12-31-11
Decade in Review: New highs and new lows
It all started with Y2K. Remember that? If that were all we had to worry about today. Whatever you call this decade, it was certainly one to remember: two record-setting years, huge leveraged transact... More
12-21-11
Digital Media & Mobile Devices
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aenean a lacus eros, id dapibus lacus. Cras quis tempus turpis. Mauris ullamcorper leo in leo imperdiet lobortis. Donec auctor adipiscing nisi,... More
09-30-11
More Papers Implement Online Subscription Pay
Will the Washington Post be the last newspaper providing its content online for free?
In the wake of the success of the New York Times? ?metered? online subscription model, a veritable stampede has b... More
09-30-11
Family Owners Expand Into Florida
Members of the Osteen family have been involved in newspapering in Sumter, South Carolina, for more than 150 years, which is believed to be the longest continuous family involvement in a newspaper in... More
09-30-11
Ex-Ottaway Execs Launch Mobile Ad Venture
Two former executives with Dow Jones? community newspaper division, Ottaway Newspapers, have started a mobile advertising service aimed at local businesses.
With an initial roll out in the Hudson Val... More
06-30-11
New Private Equity Player Enters in Ohio
Versa Capital Management entered the newspaper industry with its May acquisition of Ohio Community Media, the newspaper group formerly owned by Brown Publishing. Versa is a private equity firm based i... More
06-30-11
Brown Publishing - A Look Back
Looking back at the Brown family's history and prominence in Ohio politics and newspapers.
Newspapers and politics were long the lifeblood of the Brown family in Ohio. Clarence J. Brown bought his ne... More
03-31-11
Keeping up with the Robinsons
In July 2009, in the midst of one of the most challenging advertising climates in modern times, the Robinson family of Waco, Texas made a significant investment in the newspaper industry by acquiring... More
01-01-11
Mezzanine Debt to Get the Deal Done
by Thomas J. Buono, BIA Financial Network
As most newspaper owners realize, it is a seller's market. The number of newspapers is limited and the demand exceeds the supply. You must compete with other... More
12-31-10
Connie Wimer buys back Business Record
Born in the small town of Merrill, Iowa, Connie Wimer moved to Des Moines in 1950 where she established herself as a competent, caring and sharing business leader.
In 1981 Wimer purchased a small leg... More
09-30-10
Delphos strengthens long-held Midwest holdings with Brown auction win
At 81-years-old, Brooklyn-born Murray Cohen is no stranger to the newspaper business. After earning a journalism degree from the University of Missouri and spending two years in the army, Cohen began... More
09-30-10
Brown becomes Ohio Community Media
The senior lenders to the former Brown Publishing Co. took control of most of the company's publishing assets in September at the conclusion of a bankruptcy auction.
The lending group formed a new co... More
06-30-10
Stephens Exhibits Confidence with Newspaper Industry Investment
Stephens Capital Partners is the principal investment arm for Warren Stephens and his family. They have been making equity investments in private firms for more than 50 years and have completed more t... More
03-31-10
Miller adds suburban Phoenix cluster
It didn't take long for the entrepreneurial bug to bite Randy Miller.
In 1977, with a master's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and a few months under his belt in the Des Moines R... More
06-30-09
Local Businessman and Philanthropist Wades into the Newspaper Business
Clifton Robinson knows something about risk. During his 50-year business career he has started, acquired and sold a number of insurance companies. Most recently he sold his National Lloyds Insurance C... More
06-30-09
Family-owned Southern Newspapers expands holdings with acquisition of two Texas dailies
With the addition of the Lufkin (TX) Daily News and Nacogdoches (TX) Daily Sentinel, Southern Newspapers Inc. and its affiliated companies now operate 17 newspapers, with 11 in Texas, four in Alabama... More
06-30-09
Burrough reaches deeper into Michigan’s Thumb
Newspapering had always been in Rick Burrough's blood, but it wasn't until this decade that he expanded his commercial printing empire in Michigan into newspaper ownership. With the recent purchase of... More
03-31-09
A Second Chance: Michael Schroeder steps in as two Connecticut dailies face closing
The Bristol Press and The Herald of New Britain were just two weeks away from being closed by Journal Register Company when Michael Schroeder surfaced as a buyer for the dailies, their companion websi... More
12-31-08
Turner Keeps His Focus on Rural Newspapers
For an old news guy, Jerry Turner has done OK on the business side. Since leaving the relative comfort of the editor's chair in the mid-1990s, Turner has bought and sold 18 newspapers, with a strong f... More
09-30-08
Patience, Optimism and Stubborness Pay Off
From 60% revenue growth to staff walkouts, Roy Bode reflects on the first two years of ownership
On any given day on some news desk in America, a couple of editors are probably having coffee, killin... More
09-30-08
Moser Gets Bigger by Thinking Smaller
Texas community newspapers have always been a part of Jim Moser's life.
He grew up at the Brenham Banner- Press, where his father Charles has been the longtime publisher and an investor in Hartman Ne... More
06-30-08
Fall Off in Deal Flow Mirrors 2001 Recession
With just eight daily newspapers finding new owners in the first half of 2008, there's no question that the deal activity in the industry feels pretty slow.
However, this situation is very typical fo... More
06-30-08
Diversifying Portfolios
Cozi, Kaango and Adify Among Names Added to the Mix
Several newspaper companies have expanded their portfolios and offerings in the past year with strategic, non-traditional partnerships and acquisit... More
03-31-08
Revenue Reset
Differences in performance between large- and small-market newspapers and those in different parts of the country point to recession as the main driver of lower 2008 ad revenue. However, newspaper pub... More
03-31-08
Newspaper Distribution Key to Magazines' Success
Publishing Group of America, better known by its publications American Profile, Relish and soon to be launched Spry, owes much of its success to the audience it reaches via newspaper distribution.
Th... More
03-31-08
Local Ownership Returns to Yankton
After 30 years of group ownership, the Yankton (SD) Press & Dakotan is once again locally owned. A management buyout was completed this quarter, led by current publisher Gary Wood and partners Robb Hi... More
12-31-07
Outlook 2008
By John Janedis, Wachovia Capital Markets, LLC
Operationally, last year was disappointing for the industry, in our view, as ad revenues sank much further and more quickly than anticipated, in a decen... More
09-30-07
Hersam Acorn Expands New England Footprint
Hersam Acorn Newspapers had been waiting patiently for the right opportunity to substantially grow its business. The opportunity was finally realized in June this year when the company, based in Ridge... More
09-30-07
A View from the Equity Side...and the Debt Side
In light of the recent turmoil in the credit markets and questions surrounding its potential impact on the newspaper marketplace, we recently caught up with six executives who either currently invest... More
06-30-07
Yahoo's Newspaper Partnership Expands
The numbers are getting harder and harder to ignore. Internet ad revenues grew 35% in 2006 to nearly $17 billion and grew another 25% in the first quarter of 2007, according to the Interactive Adverti... More
06-30-07
Reynolds is Huntington's Champion
For Marshall T. Reynolds, patience has often paid off.
When Reynolds tried to borrow $2,800 to buy new equipment for his young printing company, area bankers turned him down. He was angry and vowed t... More
06-30-07
Paxton Adds to Indiana Newspaper Holdings
Marion Chronicle-Tribune Largest of Paxton's 10 Daily Papers in Indiana
Paxton Media Group's headquarters in Paducah, Kentucky is not far from the Indiana border, but it wasn't until 1998 that it m... More
06-30-07
Marion Daily Helped Vault Gannett into Industry Lead
The Marion (IN) Chronicle-Tribune, which was given as a gift from Gannett Co. Inc. to the Gannett Foundation recently, was one of seven daily newspapers Gannett acquired from Federated Publications in... More
06-30-07
Borrowers Have Their Day
by Gretchen Gordon, Director, CIT Communications, Media & Entertainment
It's a great time to be a borrower, but be a smart borrower.
We are in a time of incredible capital availability, for both deb... More
06-30-07
Big Names Disappearing from Public Arena
Beginning with Dow Jones in 1963, the list of publicly traded newspaper companies only got longer with each passing decade.By 1970 there were eight U.S. newspaper companies of substantial size that we... More
03-31-07
Who is Macquarie and Why Do They Like Small Market Newspapers
What is Macquarie Media Group?
Macquarie Media Group (ASX: MMG), a publicly traded investment fund listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, has the objective of acquiring, owning and managing a port... More
03-31-07
When the News is Free
Guest Editorial by Walter E. Hussman, Jr., Publisher, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette "We have met the enemy, and he is us." This quote is appropriately attributed to the newspaper comic strip character Pog... More
12-31-06
Outlook 2007
by Paul Ginocchio, CFA, DeutscheBank
To help us formulate an outlook for 2007, I recently spoke with senior executives from 14 privately held newspaper companies. These executives own or manage appro... More
12-31-06
GateHouse Creates New Public Model
Newspaper stocks down 30% to 40% or more over the past two years. Large companies under pressure from shareholders. Online competition increasing.
Great time to bring a newspaper company public, righ... More
12-31-06
Black Builds Large Cluster in Pacific Northwest
With a couple of acquisitions in 2006, David Black has turned a nice community publishing operation into one of the nation's largest suburban clusters.
Black entered western Washington in the early 9... More
11-30-06
GateHouse Eyes Public Status
With the disappearance in recent years of such venerable names as Knight Ridder and Pulitzer, and other companies under pressure from investors, the publicly traded newspaper company is starting to lo... More
09-30-06
Right on Target
When Los Angeles-based Target Media Partners agreed in September to purchase 19 publications in eastern Washington from Lee Enterprises, it marked the 38th acquisition for this growing publisher of cl... More
09-30-06
Forum Grows with Large Daily Acquisitions
Forum Communications' acquisition of three daily newspapers earlier this year, which doubled its total daily circulation, expanded the company's large regional cluster in the Upper Midwest.
But more... More
09-30-06
Forum Cements Regional Hold with Online Offerings
Central to Forum Communications' plan of strengthening its regional media cluster in the Upper Midwest is its online strategy.
Here, as with the traditional print and broadcast aspects of the busines... More
06-30-06
A GateHouse Powerhouse Takes Shape in Boston Burbs
With the acquisition of two sizable newspaper groups in the greater Boston area, GateHouse Media has created one of the largest suburban operations in the country.
With size, also comes terrific demo... More
03-31-06
Schurz Moves into Michigan with Purchase of Petoskey Daily and Other Publications
Family-owned Schurz Communications closed at the end of March on its acquisition of the daily Petoskey (MI) News-Review and companion publications, marking its first foray into the state.
Schurz, b... More
03-31-06
Radio Merger Mirrors Newspaper Industry
BIA Financial Network Report
Like the newspaper industry, radio saw two of the largest operators merge in the first quarter of 2006, creating a new No. 3 player -- Citadel Communications.
Citadel ac... More
03-31-06
McClatchy, Knight Ridder Combine Top Growth Markets
Dirks, Van Essen & Murray's Market Index has consistently ranked McClatchy's existing portfolio of just a dozen daily newspaper markets at the top of the public companies in terms of growth rates. Cit... More
12-31-05
Wall Street Sours on Newspaper Stocks as Threats from the Internet Multiply
By Lauren Rich Fine, CFA, Merrill Lynch
A Litany of Negatives -- Loss of Share, Declining Circulation
Newspapers have lost share of US ad dollars for almost 50 years, having peaked at 36.7% of the t... More
12-31-05
Ownership Changes Leave a Consolidated but Still Competitive Landscape in SE Michigan
Southeastern Michigan has been one of the most active regions in the country in terms of ownership changes over the past decade.
In 1995, the print landscape was highly fragmented, with a number of... More
12-31-05
Coming Soon: Online Competitors
Classified advertising revenue numbers held up pretty well in most cases in 2005, with gains in recruitment offsetting difficult comparisons in automotive. So it might be understandable if publishers... More
12-31-05
Bradley Family Builds Suburban Kansas City Cluster
The owners of the St. Joseph (MO) News-Press have assembled a significant weekly group in the Kansas City suburbs through a series of acquisitions over the past 18 months.
The new group, with total d... More
04-01-05
Gannett Cleared to Complete HomeTown Deal
Federal antitrust officials ended their inquiry into Gannett's acquisition of HomeTown Communications Network, clearing the way for the nation's largest publisher to buy strategic newspapers in its so... More
04-01-05
Conversation with Lee Dirks
A Look Back Over 25 Years 4/1/2005
Lee Dirks, founder and chairman of Dirks, Van Essen & Murray, reflects on a quarter century leading the industry's most active M&A firm
Q. What possessed you to e... More
01-01-05
Classified Outlook 2005
by Jim Townsend, Editorial Director, Classified Intelligence
As a publisher, you face the same challenges in 2005 that you did in 2004 - a slow slog through a marshy economy back toward solid footing... More
01-01-05
Advertising Revenue Outlook 2005
Significant structural changes, whose importance has been disguised by recession and a stop-and-go recovery, will begin to make themselves evident in 2005.
Growth will be harder to come by, and the n... More
04-01-04
Equity Investments Come Flooding In: Private Equity Roundtable
Rossetti: We like the local advertising space a lot, and we think that the advertising cycle is going to turn up eventually. Debt financing is readily available, and the purchase price multiples, whil... More
01-01-04
Outlook 2004: Cautious Optimism
By Lauren Rich Fine, CFA, Merril Lynch
We enter 2004 cautiously. After several years of results coming in weaker than originally anticipated, 2004 has the potential to be a better year, but we are re... More
01-01-04
Newspaper Websites: Can They Compete?
An Interview with Sammy Papert IIIDV&M: Generally speaking, what has Belden research shown regarding the local traffic of a newspaper's website compared with other local websites?
Papert: Local area... More
01-01-04
Management Buyout Leads to New Company
Anthony Allegretti had been looking for an opportunity to start a new publishing company since 2000, when the last one he built was sold to two large newspaper groups.
His chance came at the end of 2... More
01-01-04
Are Banks Back? A Lending Roundtable
Dirks, Van Essen and Murray chatted separately with five media bankers to discuss the present state of the lending market. The group of lenders were Vipa Chiraprut, Vice President, Wells Fargo; Frank... More
12-31-03
Cullis Family Adds Daily to Publishing Group in Ohio
When Christopher Cullis brought the daily Northwest Signal in Napoleon into his northwest Ohio publishing group in November, he knew he would be adding value to his company.
What he didn't count on w... More
10-01-03
Consequences of Putting Proposed Media Ownership Rules on Hold
By Thomas J. Buono, Chairman and CEO, BIAfn
Uncertainty again reigns throughout the media industry. On September 3, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals put significant business plans, financing discussi... More
06-30-03
Repeal of Newspaper-Broadcast Ownership Ban?
by Thomas J. Buono, BIA Financial Netword
On June 2, 2003, some 30 years after adopting the ban on local newspaper-broadcast ownership, and nearly seven years after Tribune petitioned the Federal Com... More
06-30-03
Journal Communications Files for IPO
Journal Communications Inc., owner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other media businesses, has announced plans for an initial public offering of stock that would give the company greater flexibi... More
03-31-03
Easing of Cross-Ownership Rules May Be Coming Soon
by Thomas J. Buono, BIA Financial Network
A long-anticipated loosening of the ban on owning newspapers and broadcast properties in the same markets appears to be headed for approval at least by summe... More
12-31-02
These are the Good Old Days
by Kevin Gruneich, CFA
"We can never know about the days to come, but we think of them anyway.
And I wonder if I'm really with you now, or just chasing after some finer day.
Anticipation. Anticipat... More
12-31-02
Radio Transaction Marketplace
by Thomas J. Buono, BIA Financial Network
Cross-ownership rules restricting the ownership of newspapers in combination with either television or radio stations in the same market currently are under... More
12-31-02
Gannett Continues to Expand in UK with Scottish Acquisition
While it hasn't gotten much attention in the U.S., Gannett has quietly amassed a substantial newspaper group in the UK in a little more than three years.
After Gannett consummates its announced acqui... More
12-31-02
Anniston, Alabama Owners to Establish Non-Profit Foundation
Owners of the Anniston Star and the Talladega Daily Home in Alabama recently announced a plan to secure local ownership of the dailies well into the future by establishing a non-profit educational fou... More
12-31-02
Acquisitions Paying Off in St. Louis
Spun off as a separate, newspaper-only company in 1999, Pulitzer Inc. found itself in the enviable position of having $550 million in cash and no debt -- bounty from the merger of its broadcast operat... More
09-30-02
The Television Transaction Marketplace
by Thomas J. Buono, BIA Financial Network
The television industry consists of more than 1,240 full-power commercial stations that generated more than $19 billion in advertising revenues in 2001. Ther... More
09-30-02
Canadian Ownership Landscape Shifts with Deals
Canadian newspaper publishers juggled properties and ownership stakes in the third quarter as the fallout continues following the large sales of Canadian newspapers by Hollinger and Thomson two years... More
06-30-02
Sandusky Strikes Quickly with Right Opportunities
Sandusky Newspapers, Inc., has not been the most active company in recent years in terms of daily newspaper acquisitions, but the 133-year-old family-owned company is a patient player that strikes qui... More
06-30-02
Liberty Plans to Go Public
Liberty Group Publishing plans to become the first newspaper company to go public since Journal Register Co. ("JRC") in May 1997.
Liberty burst onto the newspaper scene that same year with a $310 mil... More
06-30-02
Family Grows with Big Acquisition
New Generation Takes Bold Step in Lawrence
Chip Rogers didn't expect the opportunity to come so soon. But when it did, the fourth generation scion of a venerable newspaper family had his company read... More
03-31-02
Shepherd Grows Southeast Michigan Group
21st Century Newspapers has added another important segment in its drive to build what has become one of the nation's largest suburban publishing groups.
The company, whose publications circulate pri... More
03-31-02
Lee Poised for Additional Acquisitions
Lee Enterprises' acquisition of Howard Publications is what the Wall Street types like to call a "transforming event" for a company. In a single stroke, the transaction will increase the size of the c... More
03-31-02
Family Tradition Will Continue in Watertown, SD
United Communications, Corp. of Kenosha, Wisconsin purchased the Watertown (SD) Public Opinion at the end of February. The Public Opinion is the third daily the company owns, joining the flagship Keno... More
