Gannett, Gatehouse talking merger

Mine too

 

I miss Romenesko.

 

I also miss the Gannett Blog from the late 2000s. That managed to majorly piss off the suits.

 

Can confirm bylines on both Gannett and old Gatehouse sites.

 

They spelled commission wrong in that gannett video.

 

I read the transcript of the earnings call. Management said that before COVID-19 hit in the first quarter they were exceeding expectations because revenues were down eight percent. But they had stated in the material they handed out revenues would only be down about four percent this year.

Pre-COVID advertising revenues were down at least 15% in the first quarter. Management said they were down 30% in April.

Basically what is happening is that the company needs to have 20 million dollars cash on hand to comply with a debt covenant. They have a 125 million dollar interest payment due this summer. They currently have 200 million dollars of cash and said they have 50 million dollars of real estate under contract to be sold. So it sounds like they will make the summer interest payment; helped in part by recent emergency relief legislation that allows the company to push their FICA payments back until next year.

I guess Gannett can push off Chapter 11 until at least this fall.

 

The Salina Journal's building is being sold. I've heard the Garden City Telegram moved out of its building but its long-time address is still listed on the web site.

I've also heard that the Morning Sun (Pittsburg) got rid of its sports editor and won't replace him. That basically means GH/Gannett is surrendering in-depth coverage of Pittsburg State to the all-sports radio station, the Joplin Globe and a fan website.

 

RIP.

 

And I assume no coverage of the local high schools as well?

And another question. I don't listen to small-town sports talk radio. How many local shows would a small-town station typically run? Radio is cutting back economically; just not as fast as newspapers.

 

I’m still giving it July

 

That same radio station and the Globe will both handle the high schools. The Globe has been covering athletics in Pittsburg/Crawford County as well as TMS did (likely better) for the past several years.

The all-sports station makes a killing off prep sports. They have a local show with a great deal of focus on high-school athletics at 4 p.m. daily and have extensive game-day programming during football and basketball seasons. It also hosts a pre-season high-school football media conference each year. With Pitt State coaches shows and game coverage, I'd guesstimate they generate about 16 to 20 local hours weekly during its busiest times of the season. Being an ESPN and Westwood One affiliate takes care of the rest of the schedule.

 

It sounds to me that the Joplin paper "suits" have decided that they can squeeze out the other smaller papers and/or the "suits" in Pittsburg think it is a lost cause and will soon be shutting the entire paper down.

And one off the wall question. Doe Pittsburg have of a min-shopping mall. I would think the move to on-line and the ongoing demise of Sears and Penny's will lead to a lot of those small-town malls closing. And when they do the may drag down the paper.