Saturday, February 28, 2009
Saturday | Feb. 28 | Your News & Comments
Can't find the right spot for your comment? Post it here, in this open forum. Real Time Comments: parked here, 24/7. (Earlier editions.)
Who I blame first for Gannett's sorry state
Don't get me wrong: I was a good employee during my 20 years' in the company. And I can back that up with a record of uninterrupted annual raises and good to glowing performance reviews.
But 20 years is one-fifth of Gannett's lifespan, long enough to own up to some of the blame we naturally want to heap on someone (usually, someone else) as the once unimaginable become common. In my posts, I reference CEO Craig Dubow more than any other person, so it would be natural to assume I hold him singularly responsible.
I do not. It takes a village of CEOs to lead a company astray. Plus, remember: There's one other name that appears on this blog far more often than Dubow's -- or anyone else's -- and that person bears some responsibility, too.Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Friday | Feb. 27 | Your News & Comments
Can't find the right spot for your comment? Post it here, in this open forum. Real Time Comments: parked here, 24/7. (Earlier editions.)
An ironic epitaph to the Rocky's own obituary
It's telling, in an ironic way, that today's last issue of the Rocky Mountain News drew special praise for a story online, told in a medium that represents the threat -- and the promise -- of journalism's future."I've never even had the pleasure of reading the Rocky, yet, I'm sitting here just shedding tears after watching this heartbreaking video,'' wrote Anonymous@12:05 p.m. "I simply cannot get my brain around what is happening to an industry I have loved so much.''
The beautiful video is Final Edition, by the Rocky's Matthew Roberts.
Urgent: GCI shares plummet 9%, closing at $3.24
That was the final price moments ago, as investors pounded the company's beleaguered stock in a rising panic over Gannett's crumbling finances. Shares have fallen 54% in the past 30 days vs. a 13% decline for the broader S&P-500 index, according to Google Finance. The company's total market value, meanwhile, has now plunged to $739 million, exactly two weeks after falling below the $1 billion threshold.
McLeanwood Squares: Connell getting a top spot?
The powerful Gannett Management Committee, with company publicist Tara Connell added for reference, top row, far left. Current committee members, from top row, left to right: Davidson, Dickey; second row: Dubow, Horning, Lougee; third row: Martore, Moon, Saridakis; bottom row: Van Lare, Williams and Wimmer.As CEO Craig Dubow drops more clues about ContentOne, speculation is swirling again over the role chief Gannett publicist Tara Connell might play in leading the new web news and pagination service.
Connell is now vice president over Corporate's communications department; she may report to Chief Financial Officer Gracia Martore. If Connell is formally appointed chief of ContentOne, will she be elevated to the management committee, too? And would that mean the service has become a separate operating unit, with its own budget?Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
Breaking: In early trading, GCI shares plunge 7%
Approaching free-fall this morning, Gannett's stock recently traded for just $3.33 a share, down 6.7%, as stocks overall nosedived on new fears about the shrinking economy. GCI's current market capitalization: $785 million.
How the 'chinese wall' did not always serve us well
"If the business side, not the newsroom, were
the guardians of the product, there might have been efforts to understand the decline, understand customer dissatisfaction."
-- Monica Moses, former newspaper designer in Little Rock, Westchester and Rochester, writing in a new CNBC guest blog post.
Farewell, Rocky!
The Rocky Mountain News today became the largest-circulation daily to close its doors in the newspaper-industry crisis, after publisher E.W. Scripps Co. failed to find a buyer for the 150-year-old Denver paper.
This poignant video on the paper's last days features Jeff Legwold and Laura Frank, who joined the Rocky from The Tennessean.
[Image: Newseum]
Wilmington: First look at a new 'green' microsite
The News Journal in Wilmington, Del., is testing newly launched Web pages leveraging the public's once-every-generation interest in the environment. Corporate sees big bucks in the appropriately named All Green To Me beta site, which looks like a variation on the Moms Like Me social-network franchise. I haven't had a chance to take it for a spin yet. Until then, please let me know what you think.Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Thursday | Feb. 26 | Your News & Comments
Can't find the right spot for your comment? Post it here, in this open forum. Real Time Comments: parked here, 24/7. (Earlier editions.)
Payday countdown: What Dubow, Martore earned
Spanning 15 years, that list (left) shows the dates when Corporate released the annual shareholder's proxy report -- the much-anticipated document showing salary, plus bonuses and other goodies for the five highest-paid company executives.If Corporate's still eating bran with its Kool-Aid, we should see the next one around March 13 -- two weeks from tomorrow. I say that because Gannett has been very, very regular in distributing proxy materials around mid-March of each year, all the way back to 1994, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission records show. (Last year's report was released March 13.)
Whatever the date, these four executives almost certainly will be in this year's big-bucks line-up:
1. Craig Dubow, Chairman and CEO
2. Gracia Martore, Chief Financial Officer
3. Bob Dickey, president of the newspaper division
4. Paul Davidson, chairman and CEO of the U.K. Newsquest unit
No. 5 will probably be USA Today Publisher Craig Moon again. The only surprise would be if Chief Digital Officer Chris Saridakis engineered some sort of first-year package with an extra bonus. Or, if Dickey's predecessor, Sue Clark-Johnson, also triggered a one-time windfall when she retired last year.
Related: Last year's list of the five highest-paid executives. Note: Dubow already agreed to a 17% base pay cut; other officers agreed to wage freezes through this year.
What sort of bonuses will they get for 2008 -- a year when Gannett's stock lost nearly 80% of its value? Stay tuned over the next few weeks. Please post your replies in the comments section, below. E-mail confidentially via gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com].
Breaking: Moody's downgrades GCI bonds to 'junk'
The ratings agency cited further erosion in Gannett's finances, Reuters says, a day after the board of directors slashed the dividend a steep 90%. I think this means that the Washington Post Co. is now the lone newspaper publisher offering investment-grade debt. Brief iPhone post; will update. Comment, below, please!
Dubow: ContentOne to make a separate 'market'
From CEO Craig Dubow's letter to shareholders, in the newly published 2008 Annual Report. He's writing about the recently launched and still-evolving web-based news and pagination service:
ContentOne will fundamentally change the way we gather and distribute content across the company. ContentOne also will attempt to guide coverage of major events not only to reduce duplication of effort but also to provide national advertising sales platforms.
Ultimately, the true step forward for ContentOne will be to make a market for our content separate from our traditional products, which means our content will become one of our products. The project is underway now and is testing its processes, acquiring its infrastructure and probing advertiser interest.
How will this pay-for-content market differ from the free-content market in place now? Post replies in the comments section, below. Or e-mail confidentially via gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
ContentOne will fundamentally change the way we gather and distribute content across the company. ContentOne also will attempt to guide coverage of major events not only to reduce duplication of effort but also to provide national advertising sales platforms.Ultimately, the true step forward for ContentOne will be to make a market for our content separate from our traditional products, which means our content will become one of our products. The project is underway now and is testing its processes, acquiring its infrastructure and probing advertiser interest.
How will this pay-for-content market differ from the free-content market in place now? Post replies in the comments section, below. Or e-mail confidentially via gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
Reader: Give $upport to this 'invaluable' blog
Regarding my Gannett Blog income, Anonymous@11:51 a.m. writes:
I am not a relative of Jim's or a personal friend. Just a blog reader and financial contributor. Over this coming year, this blog will be invaluable to all of us. To that end, I encourage my fellow readers to financially support this blog however and whenever you can by making a donation -- no matter how small. It's up to us readers (who rely on this valuable resource) to keep it and Jim alive. Please make a donation. Thank you, fellow readers!!
And, thank you, @11:51! I'm trying to earn $6,000 quarterly, through sponsorships of $5 per reader, plus ad sales. Please use the "Donate" tool in the green sidebar, right. Or mail cash/checks payable to: Jim Hopkins, 584 Castro St. #823, San Francisco, Calif., 94114-2594.
I am not a relative of Jim's or a personal friend. Just a blog reader and financial contributor. Over this coming year, this blog will be invaluable to all of us. To that end, I encourage my fellow readers to financially support this blog however and whenever you can by making a donation -- no matter how small. It's up to us readers (who rely on this valuable resource) to keep it and Jim alive. Please make a donation. Thank you, fellow readers!!
And, thank you, @11:51! I'm trying to earn $6,000 quarterly, through sponsorships of $5 per reader, plus ad sales. Please use the "Donate" tool in the green sidebar, right. Or mail cash/checks payable to: Jim Hopkins, 584 Castro St. #823, San Francisco, Calif., 94114-2594.
Now, and then: How to look when times get tough
CEO Craig Dubow's newly published letter to shareholders in the 2008 Annual Report is illustrated with a photo showing him looking more serious than he did in in last year's. (Of course, this year, his less-cheerful letter used phrases like "unprecedented global economic downturn took its toll,'' so its hard to maintain a sense of humor.)
Now, for Rorschach test fans, here's his signature:
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.Reader: When to worry about rumors on this blog
Regarding the accuracy of comments that readers post on Gannett Blog, I recommend that you read Anonymous@10:41 a.m.'s smart observation today:
For what it's worth, I've found the rumors in these commentary sections to be highly unreliable. Occassionally, one comes true but mostly they're just speculation.
When it's time to worry is when Jim breaks one out as one of his posts. He seems to have some excellent insider contacts and while things he reports as rumor don't always come true, they do a high percentage of the time.
Remember that nobody knows who any of these other posters -- including me -- are. Jim has established his credibility, so I pay far more attention to his posts.
[Image: World War II poster, Somebody blabbed: Button your lip!]
For what it's worth, I've found the rumors in these commentary sections to be highly unreliable. Occassionally, one comes true but mostly they're just speculation.
When it's time to worry is when Jim breaks one out as one of his posts. He seems to have some excellent insider contacts and while things he reports as rumor don't always come true, they do a high percentage of the time.
Remember that nobody knows who any of these other posters -- including me -- are. Jim has established his credibility, so I pay far more attention to his posts.
[Image: World War II poster, Somebody blabbed: Button your lip!]
Report: GCI likely paid less than $15M for Ripple6
PaidContent just posted that estimate, based on details about the controversial November deal that emerge in Gannett's newly filed Form 10-K. GCI has not disclosed the price it paid for Ripple6, a social network software maker in which Chief Digital Officer Chris Saridakis held a 10% stake.
With layoffs, GCI employment dives record 10%
[Workforce size as of Dec. 31, each of past 15 years]
Reflecting a wave of job reductions, Gannett's employment plunged 10% last year, to 41,500, from 2007 -- the biggest annual drop in the past 15 years, according to the company's just-filed annual Form 10-K.
In fact, total employment would have fallen much more, but for Gannett's purchase last September of majority control of jobs site CareerBuilder. For the first time, GCI counted all 2,000 CareerBuilder workers in its global 41,500 headcount. Take them out, and Gannett's total workforce actually fell more than 14% from 2007, on an apples-to-apples basis.Also new in today's 10-K: an employment breakout for the digital portfolio companies, which include CareerBuilder: about 2,500 at the end of last year; GCI did not provide a comparable figure a year ago.
These companies include the jobs site and ShopLocal "from the dates of their full consolidation," plus PointRoll, Planet Discover, Schedule Star and Ripple6. So, back out CareerBuilder, and the digital portfolio companies employ about 500 total.
Newsquest paces losses
Companywide, employment peaked at 53,400 in 2000, following the $2.6 billion all-cash acquisition of Central Newspapers, which included The Arizona Republic and The Indianapolis Star.
The U.S. Community Publishing newspaper division now accounts for 70% of all employees, down marginally from 71% in 2007, the 10-K shows. Among operating units, U.K. newspaper division Newsquest reported the biggest employment reduction, nearly 19%.
U.S. newspapers
2007: 32,800 employees
2008: 29,200
Change: down 11%
Newsquest
2007: 8,100
2008: 6,600
Change: down 18.5%
Broadcasting
2007: 3,000
2008: 2,700
Change: down 10%
Earlier: Our paper-by-paper list of December job cuts
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
Just in: Gannett publishes its 2008 Annual Report
[Cover illustration is montage of company brands]
Read it here, in the Annual Reports section on Corporate's website.
[Image: Gannett]
Post-dividend cut: Investors brace for reaction
Trading resumes in Gannett's stock at 9:30 ET this morning, the first trading day after the board of directors moved with surprising aggression to boost the company's capital by slashing the dividend 90%. The board cut the quarterly payout to 4 cents from 40 cents a share, and pledged the $325 million annual savings to pay off debt.
GCI announced the news after stock markets closed, so today is the first chance for investors to vote -- with their wallets. Yesterday, in after-hours trading, Gannett sold for $3.52, down 6%. In regular trading, shares closed at $3.75, down 8.1% -- adding to losses since Jan. 30, when the company first disclosed a dividend reduction was likely; GCI has fallen 46% since then.
In a statement yesterday, Chairman and CEO Craig Dubow said: "Today's action by the Board is another prudent response to the full-fledged recessions in the U.S. and UK and the continuing difficulties in the credit markets."
Dubow's statement continues: "The reallocation of more than $325 million of free cash flow annually to pay down debt will further strengthen our balance sheet, provide us with even more financial flexibility and position us well to continue to seize opportunities for growth. This dividend represents the 163rd consecutive dividend paid by the company since 1967."
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
GCI announced the news after stock markets closed, so today is the first chance for investors to vote -- with their wallets. Yesterday, in after-hours trading, Gannett sold for $3.52, down 6%. In regular trading, shares closed at $3.75, down 8.1% -- adding to losses since Jan. 30, when the company first disclosed a dividend reduction was likely; GCI has fallen 46% since then.In a statement yesterday, Chairman and CEO Craig Dubow said: "Today's action by the Board is another prudent response to the full-fledged recessions in the U.S. and UK and the continuing difficulties in the credit markets."
Dubow's statement continues: "The reallocation of more than $325 million of free cash flow annually to pay down debt will further strengthen our balance sheet, provide us with even more financial flexibility and position us well to continue to seize opportunities for growth. This dividend represents the 163rd consecutive dividend paid by the company since 1967."
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
Dividend shift costs top investors $32M in Q2
Gannett's top five shareholders, their stockholdings, and income they lost in the next quarter after yesterday's 90% dividend cut:
- AllianceBernstein (30.8 million shares): $11.1 million
- Brandes Investment Partners (23.5 million): $8.5 million
- Barclays Global Investors (13.6 million): $4.9 million
- Ariel Investments (11.1 million): $4.0 million
- State Street Global Advisors (9.8 million): $3.5 million
[Data: MSN]
Self-portraits: Gannett's view of itself, 1994-09
Once a year, Gannett and other big companies give Wall Street's version of the elevator pitch -- the company-written "profile" in the annual Form 10-K. Yesterday, GCI filed its 2008 report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Following is how Corporate described Gannett at five-year intervals, since 1994. Now, consider this question: Does this annual "about us'' reflect the the sea changes buffeting our industry?
March 22, 1994
Gannett Co. is a diversified news and information company that publishes newspapers, operates broadcasting stations and outdoor advertising businesses, and is engaged in research, marketing, commercial printing, a newswire service, data services and news programming. The company has facilities in 41 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Great Britain, France, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Gannett's is the largest U.S. newspaper group, with 83 daily newspapers, including USA TODAY, more than 50 non-daily publications and USA WEEKEND, a weekly newspaper magazine. Total average paid daily circulation of Gannett's daily newspapers in 1993 exceeded 6.3 million, more than any other newspaper group.
Gannett owns and operates 10 television stations, six FM radio stations and five AM radio stations in major markets. Gannett Outdoor Group is the largest outdoor advertising group in North America, with operations in 11 states and Canada. Gannett was founded by Frank E. Gannett in 1906 and incorporated in 1923. The company went public in 1967. Its nearly 147 million shares of common stock are held by more than 14,000 shareholders of record in all 50 states and abroad. The company has 36,500 employees. Corporate headquarters is located at Arlington, Va.
March 22, 1999
A diversified news and information company that publishes newspapers, operates broadcasting stations and cable television systems, and is engaged in marketing, commercial printing, a newswire service, data services and news programming. Gannett is a nationwide company with headquarters in Arlington, Va., and operations in 45 states, the District of Columbia and Guam.
Gannett is the USA's largest newspaper group in terms of circulation. The company's 75 daily newspapers have a combined daily paid circulation of more than 6.7 million. They include USA TODAY, the nation's largest-selling daily newspaper, with a circulation of approximately 2.2 million. In addition, Gannett owns a variety of non-daily publications, including USA WEEKEND, a weekly newspaper magazine. The company owns and operates 21 television stations covering 16.7 percent of the USA and cable television systems in major U.S. markets.
Gannett was founded by Frank E. Gannett and associates in 1906 and incorporated in 1923. The company went public in 1967. Its nearly 280 million shares of common stock are held by more than 14,000 shareholders of record in all 50 states and abroad. The company has approximately 39,400 employees.
March 12, 2004
A diversified news and information company that publishes newspapers, operates broadcasting stations, operates Web sites in connection with its newspaper and broadcast operations, and is engaged in marketing, commercial printing, a newswire service, data services and news programming.
Gannett is an international company operating primarily in the U.S. and the United Kingdom (U.K.). Approximately 85% of its revenues are from domestic operations in 43 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam. It has foreign operations in the United Kingdom and in certain European and Asian markets. Its headquarters are in McLean, Va., near Washington, D.C., and is home to approximately 600 corporate employees.
Gannett was founded by Frank E. Gannett and associates in 1906 and incorporated in 1923. The company went public in 1967. It reincorporated in Delaware in 1974. Its more than 272 million outstanding shares of common stock are held by approximately 12,800 shareholders of record in all 50 states and several foreign countries. The company has approximately 53,000 employees.
The company has two principal business segments: newspaper publishing and broadcasting (television). Financial information for each of the company’s reportable segments can be found in our financial statements, as discussed under Item 7 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis” beginning on page 17, and as presented under Item 8 “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” beginning on page 28 of this Form 10-K.
Gannett is the USA’s largest newspaper group in terms of circulation. The company’s 100 U.S. daily newspapers have a combined daily paid circulation of 7.6 million. They include USA TODAY, the nation’s largest-selling daily newspaper, with a circulation of approximately 2.2 million. In addition, Gannett owns USA WEEKEND, a weekend newspaper magazine, and more than 500 non-daily publications in the United States.
Newsquest plc, a wholly owned Gannett subsidiary acquired in mid-1999 and expanded through further acquisitions since (including Scottish Media Group plc acquired in 2003), is the second largest regional newspaper publisher in the U.K. with a portfolio of more than 300 titles. Its publications include 17 daily newspapers with a combined circulation of approximately 725,000. Newsquest also publishes a variety of non-daily publications, including Berrow’s Worcester Journal, the oldest continuously published newspaper in the world.
Total average daily circulation of the company’s domestic and U.K. daily newspapers was approximately 8.3 million at the end of 2003.
Yesterday
Gannett was founded by Frank E. Gannett and associates in 1906 and incorporated in 1923. The company went public in 1967. It reincorporated in Delaware in 1972. Its more than 225 million outstanding shares of common stock are held by approximately 8,500 shareholders of record in all 50 states and several foreign countries. The company has approximately 41,500 employees including 2,000 employees for CareerBuilder, LLC. Its headquarters are in McLean, Va., near Washington, D.C.
The company is a leading international news and information company. In the United States, the company publishes 85 daily newspapers, including USA TODAY, and nearly 850 non-daily publications. Along with each of its daily newspapers, the company operates Web sites offering news, information and advertising that is customized for the market served and integrated with its publishing operations. USATODAY.com is one of the most popular news sites on the Web. The company is the largest newspaper publisher in the U.S.
Publishing operations in the United Kingdom, operating as Newsquest, include 17 paid-for daily newspapers, more than 200 weekly newspapers, magazines and trade publications, locally integrated Web sites and classified business Web sites with national reach. Newsquest is the second largest regional newspaper publisher in the U.K.
In broadcasting, the company operates 23 television stations in the U.S. with a market reach of more than 20.8 million households covering 18% of the U.S. population. Each of these stations also operates locally oriented Web sites offering news, entertainment and advertising content, in text and video format. Through its Captivate subsidiary, the broadcasting group delivers news, information and advertising to a highly desirable audience demographic through its video screens located in elevators of office towers and select hotel lobbies across North America.
Gannett’s total Online U.S. Internet Audience in January 2009 was 27.1 million unique visitors, reaching about 16.1% of the Internet audience, as measured by Nielsen//NetRatings.
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
[Today's front pages from four of the 85 U.S. dailies, Newseum]
Following is how Corporate described Gannett at five-year intervals, since 1994. Now, consider this question: Does this annual "about us'' reflect the the sea changes buffeting our industry?
March 22, 1994
Gannett Co. is a diversified news and information company that publishes newspapers, operates broadcasting stations and outdoor advertising businesses, and is engaged in research, marketing, commercial printing, a newswire service, data services and news programming. The company has facilities in 41 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Great Britain, France, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Gannett's is the largest U.S. newspaper group, with 83 daily newspapers, including USA TODAY, more than 50 non-daily publications and USA WEEKEND, a weekly newspaper magazine. Total average paid daily circulation of Gannett's daily newspapers in 1993 exceeded 6.3 million, more than any other newspaper group.Gannett owns and operates 10 television stations, six FM radio stations and five AM radio stations in major markets. Gannett Outdoor Group is the largest outdoor advertising group in North America, with operations in 11 states and Canada. Gannett was founded by Frank E. Gannett in 1906 and incorporated in 1923. The company went public in 1967. Its nearly 147 million shares of common stock are held by more than 14,000 shareholders of record in all 50 states and abroad. The company has 36,500 employees. Corporate headquarters is located at Arlington, Va.
March 22, 1999
A diversified news and information company that publishes newspapers, operates broadcasting stations and cable television systems, and is engaged in marketing, commercial printing, a newswire service, data services and news programming. Gannett is a nationwide company with headquarters in Arlington, Va., and operations in 45 states, the District of Columbia and Guam.
Gannett is the USA's largest newspaper group in terms of circulation. The company's 75 daily newspapers have a combined daily paid circulation of more than 6.7 million. They include USA TODAY, the nation's largest-selling daily newspaper, with a circulation of approximately 2.2 million. In addition, Gannett owns a variety of non-daily publications, including USA WEEKEND, a weekly newspaper magazine. The company owns and operates 21 television stations covering 16.7 percent of the USA and cable television systems in major U.S. markets.Gannett was founded by Frank E. Gannett and associates in 1906 and incorporated in 1923. The company went public in 1967. Its nearly 280 million shares of common stock are held by more than 14,000 shareholders of record in all 50 states and abroad. The company has approximately 39,400 employees.
March 12, 2004
A diversified news and information company that publishes newspapers, operates broadcasting stations, operates Web sites in connection with its newspaper and broadcast operations, and is engaged in marketing, commercial printing, a newswire service, data services and news programming.
Gannett is an international company operating primarily in the U.S. and the United Kingdom (U.K.). Approximately 85% of its revenues are from domestic operations in 43 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam. It has foreign operations in the United Kingdom and in certain European and Asian markets. Its headquarters are in McLean, Va., near Washington, D.C., and is home to approximately 600 corporate employees.Gannett was founded by Frank E. Gannett and associates in 1906 and incorporated in 1923. The company went public in 1967. It reincorporated in Delaware in 1974. Its more than 272 million outstanding shares of common stock are held by approximately 12,800 shareholders of record in all 50 states and several foreign countries. The company has approximately 53,000 employees.
The company has two principal business segments: newspaper publishing and broadcasting (television). Financial information for each of the company’s reportable segments can be found in our financial statements, as discussed under Item 7 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis” beginning on page 17, and as presented under Item 8 “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” beginning on page 28 of this Form 10-K.
Gannett is the USA’s largest newspaper group in terms of circulation. The company’s 100 U.S. daily newspapers have a combined daily paid circulation of 7.6 million. They include USA TODAY, the nation’s largest-selling daily newspaper, with a circulation of approximately 2.2 million. In addition, Gannett owns USA WEEKEND, a weekend newspaper magazine, and more than 500 non-daily publications in the United States.
Newsquest plc, a wholly owned Gannett subsidiary acquired in mid-1999 and expanded through further acquisitions since (including Scottish Media Group plc acquired in 2003), is the second largest regional newspaper publisher in the U.K. with a portfolio of more than 300 titles. Its publications include 17 daily newspapers with a combined circulation of approximately 725,000. Newsquest also publishes a variety of non-daily publications, including Berrow’s Worcester Journal, the oldest continuously published newspaper in the world.
Total average daily circulation of the company’s domestic and U.K. daily newspapers was approximately 8.3 million at the end of 2003.
Yesterday
Gannett was founded by Frank E. Gannett and associates in 1906 and incorporated in 1923. The company went public in 1967. It reincorporated in Delaware in 1972. Its more than 225 million outstanding shares of common stock are held by approximately 8,500 shareholders of record in all 50 states and several foreign countries. The company has approximately 41,500 employees including 2,000 employees for CareerBuilder, LLC. Its headquarters are in McLean, Va., near Washington, D.C.
The company is a leading international news and information company. In the United States, the company publishes 85 daily newspapers, including USA TODAY, and nearly 850 non-daily publications. Along with each of its daily newspapers, the company operates Web sites offering news, information and advertising that is customized for the market served and integrated with its publishing operations. USATODAY.com is one of the most popular news sites on the Web. The company is the largest newspaper publisher in the U.S.Publishing operations in the United Kingdom, operating as Newsquest, include 17 paid-for daily newspapers, more than 200 weekly newspapers, magazines and trade publications, locally integrated Web sites and classified business Web sites with national reach. Newsquest is the second largest regional newspaper publisher in the U.K.
In broadcasting, the company operates 23 television stations in the U.S. with a market reach of more than 20.8 million households covering 18% of the U.S. population. Each of these stations also operates locally oriented Web sites offering news, entertainment and advertising content, in text and video format. Through its Captivate subsidiary, the broadcasting group delivers news, information and advertising to a highly desirable audience demographic through its video screens located in elevators of office towers and select hotel lobbies across North America.
Gannett’s total Online U.S. Internet Audience in January 2009 was 27.1 million unique visitors, reaching about 16.1% of the Internet audience, as measured by Nielsen//NetRatings.
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
[Today's front pages from four of the 85 U.S. dailies, Newseum]
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Wednesday | Feb. 25 | Your News & Comments
Special note for Wednesday's board meeting: If dividend news breaks while I'm offline, post it here, in this dividend watch edition of Real Time Comments: parked here, 24/7. (Earlier editions.)
Document: Gannett employment fell 10% last year
[Workforce size: Dec. 31 in each of the past 15 years]
Reflecting a wave of layoffs and other jobs cuts, GCI employed 41,500 workers at the end of 2008 -- down 10% from 46,100 at the end of 2007, and the biggest annual drop in the past 15 years, according to the company's annual Form 10-K, filed earlier today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
In fact, total employment would have fallen much more, but for Gannett's purchase last September of majority control of jobs site CareerBuilder, which had about 2,000 workers at the end of 2008. GCI did not count CareerBuilder employees a year ago. Take them out of the mix, and Gannett's total workforce actually fell more than 14% from 2007.Also new in the 2008 10-K: Gannett is now breaking out employment in the digital division: about 2,500 at the end of last year; GCI did not provide a comparable figure a year ago.
Newsquest paces losses
Among operating units, U.K. newspaper division Newsquest reported the biggest employment loss.
U.S. newspapers
2007: 32,800 employees
2008: 29,200
Change: down 11%
Newsquest
2007: 8,100
2008: 6,600
Change: down 18.5%
Broadcasting
2007: 3,000
2008: 2,700
Change: down 10%
Digital
2007: NA
2008: 2,500
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
OMG!!!
GCI's directors: Starting on the top row, left to right, with powerful executive committee members in boldface: Dubow, Elias, Harper, Louis, Magner, McCune, McFarland, Shalala, Shapiro and Williams.I go offline for a couple hours, and look what happens: the board of directors does the right thing! Now, let's see how Wall Street's big dawgs react. Short iPhone post. Comment, below, please.
A put-up -- or shut-up -- moment for our owners
Microsoft did not pay its first public stock dividend until 28 years after Bill Gates co-founded the software giant. Google still does not pay dividends, 10 years after its start. If Facebook goes public, once the capital markets are restored, it will not pay a dividend for many years afterward, either.
These companies are all in technology, the same industry CEO Craig Dubow has said is Gannett's future, as it is transformed into a digital news and information network, from an Old Economy newspaper manufacturer.
In all start-ups, but especially those in technology, every penny of profit must be plowed back into research and development, into hiring the best engineers available, so the venture can scale up as quickly as possible. There isn't a second to waste. This is Start-up 101 -- a subject I reported for most of eight years, covering entrepreneurs and venture capital on USA Today's tech-news team.
For directors, a watershed moment
I write this as Gannett's board of directors is believed to be debating an unprecedented reduction in the dividend -- the first such cut, if approved, since the company began paying dividends to public stockholders in 1967.
Pushed to the wall by the growing credit crisis, this board may finally go on record, answering a central question: Are Gannett's principal stockholders -- AXA Financial, Brandes Investment, and the rest -- genuinely committed to GCI's future?
I have long questioned Corporate's investment in real transformation, precisely because the dividend policy never changed -- other than its yield rising ever higher. In practice, Dubow's version of transformation was little more than rearranging the deck chairs. Dubow may never have said precisely that Gannett was in start-up mode. No matter -- that's exactly where the company must be: on start-up footing, with a capital structure reflecting that fact.
In other words, if the board does anything less than suspend the dividend, we remain mired in the vicinity of fantasyland -- i.e.: a 43% yield at today's closing stock price: $3.75, down 8%.
Continuing to demand dividends has meant one thing: our owners did not believe in Gannett's ability to transform into a viable technology company. If they thought otherwise, they would want to spend all their profit on making sure the company got the best launch possible. We are now at a put-up or shut-up moment.
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
These companies are all in technology, the same industry CEO Craig Dubow has said is Gannett's future, as it is transformed into a digital news and information network, from an Old Economy newspaper manufacturer.In all start-ups, but especially those in technology, every penny of profit must be plowed back into research and development, into hiring the best engineers available, so the venture can scale up as quickly as possible. There isn't a second to waste. This is Start-up 101 -- a subject I reported for most of eight years, covering entrepreneurs and venture capital on USA Today's tech-news team.
For directors, a watershed moment
I write this as Gannett's board of directors is believed to be debating an unprecedented reduction in the dividend -- the first such cut, if approved, since the company began paying dividends to public stockholders in 1967.
Pushed to the wall by the growing credit crisis, this board may finally go on record, answering a central question: Are Gannett's principal stockholders -- AXA Financial, Brandes Investment, and the rest -- genuinely committed to GCI's future?
I have long questioned Corporate's investment in real transformation, precisely because the dividend policy never changed -- other than its yield rising ever higher. In practice, Dubow's version of transformation was little more than rearranging the deck chairs. Dubow may never have said precisely that Gannett was in start-up mode. No matter -- that's exactly where the company must be: on start-up footing, with a capital structure reflecting that fact.In other words, if the board does anything less than suspend the dividend, we remain mired in the vicinity of fantasyland -- i.e.: a 43% yield at today's closing stock price: $3.75, down 8%.
Continuing to demand dividends has meant one thing: our owners did not believe in Gannett's ability to transform into a viable technology company. If they thought otherwise, they would want to spend all their profit on making sure the company got the best launch possible. We are now at a put-up or shut-up moment.
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
Why we'd rather get furloughs than layoffs
"Once you've seen your friend laid off,
you'd much rather do the furlough."
-- unidentified Gannett journalist, speaking to Reuters news service for a new story about the spread of furloughs to white-collar jobs.
In early trading, Gannett stock gives up gains
Shares recently traded for $3.78, down 7%, as investors awaited possible word from the board of directors, set to meet today over an agenda that could include a substantial reduction in the dividend. Today's price ease followed an 11% jump in shares on Tuesday.
Newsquest: U.K. workers at York marshal walkout
Unionized newsroom employees at The Press and the Gazette & Herald staged a 12-hour walkout yesterday starting at noon, to protest plans by Gannett's 17-daily Newsquest unit to eliminate seven of 59 editorial jobs at the York newspapers, a labor group says.
"It was the latest in a series of mandatory meetings held by the chapel in recent weeks, but the first to last more than an hour,'' the National Union of Journalists says. "It is believed to have caused major disruption to both the daily title, the Press, and its weekly sister paper, the Gazette & Herald, which prints on Tuesdays."
The NUJ renewed its call for guarantees that Newsquest will not force through compulsory job losses at the papers. "Joint Fathers of Chapel, Tony Kelly and Gavin Aitchison, said the decision to stay out all afternoon yesterday followed the release, by managing editor Steve Hughes, of a skills matrix, proposed for use in the event of compulsory layoffs,'' the union said in a statement.
Kelly and Aitchison said: "The Press and Gazette & Herald have suffered horrific cuts in recent years. The papers have been mismanaged and mistreated, and further cuts will only serve to further hinder our ability to serve our readers in York, North Yorkshire and East Yorkshire."
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
"It was the latest in a series of mandatory meetings held by the chapel in recent weeks, but the first to last more than an hour,'' the National Union of Journalists says. "It is believed to have caused major disruption to both the daily title, the Press, and its weekly sister paper, the Gazette & Herald, which prints on Tuesdays."The NUJ renewed its call for guarantees that Newsquest will not force through compulsory job losses at the papers. "Joint Fathers of Chapel, Tony Kelly and Gavin Aitchison, said the decision to stay out all afternoon yesterday followed the release, by managing editor Steve Hughes, of a skills matrix, proposed for use in the event of compulsory layoffs,'' the union said in a statement.
Kelly and Aitchison said: "The Press and Gazette & Herald have suffered horrific cuts in recent years. The papers have been mismanaged and mistreated, and further cuts will only serve to further hinder our ability to serve our readers in York, North Yorkshire and East Yorkshire."Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
Day 2: Eyes on stock, board to restart meeting
The board of directors is set to reconvene today, amid speculation that it may cut the dividend; it would be the first such cut since Gannett went public in 1967. Savings would presumably pay down debt at a time when credit is tighter than it's been in decades.
A second day of meetings would come as investors watch for signs that shares will rally again. The stock rose more than 11% yesterday, when markets overall got a big lift from positive comments by the Federal Reserve's chairman.
Any board news about the dividend or other steps taken by directors would likely be announced before stock markets start trading, at 9:30 a.m. ET -- or after trading ends, at 4 p.m. ET. Until then, entertain yourself with this trailer from director Oliver Stone's 1987 classic, Wall Street, starring Michael Douglas.
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
[Image: a montage of director photos]
A second day of meetings would come as investors watch for signs that shares will rally again. The stock rose more than 11% yesterday, when markets overall got a big lift from positive comments by the Federal Reserve's chairman.Any board news about the dividend or other steps taken by directors would likely be announced before stock markets start trading, at 9:30 a.m. ET -- or after trading ends, at 4 p.m. ET. Until then, entertain yourself with this trailer from director Oliver Stone's 1987 classic, Wall Street, starring Michael Douglas.
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
[Image: a montage of director photos]
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Tuesday | Feb. 24 | Your News & Comments
Special note for Tuesday's board meeting: If dividend news breaks while I'm offline, post it here, in this special Dividend Watch edition of Real Time Comments: parked here, 24/7. (Earlier editions.)
Limo watch: Is board of directors still working?
As directors near a crucial vote on the dividend, Anonymous@6:45 p.m. reports from Corporate: "Pitch dark out. Limos are still outside."
Hearst warns it may close San Francisco Chronicle
Now run by former top Gannett executive Frank Vega (left), The San Francisco Chronicle lost more than $50 million last year, "and this year's losses to date are worse," Hearst Corp. just announced. That is on top of more than $330 million in losses since Hearst bought the Chronicle eight years ago. "It's just a fact of life that we need to live within our means as a newspaper, and we have not for years,'' Vega told the paper.
Hearst warned it would close or sell the paper unless "critical" cost-cutting starts within weeks -- including "significant" reductions in union and non-union jobs. (Sounds like Vega's about to make the unions an offer, ahem, they can't refuse.)The Chronicle is the nation's eleventh-biggest, by circulation: 343,488 daily; 398,116 Sundays, as of Sept. 30, according to Deutsche Bank. Yet, as across the industry, circulation has slipped: down 7% daily, and 7.4% on Sunday, compared to September 2007, the bank says.
Family-controlled Hearst bought the paper just as the technology bubble burst, and the industry tumbled into a rapid decline. Since then, it has lost hundreds of millions of dollars despite multiple rounds of cost cuts. It's not even clear that local Hearst scion William Randolph Hearst III will step in.
$660M purchase price
Hearst chose perhaps the worst possible year, 2000, to buy the Chronicle: It paid $660 million that July for a single newspaper -- astonishing now, after eight years of the industry's rapid decline. That price is equivalent to nearly 75% of Gannett's entire current market capitalization, $931 million -- including USA Today -- based on this afternoon's closing stock price, $4.08 a share.
The Chronicle was recently redesigned under top Editor Ward Bushee; Vega recruited him more than a year ago from The Arizona Republic.
Earlier: What Bushee's move said about the Chronicle's future
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
[Image: today's front page, Newseum]
Closing bell: As board meets, GCI stock soars 11%
[Shares staged a recovery beginning at 11 a.m. ET]
Gannett's stock closed moments ago at $4.08 a share, up more than 11%, Google Finance says, as overall markets rallied on investor optimism. Earlier in the day, GCI had traded as low as $3.50. Any announcement regarding news from the board of directors meeting presumably underway would come while markets are closed.
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
Stock's rise: Don't wish for the Oliver Stone ending
Anonymous@1:55 p.m. writes: "Wow. Up 12% at 2 p.m. Does this mean no dividend cut?"If the board of directors leaves the dividend intact, that's as good as saying they've abandoned you to the wolves, in order to siphon the remaining capital to the stockholders as rapidly as possible. In other words, my imagined Oliver Stone version of this week's board meeting. You don't want it ending that way.
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
Document confirms: Just 8,900 GCI shareholders
Regarding the total number of Gannett stockowners listed in the company's annual report, Anonymous@5:08 a.m. wrote: "Only 8,900 shareholders? Is there a zero or two missing from that statistic?"That seems low, given GCI employment was 46,100 during the relevant period. But I've just checked the number, and it's correct; see the screenshot above, from page 3 of the Form 10-K, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Feb. 28, 2008.
Indeed, the total is down 30% from five years ago: Gannett had 12,800 stockholders at the end of 2003, that year's 10-K says. Yet, companywide employment -- 53,000 back then -- is down just 13% over those five years, suggesting a further concentration of ownership among big institutional owners.
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
Shoring up defenses against growing cash squeeze, Gannett board assembles for historic dividend vote
The directors: Starting on the top row, left to right, with powerful executive committee members in boldface: Dubow, Elias, Harper, Louis, Magner, McCune, McFarland, Shalala, Shapiro and Williams.
Weighing an unprecedented dividend cut, Gannett's board of directors has shifted dramatically under Chairman Craig Dubow, the chief executive since 2005, public documents show. Except for Karen Hastie Williams, a board member since 1997, few of Dubow's other nine co-directors have much history with GCI. That's good or bad, depending on whether you want directors voting with their heads -- or hearts, during their two-day meeting, which starts today.Six of the nine directors joined after Dubow became CEO, so they may be unduly swayed by him because they owe their lucrative board seats to his favor. Corporate governance experts have long criticized such clubby boardrooms, saying their members function exactly the opposite as they should. These critics are especially scornful of companies like Gannett, which concentrate too much power by combining the board chairman and CEO positions.
Not so independent: Williams
I'm not persuaded Williams is sufficiently independent of Dubow to qualify as a strong enough presiding director, the de facto deputy chair. For one thing, Williams is one of three directors who were on the 2005 board that hired Dubow as CEO, then elected him chairman a year later. Her reputation is tied to Dubow's success -- or failure. (Duncan McFarland and Donna Shalala were the other two.)
Plus, it's hard to imagine Williams, 64, a retired Crowell & Moring attorney, can devote enough time to Gannett, given her directorships at four other large, publicly traded companies: insurance giant Chubb Corp.; Continental Airlines; WGL Holdings, parent of Washington Gas Light Co., and SunTrust Banks. Amid the finance industry meltdown, SunTrust alone could occupy her attention full-time; its shares are down 87% from a year ago.Boardroom basics 101
Directors represent shareholders, and management serves at their pleasure. The board retains a CEO; sets key compensation, and reviews big initiatives. Above all, its duty is guarding shareholder interests. Liquidity trumps sentiment (i.e., the First Amendment).
There are about 8,900 Gannett stockholders, but the board is principally concerned with the views of the biggest investors, including No. 1 AXA Financial of New York, and No. 2 Brandes Investment Partners of San Diego, Calif. They are "institutional" investors, managing money on behalf of small investors in mutual funds and retirement plans.Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Monday | Feb. 23 | Your News & Comments
Can't find the right spot for your comment? Post it here, in this open forum. Real Time Comments: parked here, 24/7. (Earlier editions.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
