Top 10 Newspapers in Trouble

Seattle Post-Intelligencer
2008 Daily Circulation: 117,572 (9% decrease since 2007)
Parent Corporation: The Hearst Corporation
Parent Co.'s 2008 Revenue: N/A (privately held)
Parent Co.'s Stock Price: N/A (privately held)

The P-I was put up for sale by the Hearst Corporation in early January, given 60 days to find a buyer. Even back then, that was considered a longshot. Now, the reality has set in. Unless a buyer miraculously emerges in the next few weeks, it's certain that the P-I will end its 146-year existence as a print entity. Its employees are scrambling to find a way to keep it alive as an online aggregator. Those efforts are still ongoing.

Rocky Mountain News
Circulation: 210,281 (7% decrease since 2007)
Parent Company: E.W. Scripps Company
Parent Co.'s 2008 Revenue: $1.1 billion
Parent Co.'s Current Stock Price: $1.16

The Rocky's owner, Scripps, put the paper on the market in early December, giving itself 90 days to find a buyer. It's expected to make an announcement this week regarding the process, though the news isn't promising. Recently the Rocky engaged in a bit of tit-for-tat with JOA partner Denver Post, which, despite its own troubles, is poised to take over the soon-to-be one-newspaper town.

Philadelphia Daily News
Circulation: 97,694 (9% decrease since 2007)
Parent Company: Philadelphia Media Holdings LLC
Parent Co.'s Revenue in 2008: N/A (privately held)
Parent Co.'s Current Stock Price: N/A (privately held)

The parent company, Philadelphia Newspapers LLC, just filed for bankruptcy protection on Sunday. And as the smaller and less prestigious of the two Philly papers, the Daily News might be facing the axe if the current economic downturn persists. This follows the trend of disappearing two-newspaper towns, with the smaller paper always the one to get the death sentence.

Miami Herald
Circulation: 210,884 (12% decrease since 2007)
Sunday Circulation: 279,484 (10% decrease since 2007)
Parent Company: The McClatchy Company
Parent Co.'s Revenue in 2008: $1.8 billion
Parent Co.'s Current Stock Price: $0.55

McClatchy made a huge mistake to purchase Knight-Ridder's newspapers in June 2006, and is now paying for it dearly. Its stock value is below $1 and it has been forced to make major cutbacks at all of its newspaper properties that also include the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Kansas City Star and Sacramento Bee. The Herald is on the market, though no buyer has come forward yet. Coupled with the gloomy outlook in Florida's real estate market, it's doubtful that the paper could hold out much longer without a new buyer and cash injection.

San Francisco Chronicle
Circulation: 339,430 (8% decrease since 2007)
Sunday Circulation: 398,116 (6% decrease since 2007)
Parent Company: The Hearst Corporation
Parent Co.'s Revenue in 2008: N/A (privately held)
Parent Co.'s Current Stock Price: N/A (privately held)

The Hearst Corporation bought the Chronicle and folded the Examiner into it in 1999, hoping to make it the crown jewel of a new empire that began with William Randolph Hearst in 1887. But the Chron has done nothing but losing money in the ensuing decade, which began with the tech bubble burst. The paper's circulation has shrunk by nearly half over the year and finally, yesterday, Hearst announced that it might put the paper up for sale or shut it down. While this may be a negotiating tactic in trying to extract concessions from the union, there's no doubt the Chron has cost Hearst a lot of money - reportedly over $1 billion since its acquisition.

Detroit News
Circulation: 178,280 (5% decrease since 2007)
Parent Company: MediaNews Group
Parent Co.'s 2008 Revenue: N/A (privately held)
Parent Co.'s Current Stock Price: N/A (privately held)

The Detroit newspapers will try a revolutionary approach beginning in late March - they intend to cut deliveries to just three days a week (Thursday, Friday and Sunday) and greatly reduce the print editions. This move is greatly anticipated by the newspaper business as a whole, but the Detroit papers might not have long to find out if it works in a town wrecked by the collapse of the auto industry. While the Free Press, owned by Gannett, isn't exactly doing all that well, the smaller News is in greater peril as its parent company Media News is heavily in debt with no immediate prospects of recovery.

Chicago Sun-Times
Circulation: 313,176 (.2% increase since 2007)
Sunday Circ: 255,905 (3% increase since 2007)
Parent Company: Sun-Times Media Group
Parent Co.'s 2008 Revenue: $372 milion
Parent Co.'s Current Stock Price: $0.05

While much of the news is centered on the crosstown Tribune's troubles - its eponymous parent company filed for bankruptcy in December - the Sun-Times is actually doing worse. Its worthless stocks were booted off the NYSE big board in mid-2008 and they're now trading at about a nickel a share. The paper's financial liabilities are fast approaching $1 billion. And while the Tribune Co. has the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field to sell to raise cash, all the Sun-Times can do is cut cost.

St. Paul Pioneer Press
Circulation: 184,973 (3% decrease since 2007)
Sunday Circulation: 246,431 (2% decrease since 2007)
Parent Company: MediaNews Group
Parent Co.'s 2008 Revenue: N/A (privately held)
parent Co.'s Current Stock Price: N/A (privately held)

Its Twin Cities rival Minneapolis Star Tribune filed for bankruptcy in January, but the smaller Pioneer Press may go belly-up first. Owned by Dean Singleton's Media News Group, the Pioneer Press is suffering the same financial crisis that's plaguing the entire company - heavily leveraged, with loans from Hearst, Gannett and even Bill Gates, and short on cash. And while the Star Trib is trying to get its act together under bankruptcy protection, the Pioneer Press is sinking deeper. This sets the trend of the smaller papers struggling to survive in what's left of two-newspaper towns.

Los Angeles Times
Circulation: 739,147 (4% decrease since 2007)
Sunday Circulation: 1,055,076 (4% decrease since 2007)
Parent Company: Tribune Company
Parent Co.'s 2008 Revenue: N/A (privately held)
Parent Co.'s Current Stock Price: N/A (privately held)

Over the last decade, no paper has lost readership at a faster pace than the L.A. Times. And not coincidentally, the Tribune Co.'s acquisition of the paper in 2000 foreshadowed those troubles. Three weeks ago, the Times announced that it's trimming yet another 300 jobs and eliminating the local "California" section altogether. With the newsroom about half of its size from 2001 and the continuing cutback on staff and coverage, it may be a matter of time before the woebegone Tribune Co. must dump the paper to an interested buyer or even close it down.

New York Daily News
Circulation: 632,595 (10% Decline Since 2007)
Sunday Circulation: 674,104 (4% decrease since 2007)
Parent Company: Mortimer Zuckerman
Parent Co.'s 2008 Revenue: N/A (privately held)
Parent Co.'s Current Stock Price: N/A (privately held)

The New York Times may be constantly in the news with all its financial woes, but its two tabloid rivals are the ones facing imminent threat of closing down. The more sensational Post probably will survive a bit longer because of Rupert Murdoch's deep pockets, whereas the Daily News may have more trouble riding out the current economic downturn. Its owner Mort Zuckerman just stopped printing his weekly magazine US News & World Report, making it an online-only entity. And with his real estate business taking a beating, Zuckerman may not be able to continue subsidizing the money-losing Daily News.

SOURCE: Real Clear Politics
h/t John & Ken KFI Radio AM 640