Digital First Media announced Wednesday that its subsidiary Journal Register Company is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the second time since 2009.
JRC operates , The Mercury in Pottstown and , among other local papers.
JRC filed voluntary petitions for Chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York and "will seek to implement a prompt sale," according to Digital First Media.
Digital First Media operates MediaNews Group and Digital First Ventures.
According to a press release from Digital First Media, the auction and sale would take 90 days.
Digital First has reportedly signed a stalking horse bid for JRC from 21st CMH Acquisition Co., an affiliate of the hedge fund that runs Digital First Media, Alden Global Capital LLC.
JRC will continue normal business operation during the sale process, according to the release.
According to a blog written by John Paton, CEO of Digital First Media, JRC had $225 million in debt in 2009, but was able to grow its digital revenue by 235% over the last three years.
While revenue was up 32.5%, expenses were down 9.7% compared to 2009, Paton wrote. Digital expenses were up 151% over the past three years, Paton wrote.
However, print ad revenue declined 19% in the past three years. Print ad revenue is what makes a newspaper profitable, and represented half of JRC's revenues, according to Paton.
Paton wrote that print circulation and circulation revenue also declined over the past three years.
Debt, Paton wrote, was reduced by 28% with JRC servicing more than $160 million of debt.
Revenues in 2005 were about two times bigger than projected 2012 revenues, Paton wrote in his blog.
According to Paton:
"All of the digital initiatives and expense efforts are consistent with the Company’s Digital First strategy and while the Journal Register Company cannot afford to halt its investments in its digital future it can now no longer afford the legacy obligations incurred in the past."
Mike... is reporting the news "printing bad things about everyone else" ??? And what specific lawsuits are you referring to against what specific publication ??? Rofores... do you know how many views/hits some area newspapers are getting on their websites ??? Obviously not. And by the way, I have no trouble at all with speed or finding what I want on their websites. Maybe YOU have a computer issue, not THEM. The news media has been making giant strides in "Digital First" which you could read about, but you apparently don't read too often. In case you haven't heard, circulation - or readership as you mentioned - is down significantly at every newspaper in the country. A couple of local newspapers mentioned above have actually been holding their circulation numbers, and some are actually making money ... despite what executives' relate to in regards to the overall corporate finances.
Not only do they have issues with their web site, they also have issues keeping track of "do not call," as they LOVE to see your info to their 3rd party "subscribe again" companies, then have issues tracking down what company they sold your information to this week to get you back on the subscriber list. I'm done with them once my current subscription is done.
I get my local news now from Patch and I hope it continues to grow, report real stories that affect the residents and continues to be a place to give the community a voice. Patch is the closest I have found locally to real Journalism and I am hopeful they will continue in the direction they are going and have much success. The world (and this town) needs reporters that aren't too afraid to rattle things up a bit and sometimes speak out against those in power when wrong is being done. Bring back real journalism.
All of our stories are published from an unbiased angle, as ethics requires. My colleagues and I will always be ready to hear any criticisms that may improve ourselves in the future. And feel free to post/comment on our Facebook page (/LansdalePatch) Thank you for reading the site.
I think Corbett has something for him.
However, doesn't sound like they're actually going out of business - just going bankrupt so another arm of the same parent company can buy them - and very likely keep on doing the same thing as always, just with less paper product.
All of the JR websites are horrible. They take long to load and fill your computer registry with cookies and ad ware. I wouldn't be sad to see all fo them go under and maybe be replaced by real journalist!
F them!