Gannett Company

"Gannett" redirects here. For other uses, see Gannett (disambiguation).
Gannett Company, Inc.
Public
Traded as NYSE: GCI
S&P 500 Component
Industry Media
Founded 1906
Founder Frank Gannett
Headquarters Tysons Corner, Virginia, U.S.
(McLean mailing address)
Key people
 Marjorie Magner
(Chairman)
Gracia Martore
(President and CEO)
Products Newspapers
Television
Internet media
Revenue Decrease US$ 5.2 billion (2013)[1]
Decrease US$ 739.2 million (2013)[1]
Decrease US$ 445.9 million (2013)[1]
Total assets Increase US$ 9.2 billion (2013)[1]
Total equity Increase US$ 2.7 billion (2013)[1]
Number of employees
 31,600 (2013)[1]
Slogan It's all within reach.
Website Gannett.com
Gannett is headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia.

Gannett Company, Inc. is a publicly traded media holding company headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia, near McLean in Greater Washington DC.[2][3] It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. Its assets include the national newspaper USA Today and the weekly USA Weekend. Its largest non-national newspaper is The Arizona Republic in Phoenix, Arizona. Other significant newspapers include The Indianapolis Star, The Cincinnati Enquirer, The Tennessean in Nashville, Tennessee, The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky, the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, NY, The Des Moines Register, the Detroit Free Press and The News-Press in Fort Myers. Gannett owns or operates 46 television stations through Gannett Broadcasting, Inc.[4] and is the largest group owner of stations affiliated with NBC and CBS.[5][6] Gannett also holds substantial properties in digital media including PointRoll, BNQT Media Group,[7] Planet Discover,[8] Ripple6[9] and ShopLocal through Gannett Digital.

In 2015, Gannett intends to split into two separate publicly traded companies.[10]

History

Gannett Company, Inc. was founded in 1923 by Frank Gannett in Rochester, New York as an outgrowth of a newspaper business he had begun in Elmira, New York in 1906. Gannett, who was known as a conservative,[11] gained fame and fortune by purchasing small independent newspapers and developing them into a large chain, a 20th-century trend that helped the newspaper industry remain financially viable.[12] By 1979, the chain had grown to 79 newspapers.[13]

In 1979, Gannett acquired Combined Communications Corp., operator of 17 television stations, as well as an outdoor advertising division, for $370 million.[14][15] The outdoor advertising became known as Gannett Outdoor, before being acquired by Outdoor Systems (previously a division of 3M), before the company was sold to Infinity Broadcasting, which later became part of Viacom, and was part of CBS Corporation, until 2014 when CBS Outdoor went independent and became Outfront Media.

The company was headquartered in Rochester until 1986, when it moved to Arlington County, Virginia. Its former headquarters building, the Gannett Building, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.[16] Gannett's oldest newspaper still in circulation is the Leaf-Chronicle located in Clarksville, Tennessee. In 2001, the company moved to its current headquarters in Tysons Corner, a suburb of Washington, D.C.

Beginning in 2005 at the Fort Myers News-Press, Gannett pioneered the mojo concept of mobile multimedia journalists, reporters who were initially untethered from conventional newsrooms and drove around their communities filing hyperlocal news via Wi-Fi in various formats including text for print publication, still photos for print and online publication, and audio and video for the News-Press website.[17] The practice has spread throughout the chain.

On March 7, 2011, Gannett replaced the stylized "G" logo in use since the 1970s (notably used on its TV stations as a corporate/local ID with different animations), and adopted a new company tagline: "It's all within reach."[18]

In 2010, Gannett increased executive salaries and bonuses; for example, Bob Dickey, Gannett's U.S. newspapers division president, was paid $3.4 million in 2010, up from $1.9 million the previous year. The next year, the company laid off 700 U.S. employees to cut costs. In the memo announcing the layoffs, Dickey wrote, "While we have sought many ways to reduce costs, I regret to tell you that we will not be able to avoid layoffs."[19]

Gannett Logo used until March 2011.

In February 2012, Gannett announced that it would implement a paywall system across all of its daily newspaper websites, with non-subscriber access will be limited to between five and 15 articles per month, varying by newspaper. The USA Today website became the only one to allow unrestricted access.[20]

On March 24, 2012, the company announced that it would discipline 25 employees in Wisconsin who had signed the petition to recall Governor Scott Walker, stating that this open public participation in a political process was a violation of the company's code of journalistic ethics and that their primary responsibility as journalists was to maintain credibility and public trust in themselves and the organization.[21]

On August 21, 2012, Gannett acquired Blinq Media.[22]

Around the first week of October 2012, Gannett entered a dispute against Dish Network regarding compensation fees and Dish's AutoHop commercial-skip feature on its Hopper digital video recorders. Gannett ordered that Dish discontinue AutoHop on the account that it is affecting advertising revenues for Gannett's television station. Gannett threatens to pull all of its stations should the skirmish continue beyond October 7 and Dish and Gannett fail to reach an agreement.[23][24] The two parties eventually reached an agreement after extending the deadline for a few hours.[25]

Acquisition of Belo Corporation

On June 13, 2013, Gannett announced plans to buy Dallas-based Belo Corporation for $1.5 billion and the assumption of debt. The purchase would add 20 additional stations to Gannett's portfolio and make the company the fourth largest television broadcaster in the U.S. with 43 stations.[26][27] Because of ownership conflicts that exist in markets where both Belo and Gannett own television stations and newspapers, the use of a third-party company (Sander Media, LLC, owned by former Belo executive Jack Sander) as a licensee to buy stations to be operated by the owner of a same-market competitor and concerns about any possible future consolidation of operations of Gannett- and Belo-owned properties in markets where both own television stations or collusion involving the Gannett and Sander stations in retransmission consent negotiations, anti-media-consolidation groups (such as Free Press) and pay television providers (such as Time Warner Cable and DirecTV) have called for the FCC to block the acquisition.[28][29]

On December 16, 2013, the United States Department of Justice announced that Gannett, Belo, and Sander would need to divest Belo's station in St. Louis, KMOV, to a government-approved third-party that would be barred from entering into any agreements with Gannett, in order to fully preserve competition in advertising sales with Gannett-owned KSDK.[30] The deal was approved by the FCC on December 20,[31] and it was completed on December 23.[32] On February 28, 2014, Meredith Corporation officially took over full control of KMOV.[33]

Acquisition of London Broadcasting Company stations

On May 14, 2014, Gannett announced the acquisition of six stations from the Texas-based London Broadcasting Company in a $215 million deal, including KCEN-TV (NBC) in Waco-Temple-Bryan, KYTX (CBS) in Tyler-Longview, KIII (ABC) in Corpus Christi, KBMT (ABC/NBC) in Beaumont-Port Arthur, KXVA (FOX) in Abilene-Sweetwater and KIDY (FOX) in San Angelo. The company's COO Phil Hurley will also join Gannett to continue his leadership role at the six stations.[34] The acquisition was completed on July 8, 2014; in total, Gannett stations now serve 83% of households in the state.[35] Post acquisition, Gannett now outright owns and operates their first Fox affiliates, KIDY & KXVA.

Planned split, acquisition of Classified Ventures

On August 5, 2014, Gannett announced that it plans to split into two independent publicly-traded companies, one focusing on its newspapers and publishing, which will retain the Gannett name, and one on broadcasting. Robert Dickey—who currently leads Gannett's newspaper group—will serve as CEO of the former company, leaving Gannett's remaining broadcasting and digital operations under the leadership of Martore. In a statement, she explained that the split plans were "significant next steps in our ongoing initiatives to increase shareholder value by building scale, increasing cash flow, sharpening management focus, and strengthening all of our businesses to compete effectively in today's increasingly digital landscape." Additionally, the company announced that it would buy out the remainder of Classified Ventures—a joint venture between Gannett and several other media companies, for $1.8 billion, giving it full ownership of properties such as Cars.com.[36][37] On April 21, 2015, Gannett announced that the publishing arm would continue to use the Gannett name, while the broadcasting and digital company would be named Tegna.[38]

Acquisitions

List of Gannett Co. assets

Gannett's media properties include the following newspapers among the top 100 (by circulation—figures are approximate) in the United States, and the following television stations:[59][60]

Print media

Broadcast media

Gannett Digital

Defunct ventures

Directors and senior executives

On October 6, 2011, Gannett's chairman, president and chief executive officer Craig A. Dubow resigned, citing health reasons. He was succeeded by Gracia Martore, Gannett's chief operating officer, a 26-year company veteran.[61] Gannett has a ten-member board of directors[62] and 11 senior executives.[63]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Gannett". Forbes.
  2. ↑ "Contact Us." Gannett Company. Retrieved on January 10, 2011. "7950 Jones Branch Drive McLean, VA 22107-0150."
  3. ↑ "Tysons Corner CDP, Virginia." United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on May 7, 2009.
  4. ↑ "Web Sites by Division". Gannett.com. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  5. ↑ Bachmann, Katy (March 2, 2010). "Gannett Scores With Olympics". Adweek. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Gannett Completes Its Acquisition Of Belo". TVNewsCheck. December 23, 2013. Retrieved December 24, 2013.
  7. ↑ "USA TODAY Media Kit :: Press Room :: Press Release :: January 24, 2008". Usatoday.com. 2008-01-24. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  8. ↑ "Mobile Apps, Local Search, Business Directory, Events, Ad System – Planet Discover". Planetdiscover.com. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ http://www.wsj.com/articles/gannett-split-to-close-by-mid-year-1426169371
  11. ↑ Lichtman, Allan J. (2008). White Protestant Nation: The Rise of the American Conservative Movement. Atlantic Monthly Press via Amazon.com Look Inside. p. 87. ISBN 0-87113-984-7. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
  12. ↑ Ted Bartlett (August 1985). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Gannett Building". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2009-11-01.
  13. ↑ Neiva, Elizabeth M. Chain Building: The Consolidation of the American Newspaper Industry, 1955-80, in Business and Economic History, Vol. 24, no. 1 (Fall 1995)
  14. ↑ Associated Press (May 9, 1978). "Gannett, Combined Communications agree to $370-million merger". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
  15. ↑ Associated Press (June 8, 1979). "Gannett Corp. wins giant merger OK". Deseret News. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
  16. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13.
  17. ↑ Martyn, Peter H. (2009). "The Mojo in the Third Millennium". Journalism Practice 3 (2): 196–215. doi:10.1080/17512780802681264. ISSN 1751-2794. Retrieved November 19, 2011.
  18. ↑ Lieberman, David (March 4, 2011). "Gannett launches corporate branding campaign". USA Today.
  19. ↑ Bullard, Gabe (June 21, 2011). "Gannett Executive Bonuses Criticized Amid Layoffs". Louisville, KY: WFPL.
  20. ↑ Bercovici, Jeff (February 22, 2012). "Gannett Building Paywalls Around All Its Papers Except USA Today". Forbes.
  21. ↑ Lovett, Genia (March 24, 2012). "Genia Lovett column: Post-Crescent journalists shouldn't have signed Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker recall petitions". The Post-Crescent (Appleton, WI). Archived from the original on March 27, 2012.
  22. ↑ Yu, Roger (August 21, 2012). "Gannett buys social-media ad company Blinq Media". USA Today. Retrieved August 22, 2012.
  23. ↑ Loose, Ashley (October 5, 2012). "DISH customers may lose Gannett programming, including 12 News KPNX, over AutoHop feature". KNXV-TV. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  24. ↑ Vuong, Andy (October 6, 2012). "Gannett threatening to black out stations in its dispute with Dish". Denver Post. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  25. ↑ Warner, Melodie (October 8, 2012). "Dish, Gannett Reach New Deal". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
  26. ↑ "Gannett to buy Belo for $1.5 billion". Reuters. 2013-06-13.
  27. ↑ Littleton, Cynthia (June 13, 2013). "Gannett in $2.2 Bil Deal to Acquire Belo Station Group; Deal will expand Gannett's clout as owner of Big 3 affiliates". Variety. Retrieved June 22, 2013.
  28. ↑ Free Press, Others Ask FCC To Deny Some Gannett/Belo Transfers, Broadcasting & Cable, July 24, 2013.
  29. ↑ Public Interest Groups, Cable Companies Oppose Gannett-Belo Merger, AdWeek, July 25, 2013.
  30. ↑ Eggerton, John (December 16, 2013). "Justice: Sander Can't Keep KMOV". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  31. ↑ "FCC OKs Gannett-Belo And Tribune-Local". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  32. ↑ Gannett Completes Its Acquisition of Belo, TVNewsCheck, Retrieved 23 December 2013
  33. ↑ Meredith Corp. closes on $177 million purchase of KMOV, stltoday.com, February 28, 2014.
  34. ↑ "Gannett Buys 6 London Broadcasting Stations". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
  35. ↑ "Gannett Completes London Broadcasting Buy". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
  36. ↑ "Media Giant Gannett to Spin Off USA Today and Print Business". 5 August 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  37. ↑ "Gannett Reorganizing, Buying Cars.com". TVNewsCheck. 5 August 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  38. ↑ Yu, Roger (April 21, 2015). "Gannett to change name to TEGNA amid print unit spinoff". USA Today. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  39. ↑ Gannett Set To Purchase Tucson Citizen
  40. ↑ Gannett, Speidel In Merger
  41. ↑ GANNETT TAKES OVER WILMINGTON PAPERS
  42. ↑ Gannett to Acquire Nashville Tennessean, Sell Afternoon Paper
  43. ↑ Combined Communications Agrees To a $370 Million Gannett Merger
  44. ↑ Gannett Buys 11 Newspapers
  45. ↑ Gannett To Purchase Des Moines Register
  46. ↑ GANNETT GETS FAMILY WEEKLY
  47. ↑ GANNETT GETS LOUISVILLE PAPERS FOR 300 MILLION
  48. ↑ Gannett Acquires Evening News
  49. ↑ Jones, Tim (July 25, 1995). "Gannett Widens Scope, Acquiring Multimedia". Chicago Tribune.
  50. ↑ Gannett Government Media
  51. ↑ Gannett Buys 2 Papers
  52. ↑ Gannett announces terms of offer to acquire U.K.'s News Communications & Media
  53. ↑ Jones, Tim (June 29, 2000). "Gannett Agrees To Buy Central Newspapers". Chicago Tribune.
  54. ↑ Gannett to acquire Thomson properties, including 21 daily newspapers
  55. ↑ Gannett To Buy Clipper Magazine
  56. ↑ Davidson, Paul (August 4, 2005). "Three-way newspaper deal". USA Today.
  57. ↑ Gannett completes the acquisition of WATL-TV Channel 36 in Atlanta
  58. ↑ 58.0 58.1 58.2 58.3 58.4 58.5 58.6 http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/77580/gannett-completes-london-broadcasting-buy
  59. ↑ "Our Locations By Division". Gannett. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  60. ↑ ""Audit Bureau of Circulations: US Newspapers", September 30, 2010". Abcas3.accessabc.com. 2011-09-30. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  61. ↑ Krantz, Matt (October 7, 2011). "Gannett CEO Dubow resigns; Martore named successor". USA Today.
  62. ↑ "Gannett Board of DIrectors". gannett.com. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  63. ↑ http://www.gannett.com/section/WHOWEARE04

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