and it's not just McClatchy. Gannett's numbers tell the same sad story...

But maybe it's growing really quickly...

Well you couldn't find out by listening to the Q2 results conference call with Craig Dubow. Amazingly, neither Dubow, who is chairman, CEO, president, the lot, of Gannett and Gracia Martore, the CFO, had an answer to the only question worth asking at the typically mind-numbing conference call. The guy who asked it, Fred Searby from JP Morgan, wanted to know how online had grown in the newspaper revenue figures and whether it had slowed down. Now Martore who could tell another analyst about a piece of land in McLean and how its sale affected the quarter's results, claimed not to have the figures to hand. Are you serious? For a business transforming itself into a digital or platform agnostic local media business, the progress of revenue by platforms, particularly new ones, is probably central to the success or failure of the company's strategy. My guess is that senior people lie awake at night thinking about it.

Anyway, fortunately for Gannett they have the efficient Tara Connell in the press office and she emailed me the numbers. Online revenues are 5% and grew by 17%.

How interesting...

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