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The Globe to get (even less) valuable


 

The New York Times Co. didn't have such a hot third quarter, period--but the company seems especially down on the New England Media Group, which includes the Boston Globe and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. From Bloomberg:

The publisher plans to write down the value of its New England newspapers, including the Boston Globe, by as much as $150 million. The third-quarter loss from continuing operations totaled $2.08 million, or 1 cent a share. 

Let's say that $150 million number holds up. Coupled with the Times Co.'s $814 million write-down of the NEMG back in 2007, the NEMG will have lost almost a billion dollars in value over less than two years. 

By way of comparison, the Times Co. paid a total of just under $1.4 billion for the Globe ($1.1 billion in 1993) and T&G ($296 million in 2000).

Meanwhile, Reuters' write-up suggests that the NYT Co. may be looking to unload the Globe--but also that that won't be easy to do:

"We plan to continue to explore opportunities to reduce our debt levels," [NYT Co.] Chief Executive Janet Robinson said in a statement earlier in the day.

Benchmark Co. analyst Edward Atorino interpreted her remarks as a sign the Times would consider selling properties.

"The word 'opportunities' you could put in quote marks," he said. "There's been this long-standing Wall Street comment that, 'Why don't you do something with your building? Sell it, hock it'... I'm not sure they can sell The Boston Globe anymore."

This raises a couple questions. At what point might the NYT Co. that the Globe, rather than being an asset of dwindling value, is a liability, plain and simple? And what then?

  • jeffery mcnary said:

    gosh, take a look at the tenure of most of the globe's writers. any 'change' there? any intellectual/jounalistic growth? the average reader buys, or takes that paper because of one or two particular writers they follow, then ask, "what's wrong with so and so?" last great talent they had was nyhan.

    October 23, 2008 5:22 PM
  • Ron Newman said:

    Today is also the last day of Sidekick (and tomorrow is the first day of its replacement, to be named "g")

    October 23, 2008 11:07 PM
  • jfzworld said:

    Wake up, NYT. The printed newspaper business model is dead. Gone. Might as well be cranking out encyclopedias.

    October 24, 2008 2:13 PM

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