I'm covering the 10 a.m. ET conference call, as CEO Craig Dubow and COO Gracia Martore talk to Wall Street stock analysts about this morning's second-quarter earnings release. The conference is open to the public on a listen-only basis. Details, here.
10:59 a.m.: How's political advertising? On TV, "it's moving along nicely," Dubow says. And we're done!
10:58 a.m. Martore expects (I think) $15 million in quarterly pension contributions.
10:52 a.m.: What about revenue on iPad for USA Today? Dubow: Yes, there is premium on advertising because of the environment. "It's extremely clean, there's no clutter. But as we move forward, let's just see where things settle. We're continuing to run these tests. But we haven't definitively defined when or how."
10:51 a.m.: Stock sell-off continues: Shares are now down 2.4%. And the Dow Jones is off 164 points!
10:49 a.m.: Any interest in buying TV stations? Dubow says none in "standalone," more in "synergy."
10:42 a.m.: How are things looking in the U.K.? The royal wedding news bump has worn off. Davidson & Co. are doing a good job. "I think you'll still see some headwinds there,'' Martore says. Impact on The News of the World closing? "We'll stay out of that," Dubow says, firmly, cutting off any discussion. Hmmmmm . . . Good coaching, Robin Pence!
10:37 a.m.: How are paywalls doing at the three newspaper test sites? Martore says they're "working on a few more items at the moment," and more tests. "It's a little early for us to share any more details." Sheesh! When are they going to give this a final up or down? The New York Times is reporting good results since putting up a paywall in late March.
10:35 a.m.: Shares are now down 2%.
10:33 a.m.: More newspaper layoffs ahead? Martore says "we have currently no intention of looking at further reductions." But that depends on individual businesses. "We've been adding back in key digital areas, and in broadcast. . . . You can't just hone in on one specific division."
10:31 a.m.: What are priorities for cash? (So much for one question per analyst.) Dubow says they are still looking for possible digital investments, while also giving back to shareholders.
10:28 a.m.: How's newspaper advertising look? Martore says June was a better month, "so felt good about the way we've closed up the quarter." In July, things are "perking along in the same way."
10:27 a.m.: The much more interesting Q&A portion has now begun.
10:25 a.m.: New buzzwords alert: CareerBuilder is evolving into a "human capital solutions company," Martore says. Oy, veh.
10:23 a.m.: Newsprint prices still suck, but they're starting to suck less.
10:17 a.m.: Martore has just given us the first reference to "headwinds" -- Corporate's favorite scapegoat for any bad news. What? The Japanese earthquake?!
10:14 a.m.: Dubow just said, "Deal Chicken." Sounds silly coming out of his mouth. He keeps saying it: Deal Chicken, Deal Chicken, Deal Chicken.
10:08 a.m.: Shares have now begun trading south. A likely co-culprit: The Dow Jones Industrial Average is off 130 points. So much for the good news, eh, Wall Street?
10:02 a.m.: And here's Martore! Soon, they'll begin reading prepared statements. Z-z-z-z-z-z-z. You may want to take a bathroom break at this point.
10 a.m.: Operator has just given us the one minute warning!
9:56 a.m.: This Mile High comment just in: Anonymous@9:51 a.m. says the execs are actually in Denver today!!! Tanks of oxygen have been wheeled into the conference room.
9:52 a.m.: Now listening to soothing, calming, relaxing, gentle, classical music. (I recognize that piece, but can't recall the title. Anyone?)
9:48 a.m.: They try to avoid the temptation of checking the current stock price on their Blackberries. (Recent trade: $13.50, barely changed. Ooops.) Meanwhile, Chief Marketing Officer Maryam Banikarim once more updates her resume.
9:45 a.m.: The call starts in 15 minutes. Somewhere in the Gannett Tower at the Crystal Palace, executives are nervously sitting around a large conference table. Oh, boy.
Monday, July 18, 2011
29 comments:
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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The execs are actually in Denver today.Eeejit.
ReplyDeleteDigital dollars remain strong. paidcontent blog this morning.
ReplyDeleteYahoo Helps Boost Digital At Local Papers; USAT Digital Revs Jump http://eqent.me/nCMEEA
Why did stock go from being up .08 to being down .15 during the Q&A session? Any guesses out there?
ReplyDeleteFolks I am listening to the call as well and let me tell you Jim's bias is really showing. Jim I knew you disliked thes executives but your postings are outrageous. You really want your readers to continue to be depreseed. It's now obvious if they are not negative then you have no readers. Folks take his postings with a grain of salt. He isn't even pretending to be neutral. This is not reporting. And no, before you attack me, I am not a troll
ReplyDelete10:39 apparently is unfamiliar with the conventions of jocular live-blogging.
ReplyDelete10:39, what's the upside?
ReplyDeletePaywalls are not working.
ReplyDeleteTo no one's surprise, huge drop in clicks, significant drop in daily viewers. But she won't admit that.
In the known history of the known universe, has anyone ever admitted the following:
ReplyDelete"I am a troll."
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ReplyDeleteWhat in the world does this even mean? Can't the guy speak English?
ReplyDelete10:49 a.m.: Any interest in buying TV stations? Dubow says none in "standalone," more in "synergy."
And what's up with the headwinds references?
The only wind I heard was all hot air.
ReplyDeleteI guess all those posters who said yahoo partnership was not working were wrong. Yahoo helped boost digital dollars at Gannett.
ReplyDeleteSuch BS on this blog. Anyone can say anything and very little of it is fact.
11:27, sadly, there is more fact than fiction.
ReplyDelete11:15, the references to standalone and synergy mean this. Gannett is not interested in buying a station unless it already has another station or maybe a newspaper there, so they can share resources. Or cut staff. From whatever perspective you use.
ReplyDelete@12:12, gotcha and thanks.
ReplyDeleteLove Dumbow's response to the I-Pad question. Geez, this dude is so out of touch.
ReplyDeleteI thought Dubow's refusal to allow News of the World discussion bordered on what's-he-afraid-of suspicious.
ReplyDeleteGCI needs to take a leaf out of how Warren Buffett and New York banker Jamie Diamond do it, and just sit there until all comers ask the questions they want. What do they have to hide? Buffet tries to be too folksy for my tastes, but Diamond seems to know everything that is going on in his company. For some reason, Gannett's crew seems to want not to know, or have confidence they are doing the right thing.
ReplyDeleteVery transparent ideed. It is a surpraise to find this kind of information about Garnet business. Other media groups do not offer so many information, or at least do not seem so independents.
ReplyDelete10:39 If you follow the laws of traditional logic, you are admitting you are a troll. You say:
ReplyDelete"And no, before you attack me, I am not a troll" In that sentence, the two "no's" cancel each other out, so the sentence should properly read:
"And before you attack me, I am a troll."
So here I am and I am attacking you.
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ReplyDeleteThis is a distressing Q&A about USAT and the possibility of extending iPad apps for all Gannett papers and broadcast:
ReplyDelete10:52 a.m.: What about revenue on iPad for USA Today? Dubow: Yes, there is premium on advertising because of the environment. "It's extremely clean, there's no clutter. But as we move forward, let's just see where things settle. We're continuing to run these tests. But we haven't definitively defined when or how."
Seriously? How much Effin' testing do you have to do? Any whiz kids at "Planet Discover" who can help?
Here's your fiddle and box of matches, Craig, Rome is that way.
I listened objectively to the earnings call. Lots of forward pushing promises and obsfucation, which weve heard the past few quarters. Being evasive is dishonest. Having no ability to articulate a game plan is piss poor management. And simply cutting to feather your own nest is incredibly unethical. These two are destroying whats left of sagging morale and initiative.
ReplyDeleteWhy no updates on the massively successful verticals? Craig? Helloooooow?
ReplyDeleteWTF were they wasting their time in denver for? How about a digital conference call? Your presence in the Gannett frontier is not required, Craig. If anything, its counter productive. You have no idea how much you are despised for your clueless incompetence and excessive pay.
ReplyDelete