Monday, May 16, 2011

Dubow nixes more newspaper, TV station buys

CEO Craig Dubow spoke to Wall Street media stock analysts early this afternoon at the annual Noble Financial conference, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Here's a link to a video of his presentation. The question-and-answer part starts at minute 15:00.

Highlights of Dubow's responses to some questions:
  • GCI will continue to focus on expanding its portfolio of digital businesses, as opposed to buying any newspapers or TV stations that may be on the market. "The real drive is going to be to build out our digital portfolio first."
  • The nearly year-old experiments with three different paywalls at newspapers in Greenville, S.C.; St. George, Utah, and Tallahassee, Fla., have shown there would be no single paywall model for all the company's properties. He did not give a timetable for any expansion of paywalls. But he added: "I would say it's not too far in the distant future.''
  • GCI and its partners in the giant employment advertising site, CareerBuilder, are focused on continuing to expand into international markets. There are no plans now to spin off the site or sell it through an initial public offering.

13 comments:

  1. He doesn't have a line of credit with the banks to buy anything so his comments are ridiculous. They will start up web-based sites, but that costs virtually nothing except the labor costs of putting the sites together.

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  2. Why did they bother with this forum? Perhaps it was that they knew they would get really light-weight questions.

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  3. So what kind of response did Dumbow get from the Wall Street bankers after getting up off his knees?

    (Forbes) -- UBS lowered its EPS estimates on shares of Gannett through 2012 as advertising demand has been falling, especially in the print arena. In the report, UBS maintained its neutral rating on shares of GCI and set a price target of $16 per share.

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  4. Wonder if the Boy King visited any gannets properties.

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  5. Did Craig borrow his clown costume and red nose from the folks running (into the ground) USA Today?

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  6. Maybe he borrowed yours, 8:11. Probably had to clean the stains off it first.

    What an idiot you are.

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  7. Did he visit any Florida sites while in the sunshine state or did he hightail it out of there?

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  8. So, after a year of paywall trials, nothing has been learned?
    Sounds about right, for Gannett.

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  9. Strategery

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  10. Wish they could have played Craig'
    s youtube sensation on what it takes to be a journalist. As if he knows. Craig, how about a video on what it takes to be a leader and visionary?

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  11. The Nobel Financial conference? How c list can you get?

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  12. 4;47, the labor costs of websites can be huge. The verticals usa today are banking on are bottomless pits of six figure management hires and out of control spending on meals, travel and lodging. Crimping all other expenses at the paper. Staff cuts on print side will have to offset Heather Frank's megalomania.

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  13. Again, the question: How the heck did a horse's ass like Dubow get to the top of G A N N E T T?

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Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."

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