A popular Wall Street blog has named the New York Daily News as one of 10 big-city newspapers that will either fold or go all digital in the not-too-distant future.
Doug McIntyre, editor of stock-picking Web site 24/7 Wall St., claims that “based on figures from other big dailies, [the Daily News] could easily lose $60 million or $70 million and has no chance of recovering from that level.”
Needless to say, executives at the News, which is owned by real-estate baron Mort Zuckerman, have blasted both the report and McIntyre himself.
Daily News CEO Marc Kramer called the Web site’s conclusion “totally unfounded and baseless.”
In a statement released to Crain’s New York Business, Kramer added, “Had this writer made one phone call to the Daily News, he would know that every-so-called fact [in the Web post] is wrong.”
McIntyre shot back, “How does he know who I talked to at the Daily News? Is he tapping everyone’s phone?”
Though McIntyre stands by his math, Media Ink sources estimate the Daily News lost $20 million last year.
McIntyre claims the losses have accelerated this year.
McIntyre’s grim outlook for the News is in part based on his belief that since Zuckerman derives most of his billion-dollar wealth from the commercial real-estate industry, he’d be less likely to ride out the current media storm.
“Unlike The New York Times, The New York Post, Newsday and the Newark Star-Ledger, the Daily News is not owned by a larger organization,” he said.
Already, Zuckerman has reined in his publishing efforts, turning his magazine US News & World Report into a monthly from a weekly and focusing the mag’s print editions on “Best of” issues. He’s also ramped up the magazine’s Web presence.
At the News, Zuckerman recently stopped matching contributions to em ployees’ 401(k) retirement plans, and has also trimmed jobs. To be sure, the News isn’t the only paper on McIntyre’s list. Other papers include the Philadelphia Daily News, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Miami Herald, Detroit News, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Sun- Times, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Cleveland Plain Dealer.
It’s already been a brutal year for newspapers, with the shuttering of the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, and other papers teetering on the brink.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune is in bankruptcy, as is the Philadelphia News paper Group, owner of the Philadelphia Daily News and the Philadel phia Inquirer, and Sam Zell‘s Tribune Co., owner of the Los An geles Times and the Chicago Tribune.
Shank
There will be no mulligan for Travel + Leisure Golf, which landed in the advertis ing rough this year.
American Express Publishing yesterday said that it’s shutting down the 11-year-old magazine, which grew out of Travel + Leisure.
“It’s the first magazine we’ve had to fold since the early 1990s,” said American Express Publishing CEO Ed Kelly. “It’s a sad day.”
He added, “The reason is pretty straightforward. The overall business just cratered.”
John Atwood, editor-in-chief of T+L Golf, is staying with the com pany in a yet-to-be-determined role supervising golf related con tent for various products. Pub lisher John Rodenburg, mean while, is leaving the company.
Through March, the parent title Travel + Leisure seems to be faring OK, as it’s down just 10 percent in ad pages, according to Media Industry Newsletter. However, Food & Wine appears to be in a free fall, tumbling 30.24 percent in ad pages.
Location
Michael Gross, the author of the bestselling “Model” and the near-bestseller “740 Park Avenue,” has just inked a new mid-six figure book deal with the Broadway Books imprint to write about the super-wealthy in the Estate District of Los An geles.
“Michael’s decided to write about what he calls the Plati num Triangle – the area made up of Bel Air, Beverly Hills and Holmby Hills,” said Peter Gethers, an editor-at- large at Broadway, who will edit the book.
“I think Michael has legiti mately positioned himself as the chronicler of the super- wealthy, who are going through a tremendous amount of turmoil right now,” said Gethers.
The deal was brokered by Dan Stone at Trident Media.