In a sign of the perilous times for newspaper publishers, "the deal carries a price tag of $1 and the assumption of operational and pension liabilities," Tronc's Chicago Tribune reports. Reportedly, tronc assumes some $61M+ in liabilities.The New York Daily News, with approximately 25 million unique monthly visitors through NYDailyNews.com, has been New York City’s “Hometown Newspaper” since 1919. It has won 11 Pulitzer Prizes, most recently the prize in the category of public service journalism in 2017.
“We are excited to welcome the New York Daily News team to the tronc family, and we look forward to working with them to serve new audiences and marketers while delivering value for our shareholders,” said Justin Dearborn, tronc CEO. “As part of the tronc portfolio, the New York Daily News will provide us with another strategic platform for growing our digital business, expanding our reach and broadening our services for advertisers and marketers.”
Noting that tronc’s predecessor company, The Tribune Company, founded the New York Daily News, Dearborn added, “With the New York Daily News back under our umbrella, tronc will serve 10 major U.S. markets, including each of the top three, hold 105 Pulitzers and have over 80 million unique monthly digital visitors.”Arthur Browne, current editor-in-chief of the New York Daily News has also been named as Publisher. Mr. Browne, who previously indicated his intention to retire from the paper, has agreed to stay until the end of 2017. He will report to tronc President Timothy Knight.
“Over the past near-century, the New York Daily News has served New York City and its surrounding areas with its award-winning journalism and helped shape the dynamics of the city,” said Mort Zuckerman, New York Daily News Chairman and Publisher, and owner since 1993.
“The New York Daily News is a venerable New York City institution,” added New York Daily News co-Publisher Eric Gertler. “We believe that under tronc’s leadership, the New York Daily News will maintain its tradition of excellence in journalism and continue to be a critical voice for millions of print and online readers.”“Under the ownership of Mortimer Zuckerman, the New York Daily News was awarded five Pulitzer Prizes recognizing their commitment to quality journalism that serves the citizens of New York City and the surrounding area. We look forward to continuing this great tradition and appreciate his faithful stewardship as its owner,” said Timothy Knight, tronc President.
Additional Transaction Details
- Under the terms of the transaction, tronc assumed operational and pension liabilities of the New York Daily News. The Company will meet the obligations from New York Daily News cash flow.
- The transaction includes 100% ownership of the New York Daily News’ printing facility in Jersey City, New Jersey. As part of the transaction, tronc will acquire a 49.9% interest in a joint venture with Zuckerman-related entities that will own the 25-acre parcel of land on which the printing facility is located and which overlooks the Manhattan skyline.
The transaction shifts The News from ownership by a single, deep-pocketed patron to the organizational chart of a publicly traded corporation whose roster of newspapers is filled out by the Orlando Sentinel and Sun-Sentinel in Florida, the Morning Call in Allentown, Pa., the Daily Press in Newport News, Va., the Hartford Courant, and the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Tribune Publishing was rebranded as "tronc" a name meant to signify Tribune Online Content. Citing a "pixels to Pulitzers" strategy, the company website describes tronc as "a media company rooted in award-winning journalism, which harnesses propriety technology to present personalized, premium content to a global audience in real time."
The Daily News began its tabloid life in 1919, the result of a clash of wills and philosophies between Joseph Medill Patterson and his cousin Robert R. McCormick. They were the grandsons of Joseph Medill, who had founded the Chicago Tribune in 1847, and became co-publishers of that paper in 1910.
Together they created the "World's Greatest Newspaper" slogan that adorned the paper's front page but the two differed on so many matters both business and political that on June 26, 1919, Patterson published the first issue in New York of what was then called the Illustrated Daily News. It struggled for a few months but soon proved a hit in that wildly competitive newspaper market, which at the time consisted of 11 daily newspapers in Manhattan, three in Brooklyn and dozens of weekly publications throughout the city.
Its circulation topped 100,000 within a year and was over 1 million by 1925. Its peak circulation was in 1947, when it sold 2.4 million copies daily and 4.7 million on Sunday. One reason was its comics, as Patterson played inspirational godfather to a generation of comic artists, helping to create and nourish in his paper's pages such strips as "Gasoline Alley," "Moon Mullins," "Little Orphan Annie," "Terry and the Pirates" and "Dick Tracy."
The paper's circulation currently stands at about 200,000 daily and 260,000 Sunday, placing it solidly among the top 10 U.S. newspapers, along with the Tribune and LA Times. But it has not been profitable for some years, though Tronc executives anticipate they will be able to meet all financial obligations through the Daily News' cash flow.
Tronc sees cost efficiencies and opportunities for revenue growth, including Tronc's scale, to operate the Daily News less expensively and attract more printing clients to the New Jersey plant acquired as part of the deal. Dearborn expects the Daily News to be operating in the black by next year.
The Daily News began its tabloid life in 1919, the result of a clash of wills and philosophies between Joseph Medill Patterson and his cousin Robert R. McCormick. They were the grandsons of Joseph Medill, who had founded the Chicago Tribune in 1847, and became co-publishers of that paper in 1910.
Together they created the "World's Greatest Newspaper" slogan that adorned the paper's front page but the two differed on so many matters both business and political that on June 26, 1919, Patterson published the first issue in New York of what was then called the Illustrated Daily News. It struggled for a few months but soon proved a hit in that wildly competitive newspaper market, which at the time consisted of 11 daily newspapers in Manhattan, three in Brooklyn and dozens of weekly publications throughout the city.Its circulation topped 100,000 within a year and was over 1 million by 1925. Its peak circulation was in 1947, when it sold 2.4 million copies daily and 4.7 million on Sunday. One reason was its comics, as Patterson played inspirational godfather to a generation of comic artists, helping to create and nourish in his paper's pages such strips as "Gasoline Alley," "Moon Mullins," "Little Orphan Annie," "Terry and the Pirates" and "Dick Tracy."
The paper's circulation currently stands at about 200,000 daily and 260,000 Sunday, placing it solidly among the top 10 U.S. newspapers, along with the Tribune and LA Times. But it has not been profitable for some years, though Tronc executives anticipate they will be able to meet all financial obligations through the Daily News' cash flow.
Tronc sees cost efficiencies and opportunities for revenue growth, including Tronc's scale, to operate the Daily News less expensively and attract more printing clients to the New Jersey plant acquired as part of the deal. Dearborn expects the Daily News to be operating in the black by next year.
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