Posted on 10/21/2006 4:41:02 PM PDT by freedomdefender
Proving that local owners are under the same pressure that big newspaper chains face, one of the new owners of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News told employees this morning the papers are set to report one of the worst declines in ad revenue in its history.
Brian Tierney, publisher of both papers, issued a memo to employees outlining the tough environment facing newspapers after meeting with several union representatives yesterday. The guild and management are currently negotiating new contracts.
In the memo, Tierney explained that advertising revenue for July and August was down compared to the same months last year and the trend is only getting worse. September dropped 10.2% and Tierney warned that October and November is looking bleaker. Those results will “likely be the largest two month revenue drop in our history.”
Tierney disclosed that in 2004, both papers generated over $100 million in cash for Knight Ridder, falling to $76 million in 2005. The forecast for this year: $50 million.
“Simply put, this dramatic revenue decline will prevent us from meeting our bank obligations if we don’t take absolutely critical actions on the cost side,” he wrote.
He explained that while the company can make its interest payments on loans in 2006 they are expected to maintain a benchmark performance levels. Without cuts the company may not even make it’s interest payments, Tierney alleged.
“Many of you are asking -- did you and the PMH [Philadelphia Media Holdings] investors see this coming? The answer is yes and no. While our forecasts did expect reduced revenue due to the loss of big Philadelphia retailers ... and continued reductions in our classified business, we didn’t foresee the spend and extent of the decline, and didn’t anticipate the huge falloff in the national advertising category.”
Tierney suggested another cut in the workforce -- after the papers bled roughly 17% of each newsroom this time last year -- and a restructuring in contracts.
“This is not a message I thought I would be sending you when we bought these two great newspapers almost four months ago,” he wrote. “But it is our reality.”
I'm pretty sure he meant "speed."
Dumbass.
It's a dying medium to begin with, and the obvious bias in the reporting isn't exactly helping give a reprieve to the already inherent decline. You would have been better off buying a talk radio station.
How can that be?
I thought that, only two years ago, Philidelphia had a surge in voter registration while the overall city population was in decline, and a voter turnout close to (if not over) 100%.
Are you telling me that all of those new voters are not buying the local papers?
-PJ
When politics come before business shit happens.
The Dinosaur slips under the surface of the tarpit.....
Pray for W and Our Troops
Glory, glory, hallelujah.
And people say there's no good news.
I have no sympathy at all for Tierney. He is a Republican and what passes for a conservative in Philadelphia, and he should have known better than anyone what snakepits of Leftism both papers are, and how well Leftism sells in today's marketplace.
all those new voters only had to buy the paper once.
I would think that management would be bright enough to set back and look at their business model and see what has gone wrong and then look at others to see what can be done. I would suggest that they look at Fox and see what Fair and Balanced can do for the bottom line. I wonder what their bottom line would be if they dropped the DNC faxes and liberal pandering. A shift in focus would do wonders.
Are these the homes of the sports journalists that trashed Rush for telling the truth about the media and Donovan McNabb?
I don't know why newspapers just go completely online. It's a no-brainer. Reading the paper is an anachronism. You got the huge printing press, the trucks, the carriers, and then it gets thrown in the recycling bin. It's a huge waste of expense and capital.
Yep, The New York Post is doing fine while the Times is collapsing!
ping
Newspapers continually underestimate just how offensive their non-stop political instruction is to non-Marxists; and just how easy it is for someone to cancel a subscription.
As the (quite proud) parent of two in uniform, I could no longer endure the Sacramento Bee's daily savaging of our men and women in the military service. I cancelled. And what I learned was instructive.
There is absolutely nothing that I need the paper for. (Well, I do miss the crosswords a little.)
.
Fred: "Lamont, times is good, times is good! But you know, son, I'm waitin' for the 'Big Enchilada'."
Lamont: "You mean, the New York Times? Oh, Pop, won't that be something!"
Ha, ha, this is funny. Years ago, the Inquirer faced a similar problem and hired my father-in-law to retrain their sales staff (about the same time that the ex Pa governor hired him to defend the right to life position, just in case it became an issue in the presidential primary). The Inquirer got back on its feet, but the ex-govenor never made it to the big time.
The local drugstore will have dozens of crossword puzzle books (and they are probably much more entertaining than any news in the Bee)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.