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Saturday, June 15, 2013
49 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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Hola.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteGannett has shared why they bought Belo. But, I'm curious to know why would Belo sell? Is there something more than just wanting to merge to increase scale? Is there something about the local television marketplace they know that Gannett doesn't? I'm not a media expert or have much experience in this space, but just wondering if anyone can share some perspective on this.
ReplyDeleteIn a mature business, you consolidate or die. They were never going to be acquirers, and their properties were never going to be worth more—in fact, there's an excellent chance they'll turn out to be second only to Tony Ridder in the prescient timing department.
DeleteUncle Tony - ┌∩┐(◣_◢)┌∩┐ F HIM!
DeleteHe destroyed a 113-year-old company and sent thousands to the unemployment lines.
Gannett's only half as good a company, har!
Read some recent posts on the continuing purging of seasoned employees at the nation's newspaper.
ReplyDeleteI am a tad surprised that no one really called out USAT management for putting a lot of spin on the recent buyouts by first labeling them as an "early retirement" program (I personally don't feel warm and fuzzy about that term) and then throwing a party for the over-55 crew who "volunteered." That's a lot of lipstick on a pig for a media company that is supposed to being exposing deceit not creating it.
The buyouts were great for anyone who was thinking of jumping ship soon anyway. For everyone else, it was a gut-wrenching decision. This sort of corporate manipulation tears down trust. It also puts a lot of talented and previously loyal folks not ready for the glue factory out on the street at a time when not a lot of companies are hiring 50somethings.
Bottom line for USAT is that management spent like drunken sailors for years. Corporate built USAT (and itself) a palace. And when the bad times arrived, the first things that were thrown overboard were people. God forbid some executive had to give up his or her bonus to save some jobs. Whatever non-personnel belt tightening existed prior to the multiple rounds of layoffs and buyouts was minimal. USAT and Gannett went right for the jugular without blinking an eye. That's the true nature of this company, to not give a crap about employees once they reach a certain age or salary level.
Nice speech but you failed to mention that at the same time millions of people were let go after one of the worse financial recessions in history. But why recognize the facts when you can dump on people you hate
DeleteWhat a bunch of hooey by 4:28 p.m. I took the early retirement buyout and I am friends and colleagues with with USAT people who also were eligible. There was no secret plot by deranged, devilish managers. It was an obvious good deal for some people ready to leave the mothership for new adventures. Some others chose not to take it because a number of them were just over the 55 minimum and have kids in college. They decided that they're making pretty good money here and need to pay that tuition. Some just wanted to keep working. Nobody held a gun to our heads. The USAT bosses were frank about wanting to make some salary room to hire technical people from outside. There was no secret campaign to oust geezers if we wanted to stay. If there was any angst among us, it was really over mundane factors that many people face in any company when they contemplate leaving: where to get affordable health insurance, how long before Medicare kicks in, when to claim Social Security, etc. But some people here hate so much that they see conspiracies and evil deeds by Gannett everywhere.
DeleteWhy are you anonymous?
Delete9:19 Why are you anonymous?
DeleteI am 11:31 p.m., and I would be normally be happy to give my name. Unfortunately, I would be crazy to do that in this venue. There are hateful, bitter people -- fortunately, it's a small number -- here who would almost certainly try to hack, troll, libel, slander and do whatever to make my online life miserable. That's not going to happen. That's why so many of the good guys must use the anonymous label.
DeleteSame way here, 4:07. I was going to post that myself.
DeleteOne thing I would change: The percentage of hateful, bitter people here is high. Very high. The number is still small, though. Do the math.
FLORIDA TODAY
ReplyDeleteDon't be surprised to see the Florida Today building up for sale now that BIG AL has passed on. Prime Real Estate on US 1
Gannett (NYSE: GCI) was downgraded by research analysts at Barclays Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report released on Monday, Analyst Ratings Network.com reports. They currently have a $18.00 target price on the stock. The analysts noted that the move was a valuation call.
ReplyDeleteShares of Gannett (NYSE: GCI) traded down 1.95% during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $20.14. Gannett has a 52 week low of $12.17 and a 52 week high of $22.21. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $21.25. The company has a market cap of $4.625 billion and a P/E ratio of 10.51.
Gannett (NYSE: GCI) last released its earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the analysts’ consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Gannett will post $2.20 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
GCI has been the subject of a number of other recent research reports. Analysts at Zacks reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Gannett in a research note to investors on Wednesday, February 20th. They now have a $22.00 price target on the stock. Separately, analysts at Citigroup upgraded shares of Gannett from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note to investors on Wednesday, February 6th. They now have a $22.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $19.00. Finally, analysts at Benchmark Co. reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Gannett in a research note to investors on Tuesday, February 5th. They now have a $21.00 price target on the stock.
One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.17.
Gannett Co, Inc. is an international media and marketing solutions company, delivering content and services across an integrated, multi-platform portfolio.
Get over it 4:28 pm. You're just out of a job and we're not.
ReplyDelete4:28 has some legitimate points. A great deal of Gannett employees had taken furloughs over the course of MANY YEARS, in addition to salary freezes for a year. The years of furloughs equated to substantial financial loss for all employees. Gannett rationalized the furlough by using the "times are tough" angle, and consistently used that angle throughout many years. However, in light of all the sacrifices made by Gannett's employees, Gannett accummulated 1.2B to purchase additional properties with more employees. I sincerely hope that the furloughs are finally over. I do think that the furloughs were necessary in 2009. However, mandatory furloughs took place during 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and some even in 2013. Now, you know damn well that Gannett took advantage of their employees. And, quite frankly I think Gannett stories to "rationalize the furloughs," were always just a "bunch of hooey."
Delete4:46 YET!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat does buying BELO have to do with PRINT?
ReplyDeleteThat's a whole other production area!
Yes broadcast is a separate division so I really don't understand the hype. Unless they are posts made by broadcast employees.To me this purchase just means,once again that the print division means little to Gannett and this is just another transitional move away from the print side.
DeleteNewspapers are still very important to the company. Their advertising and circulation accounted for 65% of Gannett's total revenue in 2012.
DeleteBut that's down from 83% in 2006. And that figure will continue to decline -- at Gannett and other newspaper publishers as advertisers flock to other media.
The company must find other sources of revenue to keep Wall Street happy. That's why it bought Belo. While TV also is losing advertising revenue, it's not losing it as quickly as newspapers are.
4:28 is correct. Gannett has mismanaged and overspent for many years. Many of the divisions were overstaffed and overpaid. And oddly enough those were the divisions that suffered the least or at least were not cut as much as they should have been. It is grave mismanagement and underhanded politics all of the way.
ReplyDeleteRubbish.
DeleteWow, 12:37. Your one word answer speaks volumes about you. Why don't you establish and verbalize an arguement?
DeleteI'm curious whether or not people are getting raises now? Is this something that's only happening for a select few?
ReplyDeleteToday's local TV stations are tomorrow's local newspapers. The audience is going to bypass them just as they have been bypassing local newspapers. More importantly, advertisers are going to bypass them in favor of more direct and targeted access to desired segments of the audience.
ReplyDeleteI'm not in favor of the above. I'm just saying that is how things are moving, and I'm afraid Gannett is buying into another dying medium. The so-called visionaries at the top of Gannett are myopic.
And how do you know this? Your strong belief?
DeleteWorthless post.
I'm not 8:49, but here is evidence beyond his or her strong belief:
Deletehttp://stateofthemedia.org/2013/local-tv-audience-declines-as-revenue-bounces-back/
So, not really worthless after all.
That wasn't in the original post, 2:44. So it was a strong belief post. Including that bit of evidence would have changed it.
DeleteSee how that works?
Oh, snap. I am so told. You're so brilliant.
Delete20 years ago, TV-stations became today's newspapers. Gannett is so behind the curve, they can't even recognize that traditional TV stations are being overshadowed by new options. (Sorry Charlie, you are 20 years to late, and what may seem like a "bargin" is actually not when traditional broadcasting stations are losing viewers and advertising dollars.)
DeleteQuestion
ReplyDeleteIf I would show up for work and inform Gannett I am retiring after this shift who long should it take for me to get my pension etc. I know they say you should start your paper work like 3 months ahead of time but what if the above did happen. I have known people that gave a retirement date and Gannett has come back with a different date. What's with that?
Medical is not an issue.
You can get your 401 in about a month’s time. The pension may take longer it could take you two or three months. All in all it’s a pretty smooth operation.
DeleteYou'll get a pension, unless you committed a crime against other Gannett employees. Believe it or not there are still some people on Gannett's payroll that committed horrible crimes and are still employed by Gannett.
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DeletePeople who keep saying Gannett had to downsize and conduct layoffs because the economy took a dump. Does that mean if things are better now they will start hiring them back? Obviously with the purchase of Belo the CEO thinks the economy and outlook has improved.
ReplyDeleteTook me 5 weeks to get my pension and 401k money. No hassles.
ReplyDeleteSame here - Mine was in my new IRA within just a few weeks... no problem at all
ReplyDeleteThe timeline for getting your pension varies greatly, and from what I have read here, and what I know to be a fact, there is some sort or pattern.
ReplyDeleteIf your pension amounts to less than 50K, or there about, you will get your money within weeks. If your pension is closer to or above six figures it can/will take months.
One former co-worker got the pension in about 3 weeks, while another co-worker waited over 5 months before it showed up in the checking account.
In the latter example "lost" paperwork, missing forms and incorrect forms were to blame. When calling for help and explanations he was given the run around, transferred to different departments and so on. The last 3 months of his ordeal he would call about his pension on an almost bi-weekly basis, and was promised that the money was being transferred the following day or two, or in some cases that the money had been transferred already.
All in all, depending on the amount it will be a crap shoot.
I don't agree 11:19 - I had almost 200K - my financial adviser did EVERYTHING for me and made it super easy - it was all a done deal or a few short weeks - who ever is not getting it that quickly must not be filling out the paper work correctly - Going through your bank or a financial adviser makes it very easy - they talked to a live person the 1st day I walked in and got everything started - the checks came in the mail within 4 days after that. BTW - my job was eliminated (outsourced) I am well under 65
ReplyDeleteI took the buyout a year ago, and the documents were mailed to me very quickly. I filled them out, got pension and 401K (rolled over) within 3 weeks (maybe less). No hassles. No delays.
DeleteI'm happy for you, 12:00, but my experience (I'm not either of the previous posters)was FUBAR. I'm sure things sail right on through for some, no doubt, but I experienced quite the delay. And they had all the correct info. It was they who dropped the ball. The docs were mailed to me very quickly, true; it was the processing that was molasses in my case at least. I called (again) and finally got someone with a thriving brain stem, and I finally had the funds amazingly within two weeks after that last call, having waited for months. Then again, maybe they're better at it now having so much practice.
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ReplyDeleteI was vested in a pension plan with a Gannett newspaper although I had not worked there in almost 20 years. When I hit 62 and filed for retirement through my most recent employer and SSA, I was amazed at how smoothly and quickly everything progressed. When it came to Gannett...well, hell, it took almost a literal act of Congress to get it started. After filing the papers, I harassed the HR person at my former paper and got nowhere for months. I sent letters to Gannett's pension office and never got a reply. I asked and finally demanded of the paper's HR person that I get a name and phone number of the person at Gannett who should be contacted and she outright refused. She was scared to death of doing anything involving Gannett Corporate offices and would not help at all. Finally, after exhausting all avenues, I contacted my Congressman's office and they started making inquiries. I guess it worked because, after a little over 6 months, I finally received notice of my benefit amount and when it would start. No problems now for almost 3 years of receiving the Gannett retirement benefits.
ReplyDeleteIt reminded me how glad I am to be away from the sorry SOBs at Gannett.
I have to laugh at the agitators who are making thing up about pensions. It took about four weeks start to finish to get my payout. That is in line with three other former coworkers who retired within three months of me. Simple and efficient.
ReplyDeleteHappy here again...
DeleteOf the 2 people I knew of first hand, where one got the pension a few weeks after taking the retirement offer, and the other didn't see his until over 5 months had passed. He was in the same situation as 4:49. He turned 65 and had been out of Gannett for more than 10 years. Several trips to the HR person at his local site produced next to result in the beginning, but at least she was persistent on his behalf, and managed to cut through some of the red tape and get the ball rolling.
As with everything else, your miles may vary...
If I am not mistaken a simple call to the 800 number gets the ball rolling quickly, and forms come to you also quickly. Most places don't have local HR, but the central number for HR Services can point you in the right direction. A recent retiree in NJ had his pension started the month after he left the building so it can't be too hard to do.
ReplyDeleteTrying to think of something more boring than reading about people getting, or not getting, their pension plans in a timely manner.
ReplyDeleteNope. Can't think of anything more boring. Sorry.
It becomes less boring if it involves YOUR pension.
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