For Immediate Release: August 12, 2009    Look for Cablevision To Streamline Departments At Media Group Media Appraiser Kevin Kamen: Look for Cablevision To Streamline Departments At Media Group (Baldwin, N.Y.) - New York based media appraiser and broker Kevin Kamen, President/CEO of Kamen & Co Group Services of Baldwin expects that the new hiring of Tad Smith as the head of Cablevision’s News Group will soon bring about many changes in the form of cutbacks, revenue enhancers, several program upgrades and possibly the consolidation of the Saturday/Sunday newspaper, as well as a subscriber fee for utilizing Newsday online. Kamen stated, “This appointment sends a loud and clear message to Long Island that suggests Cablevision needs to turn things around structurally and Smith has been identified to carry the large stick. Something has not been going well in Cablevisionland and a new path is required at this juncture. Mr. Smith is going to need to become creative and do some heavy lifting rather quickly because it is evident that not everything has gone as once planned and hoped for at Cablevision. Publisher Tim Knight at Newsday is going to be told to make tough choices and will need to increase both revenue and circulation numbers by the end of this year and doing so will be almost an impossible task to ascertain. Redesigning the newspaper was a marginal change but something dramatic is going to have to happen at Newsday that can help change the financial picture substantially. I would suspect cutbacks and redefining the mission of the newspaper in this digital climate will bring some unrest to the newspaper and particularly to the editorial department.” Kamen continued, ” News 12 programs can expect to be upgraded under his watch to compete in this economical climate. The news telecasts are presented in a 1970’s format and must be upgraded. Newsday recently made changes to its design and layout but the savings is not one of significance. Much needs to be evaluated and contemplated to help increase revenue streams across the board. With Verizon stepping up its news coverage and becoming a viable alternative for Long Islanders, a strong voice and direction is necessary at this juncture and it would be fair to assume that change is in the wind at  Cablevision and for good reason.”

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July 22, 2009
Predicto.Com - Celebrity Gossip & News
Is the Daily News Next on Rupert Murdoch’s Shopping List?

Competition among New York dailies is notoriously fierce, but for all its pluses and minuses, this competition has fortunately led to a plurality of voices. What will happen, then, if two of the biggest names in the New York newspaper industry become one?

Rupert Murdoch, the media mogul behind News Corporation, is reportedly setting his eyes on the New York Daily News, the second-largest daily in the state when it comes to circulation and profitability. The reports came after News Corp. announced its recent acquisitions of the Brooklyn Paper, the TimesLedger and the Courier-Life. The newspaper groups are all based in New York, fueling speculations that the Daily News of real estate tycoon Mort Zuckerman will be next.

Strategic Investing in New York News Industry

“I believe [the acquisition] is something that is being looked at very seriously, although very quietly [inside News Corp.],” says Baldwin, New York media appraiser Kevin Kamen. “Obviously, I can’t say it is definitely happening, but I think it is being considered by Murdoch for sure. Nobody should be surprised, although everyone will be.”

“There is a strategy there,” Kamen adds, referring to the recent acquisitions of three NY-based newspaper groups by Murdoch. “He’s building up the scenery, if you will, the support system.”

If and when the Daily News falls into Murdoch’s hands, News Corp. will have a new addition to its growing list of media assets. This prestigious list currently includes the New York Post, the Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones and the Fox group of broadcasting resources, television networks and movie outfits.

It is an astounding collection of media resources and people are worried about the influence Murdoch will have. Without one of the big names in the competition, influence and profit will go up for the New York Post.

Daily News Acquisition, Total Fiction?

For now at least, the scenario is more of a big “if” than a “when.” Zuckerman, who last year was embroiled in a stiff bidding war with Murdoch when Newsday went for sale, is not obligated or willing to sell his papers. Zuckerman called Kamen’s predictions “total fiction” and added that “The Daily News is not for sale, has never been for sale and will not be for sale.”

However, as more and more papers are shutting down due to the economic slowdown and the emergence of the so-called new media, Zuckerman may reconsider. Back in 2008, Murdoch and Zuckerman were involved in a series of negotiations to merge the operations of their newspapers. The planned merger was reported as a “money-saving collaboration” between the two news outlets and grew out of their failed attempts to acquire Newsday. This at least proves that the possibility of these news tycoons working together does exist. Newsday, incidentally, went to Cablevision for $650 million.

In addition, the Daily News is “sliding into the red.” Despite being No. 2 in circulation, the Daily News is losing its subscribers and profits to online news channels. Zuckerman remains optimistic and believes that the downward trend of the Daily News will be abetted by a new color printing plant.

“I think this is inevitable,” Kamen says. “Murdoch is never going to have an opportunity to buy the Times, but if he can put together a proposal that’s reasonable for the Daily News, I believe Zuckerman will listen.” Will he? And will it be good for the news? Read what the Predicto Mobile community thinks here and join the discussion.

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What’s Going On With Rupert Murdoch and Mort Zuckerman?

New York Magazine - New York Media, LLC 7/14/09 at 11:50 AM

Murdoch, Diane Von Furstenberg, and Zuckerman at Malcolm Forbes's birthday in 1989. Photo: Getty Images

Yesterday afternoon, Jeff Bercovici over at DailyFinance.com quoted a media expert who predicted that Rupert Murdoch would buy the New York Daily News before the end of 2009. Kevin Kamen, a media appraiser, thinks that "it's being considered by Murdoch for sure." "Nobody should be surprised," he says, attributing his insight to confidential sources. "Although everyone will be." The Daily News' owner, Mort Zuckerman, told Bercovici that the idea was "total fiction," and that "the Daily News is not for sale, has never been for sale, and will not be for sale." Zuckerman and Murdoch are longstanding rivals, but last summer we heard rumbles of a plan to combine printing operations between the Daily News and Rupert's papers like the Post and Wall Street Journal. And today, Mort Zuckerman wrote an editorial for the Journal regarding unemployment length in the United States. Normally, Zuckerman's editorials occupy space in his own publications, the Daily News and U.S. News. It seems extremely implausible on its face that Zuckerman would sell his paper to a man like Murdoch. But the timing of this most recent collaboration is certainly noteworthy — and an excellent excuse to run the above incredible photo again.

Prediction: Murdoch buys NY Daily News [Daily Finance]

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Prediction: Murdoch buys NY Daily News

Jeff Bercovici
Jul 13th 2009 at 3:00PM AOL Daily Finance News

Everyone wants to know when Rupert Murdoch is going to make his long-dreamed-about play for The New York Times. Murdoch himself denies he's plotting anything of the kind -- but could he have a different target in mind?

That's the view of Baldwin, N.Y-based media appraiser Kevin Kamen, who predicts that the News Corp.(NWS) chairman will attempt to buy the New York Daily News by the end of 2009 -- and expects him to succeed. "I believe that's something that's being looked at very seriously, although very quietly" inside News Corp., Kamen tells Daily Finance. "Obviously, I can't say it's definitely happening, but I think it's being considered by Murdoch for sure. Nobody should be surprised, although everyone will be."

Kamen bases his prediction on information from confidential sources, but also on various public moves Murdoch has made in recent years -- namely, buying the Brooklyn Paper and the TimesLedger and Courier-Life newspaper groups. (The former publishers newspapers in Brooklyn, N.Y. the latter in Queens, N.Y.) Acquiring the Daily News would complete the puzzle, says Kamen. "There's a strategy there," he says. "He's building up the scenery, if you will -- the support system."

There may be a strategy there, but Mort Zuckerman, who owns the News, is under no obligation to go along with it if he doesn't want to. The real estate mogul calls Kamen's scenario "total fiction," adding, "The Daily News is not for sale, has never been for sale, and will not be for sale." A News Corp. spokeswoman said the company never comments on speculation.

If it's fiction, however, it's not terribly far-fetched. Just a year ago, Murdoch and Zuckerman were discussing a possible merger of the Daily News's business operations with those of Murdoch's New York Post. The idea for the money-saving collaboration grew out of both moguls' failed bids for Newsday, which went to Cablevision for $650 million. The Post is believed to lose tens of millions of dollars a year; the News has historically been more profitable, but Zuckerman said two years ago that it was sliding into the red, although he claims a new color printing plant will change that.

Whatever Zuckerman says now, Kamen believes the outcome is all but preordained. "I think this is inevitable," he says. "Murdoch is never going to have an opportunity to buy the Times, but if he can put together a proposal that's reasonable for the Daily News, I believe Zuckerman will listen."

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Media Appraiser & Broker Kevin Kamen: Plausible Murdoch To Eye New York Daily News
July 11, 2009 - afcp - Association of Free Community Papers

Baldwin, NY - New York based media appraiser and broker Kevin B. Kamen believes that it is not the New York Times that Rupert Murdoch wants to acquire next for his media empire but rather his only competitor in the New York Metro market, Mortimer Zuckerman’s New York Daily News, that he will soon be targeting. On Friday evening, Kamen said,” Nobody should be shocked if Mr. Murdoch, who wanted to ascertain Newsday a year ago and lost out to Mr. Dolan at Cablevision, decides to make an offer to Mr. Zuckerman in the coming weeks. Rupert is a smart businessman and he knows full well that, with the weak economy and circulation dwindling at nearly all the New York daily newspapers, this is a good time to make a deal. It’s always good to buy when the value is depressed and right now it certainly is.” Kamen continued, “advertising is down nearly 35% year over year at most titles and, with the housing market still in a tailspin, classifieds are not carrying the weight they did for many years. With the auto industry in chaos and the housing sales and unemployment figures hitting rock bottom, the newspaper industry is not only fighting off internet usage but it is holding on for dear life. New York City is nearing the day of having a single tabloid and Rupert wants to be the last one standing when the music stops playing.”

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Progress Newspapers Inc., Senior Voice Change Hands

By E&P Staff

Published: July 07, 2009 4:39 PM ET

CHICAGO Progress Newspapers Inc. has been sold by family owner Matthew Petersohn to Mark Barry of Kingston, N.J.-based United Publishing LLC.

Included in the transaction are The Bucks County (Pa.) Tribune; Montgomery County Progress; Sunday Telegraph; and The Far Northeast Citizen-Sentinel.

Separately, Lisa and Rick Parsons sold the 29-year-old monthly newspaper Senior Voice of Florida to Senior Publishing and Meetings Inc. of Lutz, Fla. Todd Goldman is the new publisher for the free-distribution monthly, which circulates in Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco Counties.

Baldwin, N.Y.-based Kamen & Co. Group Services brokered both sales. Terms for neither transaction were disclosed.

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Media Appraiser Kevin Kamen: Quality of Journalism At Stake With Massive Revenue & Circulation Losses At Publishing Companies Nationwide

April 28, 2009
The Kamen Report


Baldwin, NY - New York based Print-Media Appraiser and Broker Kevin Kamen, President/CEO of Kamen & Co Group Services said today,"We should all be fearful of the overall quality of journalism diminishing across the board as we watch the newspaper and magazine industry and the business of operating all print media entities disintegrate as ownership groups close titles and or cut back staff to try and balance the bottom line." He continued, " I expect that we will eventually all see less investigative stories, less human interest, sports, scientific and local community reporting coverage as publishing execs seek drastic measures to save costs and this is something that simply can not happen." Kamen said, "At the same time, with consumers purchasing less newspapers and circulation crumbling, with advertisers struggling to stay in business and pulling back from marketing both their services and products and the housing industry in the tank nationwide, classifieds have also been fatally knocked out of the advertising equation and one can recognize why dramatic changes must be implemented. I am deeply concerned about the general level of top-notch editorial content being sacrificed at many news agencies and publishing institutions with all these recent severe cutbacks and layoffs in the industry." Kamen concluded his remarks stating," The public deserves honest, independent, innovative, passionate and accurate quality analysis and reporting and has come to appreciate and expect it over the years. Publications not only keep the public informed but have a way of keeping politicians and local officials accountable to their constituencies. Newspapers influence fairness and often take on the role of being like big brother. Poor and disadvantaged citizens who can't stand up for themselves depend on newspapers to protect and promote positive change. I would hope that each media company does not sacrifice its responsibility to its readers content for the sake of the almighty dollar. Whether one has time to read a newspaper or magazine each day is irrelevent. Newspapers must do what is genuinely expected of them and should provide superior editorial quality regardless of the economic environment and all of us should demand it - both in print and online editions. If less coverage can be provided to certain subject matter, so be it. However, what is covered should be written by the best writers and reporters and delivered passionately to each reader regardless of the dire economic ills affecting most US citizens at this time. Now is when the best journalism is required - from economic analysis and discovery on Wall Street to Main Street."

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April 27, 2009 4:21 PM CDT
Condé Nast to close Portfolio magazine after 2 years
by Greg Bensinger Bloomberg News

Condé Nast is closing its Portfolio business magazine after two years, saying the title didn’t meet revenue forecasts and it is too expensive to operate.

Joanne Lipman, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, and the publisher, William Li, are among about 85 people who will leave the company as a result of the closing after the May issue, Maurie Perl, a Condé Nast spokeswoman, said Monday.

Portfolio, started in May 2007 to challenge titles such as BusinessWeek and Time Warner Inc.’s Fortune, failed to take off in the advertising slump. Portfolio’s ad sales dropped 49 percent in the first quarter, compared with a 20 percent decline industrywide, according to the Publishers Information Bureau.

“This speaks volumes for what’s happening in the industry today: Either you’re a high-end, stronger advertiser and you’re pulling back, or you’re on the low-end and you’ve stopped altogether,” said Kevin Kamen, chief executive officer of Kamen & Co., which helps broker media assets, in Baldwin, New York. “You’ve got to worry about some of these niche magazines.”

Condé Nast had planned to spend about $100 million over five years to six years on Portfolio after its introduction, AdAge reported, without saying where it got the information. In 2005, the publisher of Vogue and the New Yorker had lured Lipman away from the Wall Street Journal to run its first business magazine.

David Carey, group publisher for Conde Nast, said in 2006 he hoped to increase the paid subscriber base of the magazine to 650,000 by 2012. Last year, the total circulation, including single-copy sales, was about 450,000, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

Condé Nast, the New York-based unit of privately held Advance Publications Inc., has shuttered its Domino and Golf for Women magazines over the past year as marketers cut spending in the recession.

Portfolio’s ad sales fell to $4.1 million as ad pages plunged 61 percent, according to PIB, an industry group. Ad revenue at McGraw Hill Cos.’ BusinessWeek fell 37 percent in the quarter. Fortune sank 24 percent and Forbes dropped 8.8 percent.

“The pressures and realities of the continuous deep economic slump have lowered Portfolio’s revenue projections below what is needed to continue publication,” Conde Nast Chief Executive Officer Charles Townsend said in a statement.

In October, Condé Nast announced a plan to cut Portfolio’s frequency to 10 issues a year from 12 and reduced its Web staff.

The magazine received one National Magazine award last year, according to the statement

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For Immediate Release: April 2, 2009
Kamen & Co Group Services To Begin Offering Financial Reports To Media Entities Twice Annually

www.LongIslandExchange.com

(Baldwin, N.Y.) - Kamen & Co Group Services, a leading provider of print, digital and broadcast media valuations today announced that the company will soon be offering a custom designed twice annually produced publishing financial report based on its popular 3.9 basic valuation program to all its clients who retain 2009/10 appraisals.

Kevin B. Kamen, President/CEO of Kamen & Co said, “We believe it is vital, particularly in these difficult times for the media trade, that we offer a comprehensive, publisher-friendly financial analysis report twice per year that will offer concise and relevant recommendations on how to improve the current business applications each client is utilizing. This additional report will allow us to make timely recommendations that can reduce costs for troubled publications and at the same time permit our team to closely monitor the financial status of each client over a six month period. Examining recent historical patterns is of significance and we believe it is a tactical methodology to turning the business side of a publishing company around. We want to help influence constructive change at all the publishing institutions we examine.”

Kamen continued, “It is our sincere hope that management would integrate our suggestions and identify the components that we acknowledge to be troubling and that necessary action be executed to help turn around failing newspapers and magazines.”

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Media Appraiser Kevin Kamen: Newspapers Must Provide Social Network Platforms Emphasizing Greater Community Engagement For Youth and Merchants

March 4, 2009

(Baldwin, N.Y.) - “Newspapers have no choice but to become more engaged and involved in both the educational and business community by incorporating internet and social networking and broadcast platforms that essentially engage local teenage students and Main Street business entrepreneurs if they want their publications to survive,”stated media appraiser Kevin Kamen, president of Kamen & Co Group Services in Baldwin, New York. “Nearly every single day we are learning of well known and highly circulated newspapers laying off employees, consolidating, cutting back editions or closing down and the message is clear: newspapers need to become more relevant, better business models in terms of effficiency and planning and more involved in the day to day aspects of locals by directing their resources to the youth and entrepreneurs in their respective communities 24/7.

Newspapers have no choice now but to develop and focus on generating useful and interesting social networking sites that target teenagers and college students as well as business folks who are active in their chambers of commerce and/or merchants groups. These new online communities should provide teenage social and business networking events and have news updates appear on their digital sites and in all their print media titles. It is vital that readers have an opportunity to join and contribute to blogs and online networking groups that are locally based, managed, sponsored, secured and directed to the youth and business people of their communities. By doing so, they will be increasing the financial value of their publication,” said Kamen. “The respective advertising, editorial, circulation and marketing staff at each newspaper, whether a weekly, monthly, daily or alternative title needs to work together cooperatively and be focused on generating enthusiasm for these social networks in every community that the newspaper is marketed in. Publishers and their management teams must be ambitious and invest resources in this endeavor and brand the social network brilliantly.

It is very important to also develop broadcast platforms that align each newspaper with other channels that reach out to the community and target the teenage, young adult and local business population,” said Kamen. “The sooner publishers wake up and begin to broaden their newspapers’ overall appeal with enhanced technological packaging, the more attractive and relevant each publication will become. This effort and emphasis on social outreach and engagement can only help sustain newspapers over the next few years.”

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NewsLI.com
Media Appraiser Kevin Kamen: Wrong Time For Cablevision To Charge For Free Newsday Web Content

February 27, 2009

(Baldwin, N.Y.) “Cablevision has just released a plan to soon begin charging for what is currently free content on their Newsday website. Shame on Cablevision! These are tough economic times for many residents on Long Island. Thousands are losing their homes and jobs, the government just passed a stimulus bill for close to $800 billion and here is Cablevision sending out the worse possible message for those who reside on Long Island. If Cablevision honestly believes that charging a web subscriber fee is going to significantly impact their profit margins then they are really in for a shocker. This has not been an effective tool to drive revenue at other newspapers and will not increase the valuation of Newsday. If anything, millions less will visit their website and readers will seek other alternatives to fill their appetite for local news,” stated media appraiser Kevin Kamen, president of Kamen & Co Group Services in Baldwin, NY.

“We read that Newsday is in the process of transforming their website into an enhanced, locally focused cable service,” Kamen continued, “but what we have not yet heard is what the costs to subscribe to their website will ultimately be. Most daily newspapers have seen that charging for web content does not work. It is simply easier for viewers to click away at a competing newspaper that does not charge a subscriber fee. It’s a fair bet that if Cablevision follows through with this fee plan, Newsday will immediately lose millions of page views. Some advertisers who appear on the Newsday website might want to also pull out because millions less will be viewing the site. Also, as soon as they begin to charge other local news media and informational websites such as LIExchange.com and hometown newspaper sites should essentially receive greater attention and support from both readers and ad buyers alike.”

Kamen concluded his remarks by stating,” With this news, it is a great time for local weekly newspaper groups to begin to invest in, upgrade and market their websites because their page views are going to escalate substantially. Unfortunately, if Cablevision begins to charge a subscriber fee for web content, it will be impacting the flow of news across Nassau and Suffolk Counties and this is terrible, particularly if there were an emergency and information needed to be provided to residents quickly. Having to subscribe and pay a fee for website access will have a detrimental impact on the region. Sadly, this action speaks volumes and feeds directly into the theory of Cablevision cornering the regional market and not caring about its core local readership and advertisers. I suggest that they rethink this and find a better way to generate revenue. Charging for online content is not the way to go these days; increasing efforts to cross-sell ads online, in Newsday, in its sister publications and on News 12 as a combo buy would provide for broad channel appeal and be a smarter route to follow. With hundreds of thousands unemployed and many in need of as much information as they can get while seeking job opportunities and access to news and information that impacts the local region, this decision, at this time, is unwise. Newsday and Cablevision should be working hard to make life less stressful and enjoyable for Long Islanders, not dismantle the goodwill established over the many years.”

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Experts: Newsday’s pay-for-play model will fail
by David Reich-Hale
Published: February 27, 2009

Eighteen months after the New York Times gave up on charging for online content, Newsday’s parent company is about to give the paid content model a shot.

And area media analysts said Cablevision’s timing couldn’t be worse.

“The economy is very, very bad,” said Kevin B. Kamen, the president of Baldwin-based Kamen & Co. Group Services. “People are not in the mood to pay extra for anything. They are out of work. They don’t have the money.”

Tom Rutledge, chief operating officer for Cablevision, told analysts on a conference call Thursday that the company planned to end the distribution of free content.

“Our goal was and is to use our electronic network assets and subscriber relationships to transform the way news is distributed,” Rutledge said.

Cablevision remains one of the few media outlets to lock down news coverage. Its News12.com Web site is only available to subscribers and Cablevision considers News 12 to be the key to stopping Verizon, which is aggressively trying to steal cable customers. Using that model, it’s conceivable that current Cablevision subscribers will be given free access to the Newsday site.

Cablevision has about 86 percent of the Nassau County cable market and 81 percent of the cable market in Suffolk County.

A Newsday.com lockdown should come as no surprise. At a Press Club of Long Island event earlier this month, Publisher Tim Knight said his publication was considering the pay model, adding that giving away content for free is a “death spiral.”

“I probably make more money on the Web than anyone else in this room, and I’m not afraid to roll the dice,” Knight said, when asked about free content. “I think about what’s the right kind of model for us. I know that there’s significant demand for the news that we create and produce based on my subscription retention, my subscription sales, and even to a lesser extent my single copy sales.”

But Jaci Clement, executive director of the Fair Media Council, said Newsday’s content is not worth paying for.

“They’re not performing enough original content to be valuable,” Clement said. “They have the police blotter, Associated Press copy and a lot of syndicated copy. That’s not enough to be considered a good buy.”

Clement also said many residents can’t afford another charge.

“Then you’ve set up a system of haves and have-nots,” Clement said.
But Knight said Newsday isn’t the only newspaper considering an online charge. He said
if publications fail to make money online, wealthy people with an agenda would control most papers.

Kamen, however, said the pay-to-play model would not help Cablevision make money.

“They’re not going to have more readers and that, in turn, will mean they won’t make as much in advertising,” Kamen said. “It’s a negative from a public relations perspective and from an advertising perspective.”

The New York Times was the last area newspaper to charge for content through a program called Times Select, which locked down columns and editorials, but not most news stories.

Cablevision has grappled with how to turn around Newsday since it bought the Melville daily for $650 million in mid-2008. The company on Thursday posted a fourth-quarter loss of $321 million, blaming the results on a $402 million write-down related to Newsday and a $41 million charge tied to shutting down its VOOM HD network.

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Mixed Media
by Jeff Bercovici

Feb 27 2009 9:24AM EST
'Newsday' Leads the Paid Content Charge. Yikes.
Why do I suspect that it won't be Cablevision, of all the newspaper owners out there, that solves the puzzle of getting consumers to pay for news online?

Cablevision COO Tom Rutledge let slip in a conference call yesterday that the company plans to "end the distribution of free Web content" on Newsday's website and thereby "make our newsgathering capabilities a service to our customers."

He didn't elaborate, nor did Newsday publisher Timothy Knight shed much more light when he told his paper, "We are in the process of transforming Newsday's Web site into an enhanced, locally focused cable service that we believe will become an important benefit for Newsday and Cablevision customers." Details TK.

Whether there's some way to unscramble the free-online-news egg and make consumer dollars replace vanishing ad revenues is a question that's obsessed virtually every deep thinker in the journalism world over the past few months.

Without knowing more about Cablevision's plans, it's impossible to say they won't work. But you have to wonder how a company that's already written down more than $400 million of the $650 million it paid for Newsday just last year suddenly came into possession of so much foresight.

Analyst Ken Doctor has already spotted a key weakness in Cablevision's thinking: Even as a free offering, Newsday.com isn't terribly sticky. The average reader only spends 4 minutes 25 seconds a month on it. "Confronted with having to pay for a site you may use less than five minutes a month, you think you are going to pay for it?" Doctor writes. "Wrong site. Wrong year. Wrong metro area." He does allow that the pay model might hold some promise if Newsday were to "shift its model to being more hyper-local about Long Island, rather than bringing the world to Long Island."

Media analyst Kevin Kamen was also quick to pooh-pooh Cablevision's announcement:

"If Cablevision honestly believes that charging a web subscriber fee is going to significantly impact their profit margins then they are really in for a shocker. This has not been an effective tool to drive revenue at other newspapers and will not increase the valuation of Newsday. If anything, millions less will visit their website and readers will seek other alternatives to fill their appetite for local news."

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Mixed Media
by Jeff Bercovici

Feb 18 2009 6:05AM EST
Analysts Aren't Buying Mort's Technicolor 'Fantasy'
The newspaper industry is facing an existential crisis, in case you haven't heard. Mort Zuckerman thinks he knows the secret of survival. But is he deluded?

Last week, Charlie Rose conducted a discussion on "the future of newspapers" on his PBS show with Zuckerman, Wall Street Journal managing editor Robert Thomson and Aspen Institute CEO Walter Isaacson (author of a recent Time cover story on the topic).

Zuckerman acknowledged that the New York Daily News, which he owns, sunk into the red -- the rival Post says it's losing $15 million to $20 million a year now -- but insisted that "we have plans for returning it to being profitable, which we believe will happen by the end of this year." It will happen, he says, as a result of two new presses that will allow the News to print entirely in color and with far improved efficiency.

Is Zuckerman onto something?

"That's fantasy land," says media appraiser Kevin Kamen. "It's nice to think that way, but it's 1970s or 1980s thinking. He needs to come up to reality."

Zuckerman told Rose that printing in color will allow him to charge advertisers higher rates. That would have been true a few years ago, says newspaper analyst John Morton, but the depth of the current recession makes it unlikely now. "Just because you suddenly have color doesn't mean that advertisers who aren't spending, or who aren't spending much, are going to spend more," he says.

"This is not a time to price up, no matter what you're offering," agrees Ken Doctor, an analyst with Outsell. "I'm sure they'll do some new business or they wouldn't be making the investment, but it does fly against the trends. The whole idea of being able to reach that mass market better is of declining value to advertisers." Doctor predicts that within the next few years, one of New York City's tabloids will disappear or merge with a competitor. (He predicts Cablevision will rethink its purchase of Newsday and sell it at a deep loss to either Zuckerman or Rupert Murdoch.)

Kamen says Zuckerman's investment in color may eventually pay off -- but not until the ad market picks up on its own. "Long term, he'll have a better-looking product, and it could use it," he says. "But that's looking four to five years down the road."

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Feb 13 2009 10:32AM EST
By Jeffrey Bercovici
Portfolio.com


Prediction: No More Saturday 'Newsday'
Could Saturday soon cease to be a Newsday on Long Island? Media appraiser Kevin Kamen thinks it will, predicting that Cablevision will cease publishing a Saturday edition of the paper to save money. "By cutting out a Saturday edition Cablevision could quickly realize a savings across the board, be able to further eliminate editorial and production positions and essentially streamline costs that help their profit margins," he writes.

Increasingly, this sort of thing is being considered at those newspapers that aren't shutting down altogether. The Detroit News and Free Press recently limited home delivery to the three most profitable days of the week, forcing readers who want to buy the paper on other days to trek to the newsstand for a scaled-down edition.

Cablevision bought Newsday for $650 million just last year, but has already been forced to write down its value by more than half.

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Media Appraiser Kevin Kamen: Newsday Could Shut Down Saturday Edition

(Baldwin, N.Y.) Newspaper appraiser Kevin Kamen, president of Kamen & Co Group Services in Baldwin, is suggesting that readers should not become surprised if later this year Cablevision management decides to cut out a Saturday edition of Newsday to save costs and subsequently publishes a combo weekend Friday edition that contains necessary editorial content and a marketing program that also affords advertisers an opportunity to get a better buy if they advertise in the Sunday edition.

Kamen stated, “These are different times in the newspaper industry, almost everyone is taking a bath with both classified and ROP display ad lineage dramatically down and I would not be surprised to any degree if Cablevision, who is losing millions of dollars with its recent Newsday acquisition, takes serious measures to substantially cut costs in coming months and eliminates a Saturday edition. By cutting out a Saturday edition Cablevision could quickly realize a savings across the board, be able to further eliminate editorial and production positions and essentially streamline costs that help their profit margins. With major advertisers such as Fortunoff’s and local auto dealers closing down on Long Island and or in bankruptcy, along with national corporate ad buyers slicing their marketing campaigns drastically, Newsday and all other daily newspapers are significantly feeling the impact and investors and ownership teams are seeing their media portfolios shrink in total valuation.

With the home realty market no longer a factor in classified sales, the one historic area of almost guaranteed revenue for a daily newspaper in past years has now been eliminated and its consequence should not be underestimated. This has only compounded the losses on all financial documents at publishing companies. This is not just a case of Cablevision examining and cutting debt but rather the valuation of their entire organization and business model that is taking a hit and impacting other aspects within their company.

Big change is clearly going to have to come and thinking out of the box is what is required right now - for all publishing entities. Eliminating a Saturday edition is a big change indeed and what I believe would be required at this time.” Kamen concluded his remarks stating,” As media appraisers we have the unfortunate responsibility to place a diminishing value on publishing companies from all across the country every day of late and trust me when I tell you that if publishing ownership teams do not take drastic steps to curtail expenditures now and think about operating their business entities differently, regardless of the digital components and broadcast capabilities associated with most media conglomerates, the unthinkable could happen.”

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Broker Suggests 'Newsday' May Drop a Day

By E&P Staff

Published: February 13, 2009 11:44 AM ET

NEW YORK Will Newsday follow Detroit's example and cut out one of its daily editions?

That is what newspaper broker Kevin Kamen is floating. Kamen, who is president of the Baldwin, N.Y.-based company Kamen & Co. Group Services, suggests that Newsday will drop its Saturday edition to save money.

"These are different times in the newspaper industry, almost everyone is taking a bath with both classified and ROP display ad lineage dramatically down and I would not be surprised to any degree if Cablevision, who is losing millions of dollars with its recent Newsday acquisition, takes serious measures to substantially cut costs in coming months and eliminates a Saturday edition," Kamen wrote.

A Newsday spokesperson could not be immediately reached for comment.

The Detroit Media Partnership announced late last year it was cutting home delivery of the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday.

Just about every newspaper company, certainly the public ones, is hurting from over-leveraged balanced sheets and a clamp down on the credit markets. Cablevision said earlier this week it was writing-down the value of its acquisition of Newsday by nearly 70%. Cablevision purchased the Long Island daily from Tribune for $650 million.

Kamen alleges Newsday will feel the impact of major advertisers such as Fortunoff, which filed for Chapter 11, and local auto dealers pulling back on advertising budgets and will have no choice but to align costs by making a “big change.”

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Cablevision write down Newsday's value by millions

BY MARK HARRINGTON | mark.harrington@newsday.com
7:16 PM EST, February 9, 2009
Citing newspaper-industry woes and the economic downturn, Cablevision Systems Corp. said Monday it would erase nearly 70 percent of the value of the Newsday Media Group from its books.

Cablevision, which bought the Newsday Media Group last summer for $650 million, said it would take $375 million to $450 million in pretax "impairment charges" to reflect Newsday's decreased value.

The move doesn't impact Cablevision's cash flow and isn't likely to have any material impact on the company, one of several to take write-downs in the last few weeks. Separately yesterday, Cablevision announced a $500-million debt offering.

"These impairment charges reflect the continuing deterioration of values in the newspaper industry and the greater than anticipated economic downturn and its current and anticipated impact on the newspaper publishing group's advertising business," Cablevision said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. "The impairment charges are not expected to result in any material future cash expenditures."

One analyst wasn't surprised by the move.

"This is (Cablevision) eating a slice of humble pie, because Wall Street greeted this deal with a raspberry from the day it was announced," said Craig Moffett, who follows Cablevision for Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in Manhattan. "No one is really surprised to learn that newspapers are worth less than when they were bought."

Cablevision, Moffett said, already has enough other tax write-down items that it doesn't need Newsday's to improve its tax situation, he said. "It's adjusting a notational value that doesn't have a lot of cash consequences," he said. "It's like announcing that Ulysses S. Grant is dead."

Cablevision spokesman Charles Schueler said: "We continue to move forward with our plan to use Newsday with our other properties to strengthen our media portfolio and presence in the New York market."

Impairment charges have not only been common lately among media companies, they are also required for proper valuation of assets under generally accepted accounting principles, as Cablevision noted in its filing. Last week, News Corp., owner of the New York Post and The Wall Street Journal, recorded an $8.4 billion pretax write-down on various assets, including $2.8 billion pretax impairment charge on the value of Dow Jones & Co.

Last month, Times Co., publisher of The New York Times, reported noncash charges on several of its newspaper holdings, including $19.2 million on the value of the International Herald Tribune and $7.1 million for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

Cablevision last fall reported in an SEC filing that the value of Newsday and affiliated properties like amNewYork, Island Publications and Star Community Publishing declined for several years before the purchase under prior Newsday owner Tribune Co. Tribune incurred similar impairment charges on the value of Newsday in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Tribune filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December.

Kevin Kamen, president of media appraisal firm Kamen & Co. in Baldwin, said Cablevision likely understood the deteriorating situation in print media when it bought Newsday, but knew also the value of further cornering the Long Island media market. Long term, he said, "Owning Newsday puts them in a better strategic position."

Cablevision shares gained 2 cents Monday, to close at $15.13.

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As newspapers fade, there’s opportunity in parenting mags
by Ambrose Clancy
Published: February 4, 2009

Sheer guts, sheer delusion or shrewdness?

While print publications watch ad revenues plummet in a death spiral, Nassau Parent, Suffolk Parent and Long Island Parent will blitz March and April with a total of more than 150,000 free copies.

At least one media expert thinks starting print publications these days is dangerous, if not doomed from the outset.

“From everything I see, I don’t think it’s the right time,” said Kevin Kamen, owner of The Kamen Group, a Baldwin print media appraiser, consultant and broker.

It’s not just Long Island. “It’s an epidemic across the country,” Kamen said.

He pointed to Suffolk Life, a free newspaper that seemed strong but went under last summer, as an example of advertisers abandoning print because of stretched budgets. Combine that with more and more readers getting information on line and the picture grows gloomier, Kamen said.

“The financial numbers I see on a daily basis appraising publications tells me starting a print publication is an extreme risk,” Kamen said.

But don’t tell that to David Miller, president of New York City-based Davler Media Group, which will publish 50,000 copies of both Nassau Parent and Suffolk Parent for their initial April runs. The magazines will be distributed free every month at over 1,000 Long Island locations. Miller said kicking off both publications cost in the neighborhood of “the low six figures.”

Going head-to-head with DMG to attract parents is Liza Burby, owner, publisher and editor of Long Island Parent, whose first run in March will be 55,000 copies given free at 1,300 locations. At the moment Long Island Parent will be a bi-monthly publication.

Burby declined to say what the launch will cost.

Both publishers might be on to something. Candace Corlett, president of consulting firm WSL Strategic Retail, said parents are cutting back dramatically when it comes to spending money on themselves but won’t deny their children, which means advertisers for children’s goods and services may be looking for places to display their wares.

WSL found that about 75 percent of adult consumers were slashing their budgets for fashion accessories, home décor, eating out and other activities. They were not, however, cutting back on toys and activities for their children.

Davler Media publishes six parenting magazines in the metropolitan area with a circulation of about 400,000. The two Island magazines will follow the same formula, Miller said. Tabloid sized, the magazines will be heavy on a calendar of activities for the month with 10-14 pages of listings along with features on health, education, nutrition, finance and other lifestyle subjects.

Marie Wolf, an editor of the now defunct “Wellness” magazine published by Newsday, will edit both magazines from a virtual office and rely heavily on freelancers. Material from the other Davler Media parenting magazines will help fill the pages of the Island brands. There will be separate sales staff in each of the new markets.

Although she will be taking content from the other parenting magazines in the chain, Wolf said the two magazines will reflect what’s happening on Long Island. “We’ll be looking for the local spin,” she said.

Wolf is confident the venture will succeed because of DMG’s track record in other markets and because parenting magazines have a special advantage over other publications

“The economy is awful but we have to keep moving forward with our obligations to our kids,” she said. “Advertisers need a voice to showcase what they’re offering.”

Burby also comes from a failed Newsday magazine, Newsday’s Long Island Parents and Children, which went under with other stand-alone Newsday publications in December.

Like Wolf, Burby is clear-eyed when it comes to the economic climate, and is equally confident in succeeding.

“It can’t get any worse,” she said. “And personally, if I don’t do it now I’ll always regret that I let my readers down.”

Burby said there was a core of loyal readers from the Newsday magazine who will follow her to Long Island Parent. The new publication is similar to its competition in that it will be heavily devoted to calendar listings and lifestyle features.

She can separate her magazine from Nassau Parent and Suffolk Parent because it is Long Island-based, Burby said.

“Our readers want articles directly written to them and about them,” she said. “Those guys in Manhattan, nice as they might be, know nothing about this market.”

Davler Media’s Miller disagrees, pointing out that there is a core of four Long Island advertising professionals and two Island-based professionals in editorial.

Nassau Parent and Suffolk Parent will have a Web presence at www.nymetroparent.com and Long Island Parent’s Web site will be found at www.liparentonline.com.

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Kamen wants Dolan to fess up

Wed, Jan 21, 2009

Long Island Business News - LI Biz Blog    www.LIBN.com

The mystery of the missing Newsday editors has been solved. There was a dispute between Editor John Mancini and heads of Cablevision over Newsday’s “tenor and depth of overall coverage” related to the New York Knicks, according to a New York Times story. Cablevision, of course, owns the basketball team.

It seems the editor won this bout, securing the editorial integrity of the newspaper. But local media appraiser Kevin Kamen thinks the chief of Cablevision himself, James Dolan, should explain to the public the details of the dispute, while promising to never let something like this happen again.

That’ll be the day.

Here’s Kamen’s statement. Do you agree with it?

Cablevision needs to realize that they must let those who handle their print products have full control over all editorial product and those who handle their broadcast and telecommunications departments run those respective entities without any interference from executives.

The news is the news and like it or not it must be reported truthfully, accurately and independently. This was a major concern many of us within the publishing arena had when we were watching the bidding and eventual sale of Newsday to Cablevision for $650 million take place last year. The potential for a blow up and fireworks was always there and remains so to this day.

Cablevision can say what it wants but the independent integrity of Newsday can never be questioned; the day it is will be when the newspaper  becomes irrelevant to its core readership base. Many of us on Long Island and inside the media trade had issues with the fact that Cablevision might one day attempt to drive the Newsday newsroom to places it ought to not go and curtail the independent and accurate reporting of stories which impact Cablevision’s sports teams and vast business interests.

All readers deserve to know, as well as does the editorial department, that Cablevision will stay away and not interfere with newsroom activities. Mr. Dolan must make it absolutely clear to one and all, employees and readers alike, that interference did occur in the Newsday newsroom recently, it was wrong and editorial heads will have complete functional authority from this point on.

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LI business and political leaders mixed on Newsday deal

BY JAMES BERNSTEIN | james.bernstein@newsday.com

10:36 AM EDT, May 12, 2008

Long Island business and political leaders offered mixed reactions Monday to news that Cablevision Systems Corp., the largest provider of cable television in the metropolitan area, had agreed to acquire Newsday, the only daily paper based on the Island.

Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford), said he favored the deal.

"Chuck Dolan is Long Island," King said in a phone interview. "It's a step forward. I feel Chuck Dolan (Cablevision's chairman) will bring a professionalism and integrity that's been sorely lacking" under Chicago-based Tribune Corp., which agreed to sell Newsday.

"It's good news because it ensures that Long Island has a separate newspaper," King said. "Long Island is its own entity, and Chuck Dolan understands Long Island."

 Other bidders for Newsday had included News Corp., owned by media baron Rupert Murdoch, and Morton Zuckerman, a real-estate magnate in Manhattan who owns the Daily News and U.S. News & World magazine.

Jaci Clement, executive director of the Fair Media Council, a Long Island-based organization that follows broadcast and print media, said the deal was not a good one for readers or advertisers.

"To have our major media voice all controlled by one outlet limits the amount of news and diversity," Clement said. "When it comes to advertising, this is monopolistic and probably shuts out the 80,000 small businesses on the Island."

But Irwin Kellner, chief economist for Capital One Bank, which has a large presence on Long Island, said the deal bodes well for both Newsday and Cablevision.

"I think it's great," said Kellner, who is also an economist for CBSMarketWatch.com. "It's great for Newsday because it reduces the possibility of layoffs due to the overlap of journalists" that might have been the case if Newsday had been bought by News Corp., which owns the New York Post, or by Zuckerman.

"I also think it's great for Cablevision because it gives them another media outlet and provides advertising synergy and a chance to broaden their customer base. I think it's a win-win situation."

Dennis Grabhorn, president of the Graphic Communications Conference, Local 406, which represents Newsday print-shop, delivery and editorial workers, took a cautious view on the deal.

"I would rather have a newspaper person taking control of Newsday" Grabhorn said. "But any owner willing to put the time and money to put Newsday back as one of the best newspapers in the country, I'm for it."

"But if they (Cablevision) come in with the same attitude as Tribune and the same business philosophy, I don't see this newspaper changing at all. I think it will just slip away."

Kevin Kamen, president of media appraisal firm Kamen & Co. Group Services in Baldwin, said in an email Monday morning that the deal will allow Cablevision "a clear channel opportunity to expand and cross sell advertising across multiple broad channels...and will generate great financial rewards and benefits over the years."

But, he said, while the deal will "please" shareholders, "unfortunately for the consumer, both editorially and financially, it is never a good idea to let one media conglomerate control pricing and editorial content."

Staff Writer John Valenti contributed to this story.

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