Vouchification: August 2009 Archives

The Coming Chicago News Vacuum

By vouchey on August 17, 2009 10:04 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

The increasingly desperate straits of Chicago's news outlets is already having an impact on what - and how much - news gets covered. More cuts are coming. In the next year we should expect a significant decrease in community and political news coverage in the Chicago area. Small start-up are trying to fill the gaps, but they lack resources and readership to make up the difference.

How is this happening?

Recent studies show 2008 newspaper advertising shrank 16.4%, 2009 television advertising will shrink 4.6% and online advertising to grow 13%. While online advertising is growing, its starting from a much smaller base than newspaper or TV. Newspapers sold $37.9 billion in ads last year. Online sold $3.1 billion.

Last week we reviewed the financial states of Creative Loafing, Inc. and the Sun Times Media Group. Although CLI is suffering, friends from the Chicago Reader assure me their paper remains profitable - despite CLI's debt. But STMG regulatory and bankruptcy filings seem to show that the Chicago Sun Times is the major money loser among STMG properties. It seems possible - even likely - that the Sun Times may not exist in 2010.

Earlier this year the Chicago Tribune's parent company, the Tribune Company, went into bankruptcy, burdened by $12 billion in debt created by Sam Zell's leveraged buyout of the company. Although recent news suggests Zell will be muscled out and the company will become the property of creditors - especially Deutche Bank - it seems likely that the new owners will be looking for ways to increase cash, reduce expenses, prepare the company for sale, or dismember it into parts for individual sales.

Continue reading The Coming Chicago News Vacuum.

Does the Sun Times Media Group have value? Or even a future?

By vouchey on August 12, 2009 10:10 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

Earlier this week I took a close look at Creative Loafing's bankruptcy filings to try and figure out how much that company - and by extension - the Chicago Reader is worth. Here I'll try to peer into the much more complex bankruptcy filings of the Sun Times' parent company, the Sun Times Media Group, to try and figure out the worth of the Sun Times as it struggles through bankruptcy and tries to find a buyer.

There are some big differences between the Sun Times Media Group (STMG) and Creative Loafing. According to the press release that accompanied its bankruptcy filing, STMG has 59 publications, including multiple dailies, weeklies, shoppers and websites. Also, unlike Creative Loafing, the majority of STMG's debt does not come from private creditors, but from unpaid federal taxes.

Continue reading Does the Sun Times Media Group have value? Or even a future?.

What is the value of Creative Loafing? An in-depth analysis

By vouchey on August 10, 2009 3:14 PM | No Comments | 1 TrackBack

On August 25, the Chicago Reader's parent company, Creative Loafing, Inc., will be sold to a new owner through a federal bankruptcy auction in Tampa to repay $43 million in debt. As two groups prepare to bid in the auction, let's try to figure out how much Creative Loafing - and by extension the Chicago Reader - is really worth.

First, some background on the bidders.

Since Eason and Creative Loafing, Inc., who are based in Tampa, purchased the Chicago Reader (along with Reader-owned Washington City Paper) in July 2007 - for an unpublished and unreported sum - the alternative newspaper business has taken a hard turn for the worse. In just two years newspaper readership has declined sharply and advertisers have found other channels to market their products. And that big boogey man, Craigslist, has continued to drive a stake into the heart of alternative newspapers.

Continue reading What is the value of Creative Loafing? An in-depth analysis.

iFrustration With AT&T

By vouchey on August 2, 2009 9:59 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

The iPhone, as wonderful a device it may be (I'm writing this entry on mine) is an atrocious phone. Actually, I like the phone part just fine, it's just the amazingly bad service AT&T provides.

I get calls dropped all the time on AT&T. Moving between cell towers is an invitation to drop a call and I get virtually no service in my house. During rush hour in Chicago, when people pull out their phones to call friends and family, AT&T signal quality drops precipitously.

I'm one of those people who lives on his phone. I keep a 1,400 minute plan most months, but now and then I've made 3,000 minutes and once I got to 7,000. There are no plans for that volume, and when you get that high, wireless companies cut you all kinds of deals.

With this in mind I expected my signal quality complaints to AT&T to result in something. Two calls to customer service resulted in a service person finally requesting a "tower check" by my house - which is in a busy Chicago neighborhood. No word back after that. So I wrote an angry letter to a customer service address I found through Consumer Reports (a street address is not posted on the company website). One week later I got a letter back essentially saying "sorry, but we're not doing anything about it.

I'm really considering dropping AT&T - and my iPhone - and paying the fee for cutting my contract early. Even considering this concept hurts me. I love my iPhone, but it's just too hard to do business with AT&T's service.

AT&T: Get your crap together and fix your network.

Apple: Please eliminate AT&T's exclusivity agreement.

I'll wait another month. But come September, I think I might be going back to Verizon.

August 2009 Archives

The Coming Chicago News Vacuum

Does the Sun Times Media Group have value? Or even a future?

What is the value of Creative Loafing? An in-depth analysis

iFrustration With AT&T

The Writer

What Is Vouchification?

Instablog

Some Other Projects