2005 Annual Report - Newspaper Ownership

Journal Register

The biggest acquisition of 2004 came in July when the Journal Register Company, which owns 23 daily newspapers and a number of small publications, purchased the Michigan-based 21st Century Newspapers for $415 million. The deal gives the Journal Register four more daily papers and 87 other smaller publications.³

Gannett

The ever-shrinking number of two-newspaper towns dropped again when Gannett, owner of the 57,000-circulation Green Bay Press-Gazette in Wisconsin, purchased the locally owned, 6,000-circulation Green Bay News-Chronicle. In the deal, Gannett received 23 community newspapers in Wisconsin.⁴

McClatchy

At the close of 2003, the McClatchy Company purchased The Merced Sun-Star in California and five smaller publications for $40.5 million. The Sun-Star has a daily circulation of 17,400 and a Sunday circulation of 21,500.⁵

CNHI

Following a pattern of divesting smaller papers in recent years, Community Newspaper Holdings Inc sold off 22 newspapers to Heartland Publications in April 2004.⁶

Chicago Sun-Times

What was thought to be the biggest prize in newspapers this year, the Chicago Sun-Times, turns out not to be for sale. Its owner, Hollinger International, is selling only its British papers, and will hold onto the Sun-Times. The price for the paper, along with smaller suburban publications, was estimated to be at least $1 billion.⁷

Update on Seattle JOA

The year 2004 was a quieter one in the continuing skirmish in Seattle between The Seattle Times, owned mainly by the Blethen Family but also by Knight Ridder, and the Post-Intelligencer, owned by Hearst Corporation. The two papers are under a joint operating agreement (JOA), approved in 1983, in which The Times handles printing and advertising and gets to keep 60% of the total revenues for the two papers. After three years of losses, The Times has sued to break off the JOA, which would effectively end the Post Intelligencer and make Seattle a one-paper town.⁸ Until the suit is resolved, both papers continue to operate. In December 2004, the State Supreme Court of Washington agreed to review lower-court rulings, a review that had been sought by Hearst. Oral arguments were scheduled for February and March of 2005, with a decision from the high court expected within six months.⁹