The Dispatch Printing Company has been running The Columbus Dispatch newspaper since 1871 – that’s 144 years for those of you who may have misplaced your abacus – but that’s about to change. The company as interests in broadcast television and radio.
The buyer of the newspaper and related assets is New Media Investment Group.
The terms of the deal were not revealed.
Dispatch Chairman John Wolfe will remain in that capacity. The company owns WBNS TV in Columbus and WTHR-TV in Indianapolis, and under licensee name RadiOhio, Inc., owns and operates WBNS AM and FM in Columbus.
Dispatch said in a statement that it was following a trend: “The sale of The Columbus Dispatch to New Media is part of a larger trend in the newspaper business. Several of the largest media companies have split print and broadcast operations into separate business entities. These companies include Gannett, Tribune Publishing, The Washington Post and Scripps Howard.”
Also staying with Dispatch is President/CEO Michael Fiorile, who stated, “We could not be more proud of the journalistic accomplishments by our associates at The Columbus Dispatch. In three of the last four years, The Columbus Dispatch has been named Best Daily Newspaper in Ohio by the Society of Professional Journalists and has won a wide range of other journalistic awards for excellence.”
Michael E. Reed, New Media’s President and CEO commented, “We are very excited to announce the proposed transaction to acquire The Columbus Dispatch, along with its weekly newspapers, magazines and distribution company. The newspaper, first published in 1871, is the sole daily newspaper in its market, and is the trusted source for comprehensive local news, politics, sports and entertainment coverage across Central Ohio. The newspaper has a deep rooted history providing quality journalism and has been named Best Daily Newspaper in Ohio by the Society of Professional Journalists multiple times, including in three of the last four years.”
The newspaper has daily and Sunday circulation of over 130,000 and 235,000, respectively.
RBR+TVBR observation: The push to eliminate restrictions on local broadcast/newspaper combinations goes back many years, and was a particular goal of former FCC Chairman Kevin Martin.
Since the push began, however, the trend has been to break up what grand-fathered or otherwise permissible combinations in existence.
It turns out that the synergies between a broadcast and a print news operation are not as easily realized as one might think.
And the vast differences in monetizing each has made such combinations extremely unwieldy for public corporations trying to report positive results to shareholders every three months.
So powers that be, if they really want to eliminate cross-ownership restrictions, had better do so in a hurry while there are still a few of them around.
