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CK's Favorite Paper to be Sold?


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Hey CK..........Got any spare pocket change amongst the fuzz? ;) Repository owner may bid on Beacon JournalFriday, April 7, 2006 GREENFIELD The owner of The Repository and nine other daily newspapers is considering whether to bid on the Akron Beacon Journal, one of 12 Knight Ridder papers up for sale.The Akron paper, which went up for sale with 31 other Knight Ridder dailies in November, is worth considering as a purchase, said David Greenfield, Repository publisher and president of Copley Ohio Newspapers, which also owns The Independent in Massillon and the Times-Reporter in New Philadelphia. Copley Ohio is owned by Copley Press.“The Copley Press remains interested in the Akron Beacon Journal and we are likely to continue trying to discern the specific value that newspaper would have for us,†Greenfield said. “Most industry analysts will tell you there is increased value in owning contiguous newspapers like Akron and Canton, or, in the case of our Copley Ohio group, Canton and Massillon,†Greenfield added.“But there is a different equation to each one of those ownership structures, and they are not always equally rewarding.â€For example, a purchase could offer efficiencies in distribution, but little in the way of increased advertising, he said. Or, a deal could expand sales and marketing opportunities, but mean serious production problems.Knight Ridder is selling the Beacon and 31 other dailies to the McClatchy Co. in a $4.5 billion cash and stock deal. But McClatchy announced the day the deal was reached that it planned to re-sell a dozen of those papers including The Beacon, Philadelphia Inquirer and San Jose Mercury News. McClatchy, based in Sacramento, said the 12 papers don’t meet its growth-market criteria, or they compete with papers it already owns.McClatchy hopes to time the resale to coincide with its closing of the entire Knight Ridder deal, and use the proceeds to reduce debt.Bids were due for the papers last week, but McClatchy has not commented.Greenfield said Copley corporate offices in La Jolla, Calif., will be looking at Beacon financials from the current owner before making any decisions.“Each scenario is different,†Greenfield said. “In Copley Ohio, and in the case of Copley Press in general, we are looking at the long-term potential.â€Greenfield also said Copley wants to protect its existing papers and improve the business and service to customers.Privately held Copley publishes 10 daily, nine weekly and a biweekly newspapers in Ohio, California and Illinois.Knight Ridder was forced to put itself up for sale in November by its largest shareholders, who were dissatisfied with the company’s lagging share price.McClatchy is paying $4.5 billion in cash and stock for the Knight Ridder papers, and assuming $2 billion of Knight Ridder’s debt. Analysts believe the 12 papers McClatchy has for sale could bring as much as $1.4 billion. After the papers are sold, McClatchy’s 32 newspapers would be second nationwide in daily circulation behind Gannett, publisher of USA Today, and rank fourth in revenue behind Gannett, Tribune Co. and the New York Times Co.The deal also would give McClatchy a stronger presence on the Internet through Knight Ridder’s one-third stake in CareerBuilder, an online job posting business co-owned with Gannett and Tribune, and the Real Cities Network, a grouping of 110 local Internet sites, and a 49 percent interest in The Seattle Times.

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I am quite ignorant about the whole print media field, but if this new ownership group would force the ABJ to focus on Akron U & Akron high school sports - like any local newspaper should - this would be a GREAT thing for Zips athletics!!! I've been green with envy over the last 10 years watching how the Canton Rep covers their local high school athletics (they cover and hype the living daylights out of McKinley football & basketball. Their McKinley high school coverage puts the BJ's Zips coverage to utter shame.) If the Copley group would make the Beacon AKRON'S paper (instead of Cleveland's little sister paper) this would be AMAZING!!!

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There's also the Akron Canton News show (Warner Cable 23?) that is possibly being phased out. Another media outlet for the Akron area that's possibly vanishing. We could end up with no media coverage at all unless someone steps up to keep them alive.I'm sure this is a stretch, but could the university take over the local tv news show and produce it through the communications program (like they do with WZIP)? Only do it as a commercial endeavor so that they can sell advertising and even (maybe) televise the sports?

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That has got to be one of the best tongue in cheek quotes ever... a guy from the Copley Group with a query as to whether it would be good to acquire the ABJ. That's like someone from Stark Tech contemplating buying Ohio State.Time Warner 23 is not going anywhere, it just started and is part of a three year deal. Time Warner also owns SportsTime Ohio and is taking over Adelphia.Akron's communication school cannot even manage to fill the 30 minute time frame on PBS each week with the poorest excuse for a talk show since Wayne World. They could never manage a news station. Akron got the law school Can't State got the broadcast journalism school. The Akron students who are studying radio and tv are castaways.

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Akron got the law school Can't State got the broadcast journalism school. The Akron students who are studying radio and tv are castaways.
I don't profess to have superior knowledge here, but WZIP seems to be an amazing station. As far as professionalism goes, it rivals KDD, which is one of the largest stations in all of Ohio. And if I'm not mistaken, I believe WZIP is the largest, or most profitable college station in the nation. I certainly wouldn't call the student DJs on WZIP castaways. They do an excellent job.
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Blue and Gold:You're right about the professionalism. Wzip's competition is Clear Channel owned WKDD. There isn't another STUDENT RUN station in the US that would dare go up against a commercial station in competiton for listeners.I wouldn't call them profitable, though. What many people don't realize is that WZIP (the students) raises all of it's own money, they get nothing from the University. Also, there's much more to it than just the DJs, there's between 50-80 students, many of which are not communication majors, that make it work.

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WZIP is run by a h*m* and is a mish mash of music. It could not compete in the real world of business cash thus the only way the sorry thing stays on the air is through our tax dollars. Being the best student radio station is based on the contest they entered to get the award and is akin to being the best looking gal in a school of the blind - who cares!

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WZIP is run by a h*m* and is a mish mash of music.  It could not compete in the real world of business cash thus the only way the sorry thing stays on the air is through our tax dollars.  Being the best student radio station is based on the contest they entered to get the award and is akin to being the best looking gal in a school of the blind - who cares!
:lol:It's amazing what lengths people will go to be a-holes. You can't possibly be thinking anything else other than "watch me go on zipsnation and be an jerk about stuff"
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