Posted on 09/14/2007 6:45:10 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
The Gray Lady's Bones Are Showing
David Lee Smith
September 14, 2007
This is almost like watching a slow starvation. New York Times' (NYSE: NYT) advertising revenue, already on a steady slide for years, fell another 3.2% in August.
The bad news is nothing new. Let's glance through the negatives, shall we?
The News Media Group -- the newspapers -- saw revenue drop by 4.6% in a single month.
All-important classified revenue plummeted 20% in the month, as weakness in real estate, help-wanted, and automobile ads took its toll.
The hardest-hit entities were the New England Media Group, where ad revenue fell by 9% and the Regional Media Group, whose ad sales dropped by 11.9%. The New York Times Media Group was essentially flat, with a 0.2% increase.
There were still a few bright spots:
Internet ad revenue grew by 28.2%.
About.com checked in with ad sales up 27.4%.
But my Foolish friends know that, while the latter two percentages are impressive, the absolute amounts involved are dwarfed by those in the sinking traditional newspaper operations.
Times joins other publishers such as Gannett (NYSE: GCI), McClatchy (NYSE: MNI), and Tribune (NYSE: TRB) in recording virtually unbroken strings of ad-revenue declines. As a result, Times' share price -- which seemed stable in the mid-$20s -- began sliding again this summer, closing yesterday at $20.24. In a little more than three years, shares have shed half their value.
There were more reasons why August turned out to be a downer for Times. Late in the month, Moody's Investors Service cut its rating outlook on the company from "stable" to "negative." The credit rating company cited -- no surprises here -- increased pressure on Times' advertising revenue.
As this journalistic institution steadily decays, it's hard for me to imagine the changes Times will have to make in the next five years to remain viable. I can't envision a Rupert Murdoch springing forth with an attractive offer for the company, as was the case at Dow Jones (NYSE: DJ).
Obviously, the company needs some sort of tourniquet to stem its bleeding, and soon. In the meantime I can only imagine what Times chairman Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., and CEO Janet Robinson would give for just one month of positive numbers.
I wish the NY Times would just hurry up and die.
That thing has done enough damage to America, thank you.
I think poster #12 hit the nail squarely on the head.
Thanks for your ping.
Before the SF Gay Rhonicle discontinued delivery in your area, had their classified ads all but disappeared in those newspapers.
In our area, there are days with no Classified ads or a couple of pages of really small personal type ads.
"This is no great shock. The Sulzbergers plan to drive NYT stock into the toilet, then buy all the common shares at rock bottom prices, until they have enough of it to privatize “their” paper. Literally they will buy back all the remaining common stock at fractions of a penny per share."
"And a federal judge has ruled they can do it. Their special stock gives them complete rights over corporate policy, and common stockholders have no rights to force them to make decisions that would maintain or increase stock value."
"In other words, anyone still holding NYT stock should have sold it long ago. It is worthless, unless you can find some fool to buy it."
The Old Grey Baglady is heading for the Dumpster. Maybe they should attack another General??
Pray for W and Our Troops
Commentary and background on the “Programme Sulzberger”:
http://www.professorbainbridge.com/2006/04/ny_times_stockh.html
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