News Topical Writer/Producer, KGTV
San Diego
Read the full post April 20th, 2007
Archive for April 20th, 2007
Congratulations Cory and Kate!
Cory Bergman and Kate Anderson are getting married this weekend in Hawaii. On behalf of the LR Faithful and the employees here at One LR, I wish them a terrific wedding, a wonderful marriage and a hell of a party.
About frickin’ time, Bergman.
15 comments April 20th, 2007
More fallout from poor newspaper earnings
In the wake of poor earnings reports at three major newspaper companies, Reuters posts a story with this opening line, “U.S. newspaper publishers are betting the Internet is the key to their survival, but a worsening classified advertising slump is hampering efforts to make good on their digital strategies.” And this quote from an analyst, “My sense is this is a real red flag for the industry. Rapid online growth appears to be dimming. That’s a big problem.” Online ad growth has slowed significantly at Tribune (from 30 to 17 percent), Gannett (30 to 16 percent) and NYT Company (from 72 to 22 percent). Another analyst weighs in and says that more acquisitions are needed “and that is not likely good for short-term shareholder value.” Yet he cautions “we’re just talking about a quarter here.”
Plus: Media General reports first quarter loss
Add comment April 20th, 2007
Clear Channel finds buyer for TV stations
Clear Channel will sell its television group to Providence Equity Partners for $1.2 billion. The 56 stations (includes 18 digital multicast stations) span 24 markets. “This is a rare opportunity to acquire a premier collection of broadcast television stations with strong positions in many attractive markets across the United States,” said Providence Equity managing director Al Dobron. Back in November, Clear Channel announced it was being acquired by private equity firms Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital. At the same time, Clear Channel said it would put its TV stations up for sale. Press release…
Read the full post 6 comments April 20th, 2007
‘Buying the War’ upcoming on PBS
Coming next Wednesday, PBS will air Buying the War (video preview), an analysis of how the media dropped the ball in the run-up to the Iraq War. Writes Greg Mitchell in Editor & Publisher, “While much of the evidence of the media’s role as cheerleaders for the war presented here is not new, it is skillfully assembled, with many fresh quotes from interviews (with the likes of Tim Russert and Walter Pincus) along with numerous embarrassing examples of past statements by journalists and pundits that proved grossly misleading or wrong.” It airs Wednesday, April 25th, at 9 PM on PBS.
5 comments April 20th, 2007
NYT, Gannett, Tribune report declines, Google up
All three newspaper companies experienced significant revenue declines as advertisers continue to shift money from print to the web. But the story here is the competition for those online ad dollars. The NY Times Company reduced its 2007 guidance for online ad growth, citing the advertising environment as “difficult.” Says one analyst, “There is stiff competition for internet advertising, and the transition (for newspapers from print to the web) will take longer and may well be less profitable than was anticipated.” This underlines the urgency for media companies to expand aggressively into new, local, niche internet businesses with high revenue potential.
Meanwhile: Google’s first quarter profit skyrockets 68 percent, beating analysts’ expectations once again. CEO Eric Schmidt said Google was “still at the beginning” of its core search and text-based advertising business, and he said the company expects its traditional newspaper, radio and TV advertising services to be big businesses by 2008.
5 comments April 20th, 2007
