If WSJ ad revenue is off 20%, other papers may face worse


According to a transcript of the News Corp (NYSE:NWS) earnings call posted on Alley Insider, advertising revenue at The Wall Street Journal is down 20% so far this year. What does that say for The Boston Globe or The New York Times which are both owned by The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT)?

McClatchy (NYSE:MNI), the third largest newspaper chain in the US, announced a quarterly operating loss yesterday. That means it no longer has the money to pay interest on its debt. Either creditors will have to take a haircut or the company's papers will have to be sold. off.

It is now clear that no major newspaper in America is making a dime. Some reports say that The Globe loses $1 million a week.

Selling big newspaper may be impossible even if the price for some of them may just be $1. A new owner would have to be willing to shoulder huge operating losses and there may be no recovery in site.

The primary newspapers in some of the nation's largest cities may go away this year.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.

Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA+57.4812,858.71
NASDAQ+22.952,926.83
S&P 500+7.471,350.11

Last updated: February 13, 2012: 10:07 AM

Hot Stocks

General Electric

18.97+0.095(+0.50)

Alcoa

10.415+0.125(+1.21)

Apple Inc

500.48+7.06(+1.43)

Google Inc 'A'

612.56+6.65(+1.10)

Bank of America

8.27+0.20(+2.48)

Wal-Mart Stores

61.900.00(0.00)

Exxon Mobil Corp

83.98+0.18(+0.21)

Ford

12.63+0.19(+1.53)

Citigroup

33.45+0.525(+1.59)

IBM

192.61+0.19(+0.10)

Yahoo

16.15+0.01(+0.06)

Starbucks

48.81-0.01(-0.02)

Microsoft

30.73+0.235(+0.77)

Home Depot

45.67+0.34(+0.75)

DailyFinance Headlines

Benzinga Headlines

TheFlyOnTheWall.com Headlines

BioHealth Investor Headlines

WalletPop Headlines

DailyFinance BlackBerry App

My Portfolios

Track your stocks here!

Find out why more people track their portfolios on AOL Money & Finance then anywhere else.

BloggingStocks Partners

More from AOL Money & Finance

BioHealth Investor Headlines

Page Loaded in 1329145629090 ms.