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#31 |
Grand Sorcerer
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The kind of magazines read by the Washington Post core constituency, such as Harper's, Atlantic, The Nation, and The New Republic, haven't been generally profitable and are mostly subsidized by their owners. They will survive because a few of their subscribers are likely rich enough, and care enough, to keep them afloat.
I can't believe Bezos is dumb enough to think that the Washington Post is a good investment. Donald Graham probably picked Bezos not just because the price was right, but also because he thought Bezos was a rich friend who would accept loses. In the likely event that the newspaper business continues to decline, look for the best to turn non-profit. By keeping the Post separate from Amazon, Bezos keeps that option open. Bezos also keeps open the possibility of trying to run the paper's business side, but he has no experience in that area and has another job. If I'm wrong, and Bezos tries to run the Washington Post like he does Amazon Publishing, he'll destroy the brand while gaining the enmity of the kind of people he likes to hobnob with. More likely he will send eastward a few ideas that don't quite work, and eventually help it to go non-profit. |
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#32 | |||
Grand Sorcerer
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![]() Bezos is enough of a contrarian that he might indeed see a good investment where others see unending losses. He has enough of a track record that I woudn't bet against him. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...at-that-means/ Quote:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...or-jeff-bezos/ Similarly, the case can be made that Bezos really intends to let the WP be: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...m_business_pop Quote:
It is going to be interesting to see where this move takes him and the WP. |
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#33 | ||||
Grand Sorcerer
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Reading this, I would conclude that Buffett's interest in newspapers is a little emotional, and also that there is no way he would buy the WaPo: http://www.businessinsider.com/warre...spapers-2013-3 Quote:
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http://www.forbes.com/sites/avaseave...me-profitable/ This means that the Washington Post was sold to Mr. Bezos at an infinite multiple of current earnings. That's not the kind of paper the alleged sage of Omaha, or any other value investor, buys. |
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#34 | |
occasional author
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Bezos has to keep infusing cash indefinitely into the WaPo or he has to change it. |
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#35 |
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I wished he would have bought a sports team like the Washington Capitols with that money. Only a nerd like Bezos would buy a news paper.
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#36 | |
Grand Sorcerer
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![]() He's the contrarian's contrarian. Larry Ellison buys a Hawaiian island, Paul Allen buys sports teams and mega-yachts and mama Bezos' boy builds rockets and buys a newspaper. He just might get drummed out of the billionaires' club if he keeps it up. ![]() |
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#37 | |
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Last year the WaPo lost $54 MIL, which of course was more than it lost the year before, and on, and on. I also don't quite understand the structuring of the Pension. There were some contradictory statements about that. There were some of those financial calculations which stated that Bezos actually paid over $200 Million more than he should have. i.e. it should have gone for $50 Million. Again, a bleeding wound! Maybe I should modify that. A bleeding "cancerous" wound! |
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#38 |
Frequent Flier
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I would go so far as to say the Post also
needs an ATNAA (atropine shot). I am waiting to see who picks up the NY Times. |
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#39 |
Ticats win 4th straight
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Bezos is allowing Katherine Graham's granddaughter to continue to run the show.
I wonder how long that will last. I don't have any faith in her. |
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#40 | |
Grand Sorcerer
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#41 |
Grand Sorcerer
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Me, too.
But there's only so many Hawaiian islands to go around and the locals might object. ![]() The WP lost about $11M operationally. The rest were pension costs. Those numbers were racked up, pre-paywall, however. The NYT paywall is currently generating on the order of $150M and their digital efforts are generating over $300M a year. http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/the_nyt...-a-year_pa.php The WP won't do anywhere near that well but they need but a quarter of that to get to breakeven. It won't happen overnight so there *is* some red ink ahead but the WP isn't a zombie. The brand and rep can probably carry them through the transition to digital just fine. |
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#42 | ||
occasional author
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Other than that question, I bow to your financial know. On Ellison, did you know that a "village" was also included in the "island" package, as were some Pineapple farms so the natives could keep their jobs. It seems like he acquired 87% or so of the island. Some Govt stuff might have been excluded. Now on the future for the NYt and WaPo --- I don't see as rosy a picture as you do. The real test will be if and when the NYt and WaPo go to a real wall like the WSJ. The current ones are so porous as to be laughable. |
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#43 | |
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I'm not necessarily all gung ho about the deal, but I *am* open go the idea that the WP can maintain its reputation for quality news gathering and be at least minimally profitable. It's been a while since I was a subscriber but I never had issues with their service or their coverage so I have a larger store of goodwill for the paper and staff than other prominent papers. ![]() |
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#44 |
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The problem is that most people already pay some digital subscriptions. Music 10 bucks, movies 10 bucks, and then a single newspaper wants 10 bucks per month. That's a bit much just for digital content. And you pay for the internet you're using right now, too.
As an Internet Service Provider I'd buy such subscriptions and offer them free to my customers. Maybe we'll see WP content free for Kindle users sooner or later, and other people would pay 10 bucks per month. I don't think that paywalls work for newspapers. It doesn't work if you get 24/7 TV entertainment for almost the same price. |
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#45 | |
Is that a sandwich?
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