New Britain (Conn.) Herald closing up shop

[Corky Ramirez up on 94th St.]

Just got a call from a friend who works there...Jan. 12, 2009 is the last day. Haven't seen anything yet on the wire...

 

[Angola!]

Wow. What's the circulation?

 

[Corky Ramirez up on 94th St.]

Wow. What's the circulation?

12K.

Just got off the phone with my friend. Bristol Press is also going to be cut. Both are for sale, at this point, but if no buyer is found, then that's it for both. Middletown Press remains open.

 

[luckyducky]

I almost posted something on another thread this morning that it wasn't going to really be bad until papers started closing up shop and merging. Didn't think it would happen today.

It's a JRC paper with a circ. about 9,000 or so. Combines with the Bristol Press and Middletown Press for a Sunday, 20k, edition.

(edit: JRC's site says 9,000 circ, but could be wrong. Bristol's circ. is listed as 8,000)
http://www.journalregister.com/pub_ct.html

 

[Tom Petty]

i've been talking with mrs. petty about the state of the industry and addressed just this very topic. i'll throw this out for discussion:

we have five dailies in a fairly small geographical region. in the not-so-distant future, i can see three of those papers folding and the other two expanding their boundaries a bit. those two basically would absorb extra circulation and ad revenue.

is this the only way this industry survives another 10-20 years?

 

[wicked]

Middletown and the other two papers combine for Sunday editions, IIRC.

 

[budcrew08]

I'm glad I got out of JRC when I did.

 

[goneup]

Not good news. The top dog in JRC is New Haven and I've been hearing similar rumors about that paper for a couple of weeks. Pretty solid sources, too. I've been waiting for another company to buy the Register for years.

 

[wicked]

I don't get the logic in this.

Even if you're only making 10 percent, you're still making 10 percent. Which is a lot more than you make if you're not in business.

 

[goneup]

I don't get the logic in this.

Even if you're only making 10 percent, you're still making 10 percent. Which is a lot more than you make if you're not in business.

Explain that to Sammy Zell.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

They're not making 10 percent.

According to JRC's third-quarter SEC filing, JRC has lost well over $255 million this year. Before you laugh at JRC executives, remember that the company owns 22 dailies and over 300 non-dailies. That's a bunch of reporters, editors, pressmen and classified clerks who will be on the streets, many of whom will have fewer options than ever.

Given JRC's massive debt load, nonexistent stock value (closed at just over 1 cent per share today, up 2/10 of a cent), massive losses (reported a 22-cent-per-share quarterly loss Nov. 3), the shrinking market for newspaper companies and the overall economy, I kind of expected JRC to sideswipe the iceberg eventually.

 

[Buck Hill]

The assumption of many who frequent this site that all newspapers are still making a healthy profit — just not the 30 percent profits that were seen in the past — is nuts.

Most papers are really hurting. They are laying people off and buying people out not in order to improve margins from 10 to 30 percent. They are doing it in an attempt to keep the doors open.

 

[Drip]

Greed is bad. Newspapers had been great for 30 percent profit margins. Now, it's dropped to 10 with the real world and people are losing their damn minds, and jobs.

 

[JayFarrar]

actually, if papers eliminated the debt service they have for the papers they have recently purchased, then almost all companies would be super profitable. Most places are still printing money, but just not enough.
McClatchy is a perfect example, by snapping up the old Knight-Ridder papers, they took on more debt then they could handle.
The same is true for Tribune. When Zell and the boys bought in, they projected ad revenue to stay relatively stable and then sell off more profitable aspects of the business. Real estate. Sports teams. Instead, ad revenue has tanked and with the credit problems, people can't get financing to buy the other properties.
So the newspaper aspect of the business is waiting it out.
In the meantime, newspapers continue to give away its product for free on the internet.

So it really doesn't have anything to do with profit margins. It has to do with debt service. The margins don't matter as much as you might think.

 

[Drip]

By E&P Staff

Published: November 11, 2008 10:55 AM ET

NEW YORK The Journal Register Co. said it will have to close two of its newspapers in Connecticut unless a buyer is found by January.

It is not clear if there are any interested parties in the Bristol Press and The Herald of New Britain, reports the Hartford Courant.

An unnamed employee of Journal Register told the Courant that the company's other three Connecticut dailies -- The New Haven Register, The Middletown Press, and The Register Citizen of Torrington -- are "profitable" and "will continue to publish."

The Courant obtained a memo from the publisher of the Bristol Press and the Herald Edward Gunderson who wrote, "In the event that there is no buyer, then we anticipate that the facility will be shut down. ... You will not have the right to displace other employees."

Roughly 50 to 60 employees could be affected.

Journal Register owns 22 dailies and hundreds of non-dailies in the U.S. The company has been beset by high debt levels and falling advertising revenue. Journal Register was also kicked off the New York Stock Exchange.

 

[luckyducky]

The blurb I saw on Romenesko said the employees had to sign something saying they understood what was told to them in the meetings. Is that a regular happening?

At The Herald and Press offices Monday, there was anger and frustration as employees learned of the plans, employees said. The staff was briefed in groups, then required to sign letters verifying they'd been warned of the planned closings.

Actually from the Hartford Courant ... http://www.courant.com/community/news/nb/hc-jrc1111.artnov11,0,6617024.story

 

[Drip]

The blurb I saw on Romenesko said the employees had to sign something saying they understood what was told to them in the meetings. Is that a regular happening?

At The Herald and Press offices Monday, there was anger and frustration as employees learned of the plans, employees said. The staff was briefed in groups, then required to sign letters verifying they'd been warned of the planned closings.

Actually from the Hartford Courant ... http://www.courant.com/community/news/nb/hc-jrc1111.artnov11,0,6617024.story

What's not to understand? You're job is closing. Don't need a blackboard for that.

 

[zebracoy]

Wow (from that link)

In a bluntly worded memo to the staff, Edward Gunderson, publisher of both newspapers, did not indicate that the company is in talks with any potential buyer. "In the event that there is no buyer, then we anticipate that the facility will be shut down," he said. "... You will not have the right to displace other employees."

 

[Baron Scicluna]

I would think, that unless there was some sort of incentive, like severance packages, I don't see why anyone would have signed that statement. What would they do, fire you if you didn't sign?

Granted again, this is JRC we're talking about here.

 

[jfs1000]

This shows how incompetent the paper is. The news that they were closing, WAS BROKEN IN THE COURANT.

How do you get scooped about your own closing? Don't you think that deserved a front page story to your readers? What happens if they don't get the Courant? I would immediately stop paying for the darn paper.

Sorry state of the industry.