For the 155 year-old New York Times Co., 2006 has been far from spectacular.
The Gray Lady has looked stodgy to investors and analysts, struggling to make a profit as circulation has fallen and advertisers have abandoned their print pages for the online world. It's been so bad that major shareholders such as Morgan Stanley are pushing for the removal of Arthur Sulzberger Jr. from his post as publisher and chairman and abolish the two-tiered stock structure that keeps the Sulzberger family in control.
Seeing weakness in the Times, corporate tycoon Jack Welch has even assembled a group of investors and continues to try to wrestle away the Boston Globe from the Times despite being rejected by the New York media company.
Now for some damage control from the Times. The media company threw a bone to the investing community Dec. 5, forecasting that Internet revenue could grow to 30% in the next year, or $80 million, primarily through organic growth from its About.com, NYTimes.com, Boston.com, iht.com and other sites associated with their regional newspapers. That's not surprising considering that advertisers, on the whole, already have been flocking to the Web in droves for exposure. The 30% forecasted growth would build on top of the already estimated $270 million of Internet revenue the Times expects to take in 2006.
But online advertising growth may not be enough to silence frustrated investors and potential dealmakers bidding for Times' assets. Interestingly, the Times did not provide full-year 2007 total revenue guidance yesterday for its other areas besides its online division. Maybe because it would be too disappointing and would make the movement for change even louder ... — Gerald Magpily
See New York Times press release via Business Wire
See CNN Article
See Oct. 25, 2006 Dealscape entry
See March 22, 2006 Dealscape entry
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