Mike Reed Sets Goals for New Gannett

The link offers a bullish case on Gannett. I will offer the bearish case. Gannett is making much of the fact that electronic subscriptions increased from about 1.6 million to 2 million last year. The question is how many were on the $1 a month introductory offer?

In the fourth quarter Gannett earned 35.5 dollars in subscription revenue. If you divide digital subscription revenues by digital circulation you come up with a monthly average of just under six bucks a subscriber.

The price of an electronic subscription is $11.99 a month in Nashville. If you assume the same average price for the entire chain it means about half the subscriptions are on the introductory rate. Good luck retaining these subscribers, particularly for newspapers that increasingly lack reporters.

 

Here, at least, it’s not $1 a month. It’s $1 for six months. There’s also a $4 per month offer that includes the Sunday print edition.

 

Even if it is a dollar for six months it does not change the math very much. Over half the subscribers to the digital edition are on the discount plan. If someone also gets the Sunday print edition the incremental revenue will be credited to print subscriptions.

 

I will not pay full price for a product that even the owners of the chain don’t value.

Gannett continues to plunder its properties and I bet if you asked Mike Reed and friends to take a lie detector test, they’d say they never expected the chain to make it this long. These guys make CNHI seem like the New York Times.

 

Some interesting observations, I wonder what the overlooked internal businesses are? Here’s Why Gannett Co (GCI) Declined in Q1

 

“The marketplace appears to be overlooking Gannett’s significant local, national, and UK audience reach, 179M monthly unique visitors.”

Of course. It’s the “marketplace’s” fault.

 

I've read that tying up with a sports betting company is supposed to be Gannett's path to prosperity. Haven't read about any progress on that front recently.

 

I wonder if they count the readers who hit the paywall as "unique users?" That's like a store counting people who drive by when the store is closed as customers.

 

Tipico.
In Gannett's last quarterly report, it was stated that the partnership didn't produce the revenue initially projected.
Stunning.

 

Mike Reed’s new monthly goal: Make sure my checks cash through the end of April.

 

Turns out hitting nine-leg longshot parlays on the regular is harder than it looks.

 

Gannett always seems about five years behind everyone else, and then they find some new digital product or property and say "THIS" is going to be a game changer, and it never is. When the VC crowd has turned you down for funding - go to Gannett and they'll buy you for millions.