Newsday Plans to Charge for Online News

Cablevision Systems Corp plans to charge online readers of its Newsday newspaper, a move that would make it one of the first large U.S. papers to reverse a trend toward free Web readership.

Newsday, which covers the New York suburb of Long Island, was bought by Cablevision in a $650 million deal last May that was widely criticized on Wall Street as a puzzling move into a troubled newspaper market.

Cablevision had to write down Newsday's value by $402 million on Thursday, pushing its fourth-quarter results to a loss, as U.S. print advertising sales and circulation have dropped with more readers seeking free news on the Web. [Click for MORE]

Sphere: Related Content

20 Newsday Photographers Fired, Told To "Re-Apply" For Visual Journalist Jobs

Friday evening about 20 photographers at Newsday on Long Island were summoned to a meeting to learn that they had all lost their jobs.

Photographers were called, even those on their days off, and told to come in for a meeting with photography director Jeff Schamberry where they learned that their jobs have been eliminated. They were told that beginning Monday they could "re-apply" for new jobs that have been created in the photography department, positions with the title of "Visual Journalist" or "assistant photo editor."

"We have the 'opportunity' to reapply for either the job of 'Visual Journalist' or as an assistant photography editor," one of the long-time Newsday photographers told News Photographer magazine today. The photographer did not want to be identified by name because the photographer intends to re-apply for one of the new jobs. [Click for MORE]

> Newsday announces 100 job cuts

> L.A. Times Pressroom Ratifies Contract With Tribune

Sphere: Related Content

American Media On the Brink

Venerable newspapers face extinction

The New York Times once epitomized all that was great about American newspapers; now it symbolizes its industry’s deep malaise. The Grey Lady’s circulation is tumbling, down another 3.9% in the latest data from America’s Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC). Its advertising revenues are down, too (12.5% lower in March than a year earlier), as is the share price of its owner, the New York Times Company, up from its January low but still over 20% below what it was last July. On Tuesday April 29th Standard & Poor’s cut the firm’s debt rating to one notch above junk.

At the company’s annual meeting a week earlier, its embattled publisher, Arthur “Pinch” Sulzberger, attempted to quash rumors that his family is preparing to jettison the firm it has owned since 1896. Carnage is expected soon as dozens of what were once the safest jobs in journalism are axed, since too few of the staff have accepted a generous offer of voluntary redundancy. [Click for MORE]

> AP source says Murdoch won't raise bid for Newsday

> Cablevision submits its $650 million bid for Newsday

> Cablevision is being advised by ex-Tribune CEO FitzSimons

> Newspaper jobs on the move -- over the ocean

> Journal Register says it's through as public company

> Is the housing market the final nail in the coffin for newspapers?

Sphere: Related Content

Cablevision to Bid Up To $650 Million for Newsday

Cablevision Systems Corp. (CVC) plans to bid as much as $650 million to purchase Long Island daily Newsday, according to sources familiar with the thinking of Cablevision executives. A bid for the newspaper, which is being sold by Tribune Co. (TRB), could come as soon as within 48 hours.

Cablevision's bid would be the second offer to challenge an informal agreement reached 10 days ago by News Corp. (NWS), owner of the New York Post, The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires, which valued Newsday at $580 million. Daily News owner Mortimer Zuckerman lodged a $580 million offer for the paper late last week. [Click for MORE]

> New York Observer drops out
> Newsday: The sale that isn’t a sale Sphere: Related Content

Zuckerman Matches Murdoch’s Bid for Newsday

Mortimer B. Zuckerman, the owner of The Daily News, believes he can snatch Newsday from Rupert Murdoch without offering a dime more than the $580 million already on the table.

Late Friday afternoon Mr. Zuckerman submitted a bid of $580 million for the Long Island-based newspaper, according to a person briefed on the matter. The bid sets up a potential bargaining battle by the owners of New York’s two tabloids: The Daily News and The New York Post.

Mr. Zuckerman opted not to submit a higher bid. Instead, he will make the argument to the Tribune Company, the debt-laden parent company of Newsday, that his bid is more attractive because it does not have the potential to fall into regulatory limbo.

Mr. Murdoch’s offer would almost certainly be scrutinized by the Federal Communications Commission under its new media ownership rule. [Click for MORE]

> Will Murdoch start having fun when he picks a WSJ editor?

> You might as well replace WSJ committee with Mr. Bill dolls

> Former analyst Fine questions Murdoch's 'addiction to newspapers'

Sphere: Related Content

Sad Day for Journalism if Murdoch Swallows Newsday

By Ruth Hochberger
Columnist, Huffington Post

Be afraid... be very afraid.

Remember Charles Foster Kane? The fictional newspaper publisher/editor in Citizen Kane who ran his publications on whim, punishing his enemies and rewarding his friends?

Lost in the flurry of the Pennsylvania primary and who's more elite than whom, the visit to America by the Pope, and $120-a-barrel crude oil was a story that should bring a tear to the eye of any journalist worth his salt, or any lover of independent journalism in this country.

Rupert Murdoch, chairman and managing director of News Corporation, owner of British tabloids, the Star supermarket tabloid, Sky Television, the Fox Network, the New York Post, and, most recently, Dow Jones, publisher of the Wall Street Journal, appears ready to gobble up Long Island's Newsday.

Newsday, founded by Alicia Patterson in 1940 and part of the ill-fated Tribune Company stable, is a jewel among suburban newspapers. Winner of 19 Pulitzer Prizes and countless other journalistic awards, it is probably a blessing that Bob Greene, the renowned Newsday investigative reporter, who assembled and ran an investigative team that became a model for such endeavors at countless other papers and led the paper to two public service Pulitzers, died two weeks ago. [Click for MORE]

> Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em at Tribune

> Tribune Co. sells Connecticut real estate for $30 million

> Tribune Co. ready to 'relaunch' WGN

> Analyst: What is Murdoch's long-term newspaper strategy?

> LAT business editor Maharaj promoted to managing editor

Sphere: Related Content

Murdoch Taking on F.C.C. Media Rule

As he nears completion of a deal to acquire Newsday from the Tribune Company, Rupert Murdoch appears likely to pose the first significant challenge to the media ownership rule that the Federal Communications Commission recently adopted.

Even without Newsday, Mr. Murdoch was in the process of seeking waivers to continue to control two newspapers (The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post) and two television stations (WNYW and WWOR) in the New York area.

With those waiver requests pending at the F.C.C., the Newsday deal means that Mr. Murdoch must now apply for a waiver to own the two television stations and three newspapers in the same market.

The new rule, approved by a deeply divided commission in December, permits a company to own just one paper and one television station in the same city in the top 20 markets so long as there are at least eight other independent sources of news and the station is not in the top four. (The stations controlled by News Corporation are the fourth- and sixth-largest in the New York market.) [Click for MORE]

> Expert: amNewYork may be part of Newsday deal
> Newspapers feel the Murdoch Effect
> Chariman: NY Times Co. isn't for sale Sphere: Related Content

News Corp. Nears Deal to Buy Newsday

Tribune Would Receive Up to $560 Million Cash And Keep a Small Stake

Tribune Co. is closing in on an agreement to sell its Long Island newspaper Newsday to News Corp. for about $580 million, according to individuals familiar with the situation.

Final details are being hammered out and a deal could yet fall apart, but Tribune and News Corp. have informally agreed on key aspects, including the price, structure and governance, these people said

Under the terms being discussed, Newsday would be part of a joint venture with News Corp.'s New York Post and various non-newspaper assets owned by News Corp., people familiar with the matter said. News Corp. would own the bulk of the combination, with Tribune retaining a stake of less than 5%.

If a deal is struck, it would be Tribune's first major newspaper sale since Chicago real-estate magnate Sam Zell took effective control of the company in December. Mr. Zell has been exploring ways to pare the company's heavy debt load, which piled up after it was taken private in an $8.2 billion buyout. [Click for MORE]

> Murdoch on way to acquiring Newsday

Sphere: Related Content

Sam Zell: A Tough Guy in a Mean Business

By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA
New York Times

Since taking control of the Tribune Company in December, Sam Zell has drawn a lot of attention in journalism circles for speeches laced with profanity, political incorrectness, insults and self-deprecating humor.

But all the twittering and tut-tutting over Mr. Zell’s remarks — and his suggestions that some reporting jobs are not needed — masks a more serious concern. With the newspaper industry going through an unexpectedly sharp contraction, Tribune is struggling under $12.8 billion in debt, and its financial condition has deteriorated, creating what specialists say is a very real risk of credit default in the next year or so.

That has forced the company to consider the sale of Newsday, one of its most profitable newspapers — precisely the kind of move Mr. Zell had said he did not want to make. “We didn’t do this deal to figure out what to get rid of,” he told the company’s flagship paper, The Chicago Tribune, last year.

Mr. Zell said from the start that he would sell the Chicago Cubs baseball team, but that deal has been delayed. Now, analysts say, Tribune probably needs to sell both the Cubs and another major asset like Newsday, and relatively soon, to remain solvent.

Of course, if this house is ablaze, Mr. Zell has supplied much of the kindling. Almost $8 billion of Tribune’s debt came from the highly leveraged deal, which he engineered, that took the company private. That borrowing now looms as the biggest threat to the company, at least in the short run.

“There’s very little margin of safety,” said Mike Simonton, senior director at Fitch Ratings. “The company needs to execute asset sales and cost cuts in order to make its debt service payments and offset the significant revenue declines.” [Click for MORE]

Sphere: Related Content

Tribune Co. Faces Default Threat in '09

Tribune Co is at risk of defaulting on its debt in as little as 18 months if the newspaper business deteriorates further, and it fails to unload more properties.

By some estimates, Tribune could fetch $1.6 billion for the Newsday daily paper and the Chicago Cubs baseball team and related properties, the assets it has already put on the block. [Click for MORE]

Sphere: Related Content

Newsday Gains New Potential Buyer

Yet another wealthy media figure may be interested in buying Long Island newspaper Newsday from ailing Tribune Co. Jared Kushner, the owner of the New York Observer and son of real-estate developer Charles Kushner, is among those who may be contemplating bids to buy or enter into a partnership with Newsday, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Mr. Kushner, who declined to comment, would join a playing field crowded with big egos and deep pocketbooks. Among those already considering a bid for Newsday are Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., owner of the New York Post and The Wall Street Journal, New York Daily News owner Mortimer Zuckerman and Long Island cable operator Cablevision Systems Corp., according to people familiar with the situation. [Click for MORE]

> Murdoch Sees Antitrust Concerns In Potential Newsday Purchase

Sphere: Related Content

Three New York Moguls in Talks to Buy Tribune's Newsday

Three of New York’s biggest moguls are in discussions to buy Newsday, the Long Island newspaper, from the Tribune Company, people involved in the sale process said Thursday.

The three interested bidders are Rupert Murdoch, chairman of the News Corporation, owner of The New York Post; Mortimer B. Zuckerman, the real estate developer and publisher who owns The Daily News, The Post’s tabloid rival; and James L. Dolan, whose family controls Cablevision, the cable television operator, these people said. [Click for MORE] Sphere: Related Content

Murdoch Makes a Play for Newsday

• Tribune reports 4Q loss of $78.8M, says it may sell assets

Rupert Murdoch may not be done expanding his newspaper empire. The News Corp. chairman, who’s still digesting Dow Jones & Co., is now believed to have set his sights on Newsday.

According to one newspaper industry insider, the company has made a bid for Tribune Co.’s Long Island paper. Newsday also owns amNew York, a daily tabloid handed out free in New York City.

Talk of the bid has surfaced at the same time that Tribune’s new Chief Executive Sam Zell has said that an advertising downturn has forced him to consider selling off company assets. Additionally, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services lowered its corporate credit rating on the media company to B- from B this week. [Click for MORE]

> Zell: Need heroes to lead a sea change Sphere: Related Content