After The Bell Thursday: Selling On The News

Fitz: Gannett Co. executives presenting to analysts in New York Thursday could hardly have been cheerier about the company’s prospects, all things considered. Chief among those considerations, of course, is that ad revenue is expected to show a continuing  decline when Q1 results are posted.

CFO Gracia Martore emphasized that the momentum of Q4’s easing declines is also continuing in the not-so-new year. This quarter’s decline of newspaper revenue should drop to a single-digit percentage compared to the 18% plummet publishing revenue took in the final quarter of 2008. And Gannett said it was “comfortable” with The Street’s view that it will be profitable in the quarter, with the consensus at 40 cents a share.

All this (relatively) happy talk did nothing for Gannett (GCI) stock, though -- nor for the rest of the sector.

GCI ended the day at $16.40 a share, down 38 cents, or 2.3. On a day when the Dow recorded its eight straight up session, all but two NYSE newspaper stocks fell on the day, with The McClatchy Co.(MNI) pacing decliners by falling 4.4% on a 22-cent loss to $4.83.

The two gainers didn’t exactly win bragging rights at the Bull & Bear Bar, though: A.H. Belo (AHC) was up just 7 cents, or 0.9%, to $7.93 and Journal Communication’s (JRN) 2-cent gain to $4.01 amounted to just half a percent.

Sad Day At The Shady Lady Ranch Brothel

Fitz: I likely would have gone through life without ever having talked with an honest-to-goodness madam and brothel owner but for Coyote Publishing v. Miller.

Coyote publishes High Desert Advocate and sued to overturn a 1979 Nevada law that forbids brothels from advertising in newspapers or billboards in counties where prostitution is illegal, which, contrary to some popular opinion, is just about anywhere people actually live or visit in the state, including Las Vegas and Reno.

Bobbi Davis, the owner of the Shady Lady Ranch brothel, joined Coyote in the suit, which also included Las Vegas City Life as a plaintiff. When I talked with Davis, who was charming and quite quotable over the phone, she was coming off a victory. A U.S. judge had ruled the prohibition was unconstitutionally broad.

But now comes word, via a Ken Ritter story in The Associated Press, that an appeals court has reversed that ruling.

The three-judge panel, to the chagrin of the ACLU, declared the law wasn’t a restriction on free speech: “"The Nevada laws appropriately limited commercial speech. We conclude that the interest in preventing the commodification of sex is substantial."

Bobbi Davis, according to AP, declined immediate comment. So you can make your own pun about the cat getting the tongue of the cathouse owner, because at Fitz & Jen we’re too classy for that kind of thing.

Smackdown in NYC: 'NYT' vs. 'WSJ'

Jen: Here in New York, the New York Post and the New York Daily News are the ones always getting into scrapes with one another. When the Audit Bureau of Circulations releases its numbers every six months, you are guaranteed spit wads will fly from both directions. The national broadsheets -- The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal -- always rose above it leaving the brawls to the pugnacious tabs.

Until recently. One of the best aspects of News Corp.'s takeover of Dow Jones and the WSJ has been its willingness to relentlessly poke at the NYT (and to a lesser extent USA Today). And now the NYT is throwing its own punches.

The Grey Lady announced today it rolled out a trade marketing campaign touting its dominance of certain demographics in the New York market, namely women, art enthusiasts and business professionals (pow!) The ads are in direct response to the WSJ's New York edition which launches next month in an attempt to gain readers but we think it's much more a play  by the WSJ to broaden its advertising and go after accounts normally dominated by the NYT.

Meanwhile the WSJ ran a full page ad that spills over to the adjoining quarter page explaining that it's investing in journalism at a time when others  are not. It's titled the not so subtle "Stay ahead of the Times." We have the copy at the mother ship.

Additionally as we pointed out this morning, USA Today is now joining the NYT at the racks of Starbucks. We have heard unsubstantiated rumors that the WSJ is not far behind and is angling for top rack positioning. Nat Ives over at Ad Age caught up with a NYT spokesperson who insists the more the merrier in Starbucks.

Brands + Digital Readers + Newspapers = Ad Revenue?

Jen: Do marketers still need brands? That's what Ken Doctor asks over at Ad Age using newspapers as exhibit A. He deftly walks through four possible answers.  Personally, we say "yes" over in this corner if only digital e-readers take flight.

Courts Awards 'Bay Guardian' Half of 'SF Weekly' Ad Revenue

Jen: In what is sure to be another blow to the SF Weekly, a San Francisco Superior Court ruled the San Francisco Bay Guardian is entitled to collect half of the SF Weekly's ad revenue, roughly $200,000 a month.

This is all part of the Guardian's attempt to seize its 2008 judgment of $21 million awarded to the Guardian after a jury found that the SF Weekly was participating in predatory advertising pricing. The SF Weekly and its parent company Village Voice Media thinks the judgment is poppy cock and appealing the ruling.

However, the SF Weekly/VVM decided not to purchase a very costly bond of some $30 million to protect their assets while the case is in appeals. The Guardian, meanwhile, is proceeding as necessary. First it took some SF Weekly delivery trucks, then some rent, and now it was awarded the big payout of some $200,000 a month.

Andy Van De Voorde, executive associate editor at Village Voice Media, told the S.F. Chronicle the ruling won't break the SF Weekly and that it's appealing the case.

Check out more about this interesting saga that has been playing out for almost a decade at the mother ship.

‘Canton Repository’: It’s Not Copying Without Credit, It’s Irony!

Fitz: Canton Repository Executive Editor Jeff Gauger has responded indirectly to Fitz & Jen’s noting of the, um, similarities, er, exact line-by-line copy without credit of English tabloid Sun’s iPhone parody commercial. (See below.) He didn’t respond to us, you understand, but Monday afternoon did get around to telling readers that the digital spot came from the Sun.

But in the most off-pitch use of the word “irony” since Alanis Morissette’s “Ironic” lyrics (“And isn't it ironic... don't you think / It's like rain on your wedding day”), Gauger introduced the connection by  writing, “Now for a touch of irony.”
Continues Gauger:

“Our ditty on the virtues of print was, in fact, an idea adapted from a similar video done by the Sun newspapers in England. The Sun papers referred to the newspaper as ‘the must-have hand-held accessory of 2009.’ The irony is that, thanks to the ease of digital distribution, we saw the Sun ad and liked it so much that we made a version for The Repository. Imitation is a form of flattery, after all.”

Irony. So that’s what the Repository calling it these days.

'LAT' Runs Ad that Covers Front Page

Jen: Here's one more ad-related item for you. The Wrap reports that the Los Angeles Times sold their front page (also a four-page spread) to Disney for the "ball park" amount of $700,000.

The ad is for the movie 'Alice in Wonderland' and looks *exactly* like the front page right down to the Los Angeles Times flag. Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter covers most of the false Page One.

John Conroy, a LAT spokesman told Sharon Waxman: “We worked very closely with Disney to come up with an exceptional and distinctive way to help them open ‘Alice in Wonderland.' It was designed to create buzz, and to extend the film’s already brilliant marketing campaign."

It certainly is attention grabbing and so is the amount Disney ponied up for the privilege.

Hey, Give me Two $20s for Three $10s

 Jen: Today, Monday March 8 is advertising day here at Fitz & Jen. We bring you another item from the Racine Post, which is calling out the Racine (Wis.) Journal Post's Times' bluff for what they say are misleading ads hawking $2 "Wisconsin" bills for something like 60 bucks and some change. The goofy ad looks just like newspaper copy with even a byline from "Universal Media Syndicate."

The gumshoes over at the Racine Post, Pete Selkowe and Dustin Block, phoned up the purveyors of these two dollar bills who then tried to sucker them into paying more than $550 for a "chest of 50 bills."

These ads have been making the rounds at other newspapers including the Lee Enterprise Arizona Daily Star the sister pub to the Journal Times.

The Racine Post compares these ads to the waaaayyy cheesy Amish heating ads. If you haven't seen these, crack open Parade.

Times are tough everywhere but Selkowe and Block bring up a good question: Should newspapers have higher standards when it comes to advertising?

‘Canton Repository’s Sincerest Form of Flattery

Fitz: In his “Editor’s Extra” blog Canton (Ohio) Repository Executive Editor Jeff Gauger proudly unveils the GateHouse Media paper’s newest clever commercial. Apparently he’s figuring nobody in the Football Hall of Fame hometown had seen the Sun newspaper advert that went viral months ago. There’s no mention of the U.K. paper, and Gauger hasn’t yet responded to messages seeking comments on the remarkable, um, coincidences.

Compare and contrast, class: (Hat tip to anonymous)

 

Friday Morning Links

Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal, with its soon-to-launch New York Edition, versus The New York Times will be the “last great newspaper war in history,” the Newsosaur says. But what, he adds, is the point?

Can you say “fraudulent conveyance”? Some deeply subordinated noteholders of bankrupt Tribune Co. filed a lawsuit claiming the Chicago media giant’s highly leveraged going-private deal was just that, a deal that was insolvent from the git-go. (Bloomberg via Chicago Tribune)

Geez, nobody’s happy in bankruptcy court, it seems. Management at the parent company of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News want court permission to hire a law firm to investigate the apparently illegal secret taping of a November 2008 meeting between newspaper executives and its senior lenders.

New York Times biz columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin is going Hollywood, well, HBO anyway, with his book on the financial crisis “Too Big to Fail.” Our prediction: Not too big for … Oscar! (Deadline New York via Talking Biz News) 

Wednesday Morning Links

The Washington Post is following The Guardian’s playbook as it launches its first paid iPhone app Wednesday. PaidContent.org’s Staci Kramer reports the Post will charge $1.99 for 12 months of access. She notes the Guardian sold 101,457 downloads of its iPhone app in the first 10 weeks at the equivalent of $3.99.

Give Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. in Toronto props for sticking with newspaper investments. Honolulu Advertiser staff writer Rick Daysog reports the Canadian insurance giant is providing much of the financial backing of Honolulu Star-Bulletin owner David Black’s stunning purchase of The Honolulu Advertiser. Fairfax put money into Torstar Corp. and CanWest Global Communications back home -- only to ultimately write off the investments.

…But could Fairfax be right about Torstar? The stock jumped by nearly 20% in interday trading Tuesday after analysts at TD Newcrest rated it not just a buy but a top-of-the-line “action list buy.” As Financial Post business writer James Sturgeon notes, TD Newcrest likes Torstar’s community newspaper business and its Harlequin romance novel divisions. They’ll help Torstar overcome the drag from The Toronto Star, the analysts say