Newspapers including the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel hopefully will not face more layoffs, but the CEO of E.W. Scripps Co. says that is not his decision.
Meanwhile, E.W. Scripps CEO Rich Boehne believes in the staying power of the company’s television stations, which are set to include WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) owner Journal Broadcast Group. Boehne said digital media will continue to grow as a focus for Scripps with advertising dollars continuing to migrate that way.
Boehne, who also is president and chairman of Cincinnati-based Scripps, made the remarks Sept 4. on Betty Liu’s “In The Loop.”
Scripps and Milwaukee-based Journal Communications Inc. announced July 30 an all-stock transaction that is expected to close in 2015. The deal involves splitting Journal Communications Inc. into two companies with the Journal Sentinel joining a publishing company with E.W. Scripps Co. newspapers and Journal Broadcast Group’s stations merging with Scripps broadcast stations.
The publishing group will be called Journal Media Group and have its headquarters in Milwaukee. The business will be 59 percent owned by Scripps investors and led by Tim Stautberg, senior vice president of newspapers for Scripps.
At the time of the announcement, the two companies predicted savings of $35 million, but executives didn’t say much about how that will be achieved other than “eliminating redundancies.”
Liu asked Boehne whether more layoffs will be implemented in the newspaper industry.
Boehne responded both on the general issue of the overall newspaper industry and the specifics of Journal Media Group.
“Well, hopefully not,” Boehne said, speaking about the overall newspaper industry.
However, after his first response, he continued with a statement about Journal Media Group.
“I mean, we’ll see what happens," Boehne told Liu. "Tim Stautberg will be the CEO of our new newspaper company. That will be Tim’s call.”
Boehne predicts further ownership consolidation in the newspaper industry as newspapers grapple with the high costs of printing and distributing a hard-copy product in an era of online and mobile media. Journal Media Group will consist of the Journal Sentinel and 13 Scripps newspapers.
On the television side of the business, Boehne remains bullish in local television stations even as the TV audience has shifted viewing habits to include hundreds of cable channels. He also anticipates further consolidation of local-TV ownership. Scripps will own 69 percent of the combined Scripps-Journal TV business, which will be based in Cincinnati.
“TV is still the big dog at this point,” Boehne said.
Viewers’ consumption of television remains phenomenal and continues to grow, Boehne said.
“Television is one of the greatest businesses that God ever created,” he said. “I mean, it’s just a fabulous business.”
While TV remains fabulous, digital represents a great opportunity, Boehne said.
Scripps employs sales teams at its TV stations that sell advertising only for its digital websites, Boehne said. Scripps has created an online news operation at www.WCPO.com for its flagship Cincinnati TV station.
“We think it’s a huge opportunity and one that we’re directing a lot of resources toward,” he said.