Newspaper Roundup: Tribune Bankruptcy Speculation; Gannet, NYTCo May Numbers, Sun-Times

(PaidContent.org)  This story was written by Joseph Weisenthal.

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-- Tribune: As industry economics deteriorate, speculation heightens that Sam Zell's uber-leveraged Tribune Co. will be forced to file bankruptcy sooner rather than later. S&P analyst Emile Courtney told Bloomberg: "In the absence of additional asset sales, we think that it's a possibility as early as December." Other companies facing possibilities of a debt default include Journal Register (OTCBB: JRCO) and MediaNews.

-- NYTCo: Characteristic of the tough state of things, revenue at the NYTCo's (NYSE: NYT) News Media Group fell 13.2 percent in May to $130.3 million. Classifieds took the biggest beating, dropping 24.8 percent, while internet ad revenue was up 14.2 percent. Total revenue at About.com was up 13.7 percent. Including everything, May revenue fell 6.6 percent to $227.5 million. Release.

-- Gannett: Similar story at Gannett (NYSE: GCI), which said that May revenue fell by 10.9 percent, and that total ad revenue slid by 14.3 percent. On digital, it skips the real details and pushes traffic stats insteadand not even the full info on that. Gannett domestic web sites had 25.7 million uniques in the month. The company doesn't provide the year-over-year traffic growth in the release, but the report from last May says they had 22.1 million uniques, so growth was about 16 percent. Release.

-- Sun-Times: Chicago's other publisher, the Sun-Times Media Group, may take itself private after failing to find a buyer, CEO Cyrus Freidheim told shareholders Tuesday. But he also said an asset sale is still on the table. The company currently trades on the OTCBB exchange, having been delisted earlier this year from the NYSE. According to a report in the Chicago Sun-Times, Freidhem said the company still has enough cash to operate for two to three more years given current conditions.


By Joseph Weisenthal