For a vivid reminder of the way the Internet–combined with a vicious recession–can destroy a well-established industry, consider today’s news from the collapsing Yellow Pages business.
24/7 Wall St. has created a list of the 10 major daily papers that are most likely to fold or shutter their print operations and only publish online. Based on its analysis, it’s possible that eight of the nation’s 50 largest daily newspapers could cease publication in the next 18 months.
A provocative story from Reuters Monday ruminated on which companies are likely to replace Citigroup and General Motors in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Its conclusion: Google and Cisco are the most likely contenders, with Apple and Visa having a less likely chance.
I worked for Blockbuster for a brief period of time. I was the President of BBI responsible for new media. It was an excellent career move for me and despite my short time there I learned a lot, got to do a lot and almost became the kingpin of cable!
No part of the tech sector has been harder hit than semiconductor equipment stocks. Makes you wonder how many of the players will simply disappear.
Carl Johnson, who runs the industry research boutique, Infrastructure, points out a host of smaller players in trouble.
Good to know that with Tribune Co. slogging its way through bankruptcy amid an industry-wide existential crisis, its chief innovation officer, Lee Abrams, is concentrating his brainpower on the stuff that really matters: a pop singer’s phony quote from 10 years ago.
When the Tribune Company announced that it was filing for bankruptcy, last Monday, Sam Zell, the man who bought the company a year ago, for $8.2 billion, said that its problems were the result of a “perfect storm.” You take readers and advertisers who were already migrating away from print, and add a steep recession, and you’ve got serious trouble. What Zell failed to mention was that his acquisition of the company had buried it beneath such a heavy pile of debt that any storm at all would likely have sunk it.
Carol Levinson, an analyst with Gimme Credit, has downgraded her credit rating on electronics retailer Best Buy–noting that the retail giant should be profiting more from the misfortunes of its fallen rival Circuit City. Inevitably, though, the company has joined the long, sad line of retailers suffering from the economic downturn.
Ziff Davis, the troubled trade media company which sold off its enterprise division last year, is now close to filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, we have learned. The company has not been able to come to an agreement with its bond holders and stopped paying interest on its debt several months ago (announced in August). Of course, this means the PE firm and owner Willis Stein, which bought Ziff Davis in 1999 for about $780 million, will take a big hit.
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