November 27, 2007
Belo Corp Subdividing?
Any local media watchers care to speculate on whether this announcement via CNN's Money.com means anything significant for the future of the Providence Journal...
Belo Corp. will present at the UBS 35th Annual Global Media and Communications Conference in New York on Tuesday, December 4, at 9:00 a.m. EST, providing an update on the Company's operations and its plan to create separate newspaper and television businesses.
I saw an article about this on the ProJo business page about a month ago. Basically, this move would free the newspaper end of the company of debt, which analysts the story quoted figured would be a good thing at least in the short term (long-term, who knows).
Belo probably bought the ProJo more for the TV stations it owned than the actual paper.
Rhody is spot-on. TV stations are much more profitable, and they were the main reason why Belo acquired the ProJo. The split has restarted internal rumors/speculation about a possible sale of the PJ, but I think this is unlikely. Despite its diminished state, the PJ remains a good franchise for Belo.
Posted by: Ian Donnis at November 27, 2007 5:16 PM