Mike Reed Sets Goals for New Gannett

Cough, cough, Deal Chicken, cough.

 

I found a Deal Chicken frisbee in a box of shit from my old desk a while back. I laughed for a few seconds and then threw it out.

 

I don’t even remember what Deal Chicken was, as they did it after I was laid off from them. But just the name itself sounds stupid.

 

Before the pandemic the company was touting the event management business but that has not been emphasized lately. Post-pandemic that business seems to have tanked.

I think what the linked article is talking about is the company breaks out a category in revenues called Digital Market Solutions and breaks most of the rest of the revenues to a category called Gannett Media. I am guessing that Digital Marketing Solutions is basically the digital advertising revenues.

 

The company has always been more about trying to convice shareholders than serving customers. But stock pickers aren't as dumb as Gannet execs think they are.

 

They really prioritized the events pre-pandemic, but that department has not been immune to the cost reductions in the past year.

 

Pointroll is a great example of this. Buy it for $100 million and then offload it for $20 million. PointRoll gets acquired for $20 million, to lay off nearly 100 locally - Technical.ly

 

What was the Moms thing that was going to save the company, where they did free Moms magazines and website content?

I think each markets one was similarly named, like Indy Moms, Louisville Moms, etc.?

Then the bill came for these added positions and freelance, so it died.

 

It was their GroupOn ripoff, which they rolled out right about the time the GroupOn fad had already peaked and was well into its fade.

 

All The President's Men aired on TMC last night. I've watched it so many times, now I just marvel at the scenes with all the people in the newsroom.
I love Bradlee telling them outside his house, "You fuck up again, I'll be mad."
I think one of my M.E.'s based his persona off that scene.

 

Are you talking about Moms Like Me? Basically a bunch of hyperlocal message boards for stay-at-home moms? It didn’t last longer than a year or two, if memory serves.

 

Yes, that's it!