debt might have some limited life left, I don't understand McClatchy's lift on the day. Perhaps the rumored sale offer of the Miami Herald has something to do with it, but seriously, who's left to buy it?
The market reaction to the news among peer companies was one of the most interesting factors at play here. News such as this can often have a widespread effect on the sector. Some, such as AH Belo (AHC) and the New York Times (NYT) were fairly static (It's telling that this seems unchanged these days). McClatchy (MNI) and Media General (MEG) finished up the day over 10%, while Lee and Journal Register plunged ever closer to zero. If the market is voting rationally, Lee and Journal Register are perilously close to joining Tribune. While I can believe that AH Belo's stability given it's relatively low debt might have some limited life left, I don't understand McClatchy's lift on the day. Perhaps the rumored sale offer of the Miami Herald has something to do with it, but seriously, who's left to buy it?
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