Oldest newspapers to be sold for focus on new digital?

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on January 11, 2007 at 3:10 PM

Scripps, one of the first newspaper chains ever founded in the US, in 1878, is considering whether it should sell its 18 newspapers to refocus on more profitable Internet and cable holdings.

While the newspaper division is still profitable, Scripps’ CFO, Joe Necastro, said the company doesn’t want to hold on to assets for which profit margins are decreasing, and had considered the sale for the past six months.

Scripp’s newspaper division is still the second largest in the company, behind Scripp’s Networks cable operations.

But the importance of newspapers within the company has dwindled rapidly, from representing 55% of sales in 2000 to less than 25% today.

Investors seemed to support Necastro’s announcement, as company shares rose 3.8% on the same day, to their highest value in almost a year.

Whether Scripps sales its newspapers or not, the fact that the company is even considering the sale is symbolic: one of the oldest US newspaper chains could part with its print in order to concentrate on digital.

Source: paidcontent.org

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