NorthIowaToday.com

Founded in 2010

News & Entertainment for Mason City, Clear Lake & the Entire North Iowa Region

Globe throws in the towel on Monday newspapers

John Skipper will get an extra day off every week.
John Skipper will get an extra day off every week.

MASON CITY – In a clear sign that demand for their paper is waning, the Globe Gazette says they won’t produce a newspaper on Mondays anymore.

In a quiet story that didn’t make their Facebook page, the Globe Gazette announced a “switch to a six-day weekly publication schedule”. The Lee Enterprises-owned newspaper will publish only Tuesday through Sunday, beginning next month. It was just two years ago that the Globe announced it had spent $2 million on a used printing press, apparently to fix up the blurry newspaper pages it was delivering.  Now, those newspapers are getting smaller and will be delivered much less often.

Globe Gazette, owned by Lee Enterprises
Globe Gazette, owned by Lee Enterprises

Billionaire investor Warren Buffet said in 2014 newspapers are on the way out and the number of people looking at them “is going down”.  It could very well be that this genius economist was foretelling the future in the case of the Globe Gazette.  Some are already speculating that it is just a matter of time before the Globe Gazette becomes a weekly newspaper.  One Globe Gazette employee told NIT “Yeah. Pretty sad day” when asked about the Globe surrendering on Mondays and producing no paper.

As the Globe made their announcement, its parent company, Lee Enterprises, released its quarterly financial report, and it was less than stellar.  Here are some highlights:

  • In the third quarter, subscription revenue was nearly flat, decreasing 0.5%
  • Overall revenue decreased 4.9%
  • As of June 26, 2016, the principal amount of debt was $640.3 million
  • Lee continues its comprehensive real estate monetization program (selling off real estate)
  • Advertising and marketing services revenue combined decreased 8.6% to $92.3 million, with retail advertising down 6.9%, classified down 14.0% and national down 1.8%.
  • Compensation decreased 2.1%, primarily as a result of reduced staffing levels
  • Newsprint and ink expense decreased 11.0%, primarily the result of a reduction in newsprint volume and prices

 

 

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

14 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Even more news:

Watercooler

Need help with your website?
Call your local professional,
Breakthrough Web Design:
515-897-1144
or go to
BreakthroughWebDesign.com

Copyright 2024 – Internet Marketing Pros. of Iowa, Inc.
14
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x