Posted on 10/02/2007 10:47:39 AM PDT by DogByte6RER
Will Pinch Sulzberger Lose The New York Times? Monday , October 01, 2007
By Thomas Lifson
Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr., known all but universally as "Pinch", may well be the last member of the Sulzberger/Ochs family to run the world-famous newspaper company.
He is trapped in a financial and competitive trap of his own making, and may have to rely on new money coming into the company at the price of relinquishing his managerial power.
Christopher Alleva already explained last week that the incredible shrinking equity resulting from the combination of high dividends and low profits is already raising questions about bondholder covenants requiring the company to maintain minimum balances in its equity account. And now, as he explained, the looming threat of new competition for its advertisers and readers is likely to intensify the financial pinch.
News Corporation, with 24 times the market capitalization of The New York Times, will soon be moving in on his advertisers and readers, and prices cuts for both groups would build market share for the rising News Corp properties and cut revenues for Sulzberger's outfit.
Pinch Sulzberger squandered over $800 million, now written off and deducted from the shareholders' equity account, on a disastrous acquisition of New England newspaper properties just before the bottom fell out of the newspaper market.
The company's published strategy writes grandly of "innovative products and services across media platforms." But words and deeds are not the same thing. The company's recent attempt to achieve synergy between its news content and the opportunities of cable television, The Discovery-Times Channel, has been a flop. The company liquidated its half interest in the venture at a loss, according to footnote 3 to its Consolidated Financial Statements for 2006.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
We could only hope!!!!!!!!!!!
Hopefully Murdoch will help the process along with the WSJ purchase.
So who get’s to put the stuffed head of Pinch over their mantle? Roger Ailes or Rupert Murdock?
Ping!
Pinch is almost as dumb as his poltiics.
The head should be spitted on a pike in Times Square.
All must share the joy. It must not be limited to merely one office.
Hope, hope.
"The Wall Street Journal is better than ever"
He doesn’t blame it on his political views. He thinks it’s the growth of the internet, or perhaps mistakes he’s made that have nothing to do with politics.
The Captain of the Titanic is looking for more water.
A liberal Democrat losing his soapbox? Now that would be newsworthy.
That has always been my assumed scenario. Eventually the losses will get so huge, somebody will be able to buy good press for themselves by buying the times at a fire sale.
“Will Pinch Sulzberger Lose The New York Times?”
We can hope so. And, then he’ll be free to move to North Korea and live in the kind of utopia that he’s worked to so hard to attain for the rest of us.
Once the Journal starts offering ad space with twice the reach at half the cost it will be the death knell for the old gray lady. Ashes to ashes - dust to dust.
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