After sell-off of the Times Co.'s Maine papers, a look at McClatchy
McClatchy Co. has an ownership interest in almost half of newspapers published daily in Washington, including the Seattle Times. Here's a look at how they may be faring and feeling in the wake of the Times' Maine newspaper sale.
Two years ago, after McClatchy Co. swallowed up Knight Ridder, the Sacramento-based newspaper chain exuded an awesome sense of publishing power in the Pacific Northwest. McClatchy owned four Washington newspapers outright and held a 49.5% interest in the Seattle Times Co., which owns additional daily papers in Yakima, Walla Walla and, of course, Seattle. McClatchy also owned Idaho's major daily, the Idaho Statesman, and the largest paper in Alaska, the Anchorage Daily News. The Seattle Times two years ago calculated that McClatchy had an ownership interest in almost half the newspapers published in Washington every day.
But that was then. These days, McClatchy's fortunes are in a screaming nosedive. The chain reported a $1.43 billion fourth-quarter goodwill writedown last month, following a similar $1.3 billion third-quarter goodwill charge in November. In accounting parlance, "goodwill" means what's left after you take away the value of hard assets like presses, delivery trucks and buildings. It is the value of the "newspaper' as opposed to the value of its machinery and buildings. Goodwill is a non-cash item on a balance sheet, but it reflects McClatchy's shrinking market value. The company's stock price, which was bumping up against $50 a share two years ago, closed at $10.75 a share yesterday.
Here in Seattle, McClatchy wrote down the worth of its Seattle Times stake last year from $102.3 million to $19.3 million. And what about those other Northwest holdings? McClatchy doesn't break out writedowns for its individual papers, but here's a chart showing the revenue results for each of the chain's Northwest papers:
Revenue by newspaper, in millions of dollars
| 2007 | 2006 | |
|---|---|---|
| Tacoma News Tribune | $83.01M | $87.82M |
| Anchorage Daily News | $55.30M | $60.62M |
| Idaho Statesman | $53.66M | $58.09M |
| Olympia Olympian | $27.49M | $27.04M |
| Tri-City Herald | $25.86M | $26.23M |
| Bellingham Herald | $19.77M | $19.97M |
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Comments:
Posted Fri, Mar 28, 12:03 p.m. Inappropriate
Business history is filled with companies that have made the changes necessary to survive changes like those now facing print based journalism. However statistically many more fail than survive as exemplary companies. I was involved in an early effort of Cox, another large media company, based in the SE. I've no idea in the results of their strategy, but they've been working it for nearly ten years.
Personally, I think the Sunday paper is going to survive - and could perhaps thrive if a business model could focus on that print product. However the daily paper may well be a thing of the past - for environmental reasons, if no other. Curious, isn't it, how you never read stories about the carbon footprint of newspapers!
Perhaps the most interesting story though will be the complex matrix between this particular business and the current political environment. I can't write about this as a star communication's graduate might, but as I recall some of the early muckrakers were 'heralds' of socialism and anti-corporatism.
The relationship between social change and communication technologies is very well documented historically. If one looks at history our 'great people' are really those that first used new communication technologies effectively.
Moses and stone tablets gave us the first testament, Jesus utilized paper/papryus, etc.... FWIW though a notable story one could say that although his company 'prospered' he did not...
-Douglas Tooley
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