Tag Archives: Barron’s
Online will be more than half of Dow Jones revenue by 2009
by Chris Roush
Dow Jones & Co., which publishes The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, will have more than half of its revenue come from online publishing by 2009, CEO Richard Zannino said at its annual meeting on Wednesday.
A Reuters story stated, “Dow Jones, publisher of the Wall Street Journal, is one of the few newspaper companies to have successfully moved its content to the Internet, analysts say, with the Wall Street Journal Online and Marketwatch.com among its digital offerings.
“CEO Rich Zannino, speaking at the company’s annual meeting, said he hoped to further cut the company’s reliance on print publications in the coming years.
“Already, revenue is growing far more quickly from digital than print publications at Dow Jones. The Wall Street Journal U.S. print edition saw its advertising revenue drop 1.8 percent in the first quarter, for instance, while advertising revenue for Dow Jones Online rose 30 percent.”
Read here.
Subscriptions up at online Wall Street Journal, Barron's
by Chris Roush
Dow Jones & Co. reported first quarter earnings on Tuesday, and the release disclosed some interest numbers in relation to advertising and subscription growth at the online editions of The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s.
The release stated, “Advertising revenue at Dow Jones Online was up 30%, and international advertising revenue was up 9.6%, more than offsetting a 1.8% decline in advertising revenue (on a 3.1% decline in volume) at The Wall Street Journal U.S. print edition. Operating income grew to $7.6 million and margin improved 360 basis points to 2.7% from a loss in the prior-year period due to cost-saving initiatives and strong profit leverage on increased revenues at Dow Jones Online.
“Paid subscribers to the online Wall Street Journal grew 20.0% in the first quarter to 931,000 driven in part by the success of an offer for new subscribers to receive both the print and online Journal and the resultant change in our methodology to count those subscribers who have paid and registered to use the online Journal in both the current and prior periods.”
Later, the release noted that paid subscribers to Barron’s Online grew 49.2% in the first quarter to 88,000.
Read more here.
March good for biz magazines, bad for personal finance titles
by Chris Roush
March saw an increase almost across the board for mainstream business magazines in terms of ad revenue and ad pages, but decreases for the personal finance glossy titles, according to data from the Magazine Publishers of America.
Leading the way was Inc. magazine, which saw a 39.3 percent increase in ad revenue to $7.5 million and a 34.5 percent jump in ad pages. Right behind it were Barron’s and The Economist, which saw increases in ad revenue of 29.7 percent and 25.4 percent, respectively. Barron’s ad revenue 
jumped to nearly $6 million, while the Economist was at $10.9 million. Barron’s ad pages rose 19 percent, while the Economist’s ad pages rose 12 percent.
Among other business magazines:
– BusinessWeek saw a 2.3 percent increase in ad revenue to $24.9 million for March, but a 4.5 percent decrease in ad pages;
– Fast Company saw a 6.7 percent increase in ad revenue and a 2.7 percent increase in ad pages;
– Forbes saw an 18.3 percent increase in ad revenue to $31.7 million, but only a 1.7 percent rise in ad pages;
– Fortune saw a 2.5 percent increase in ad revenue to $24.3 million, but a 5.3 percent decline in ad pages.
In addition, Wired was up 3.1 percent in ad revenue but down 6.4 percent in ad pages. Business 2.0 was down 1.5 percent in ad revenue and off 7.5 percent in ad pages compared to March 2006.
The personal finance magazines fared the worst. Kiplinger’s saw an 18.2 percent drop in ad revenue and a 19.8 percent drop in ad pages compared to March 2006, while Money magazine was down 14.1 percent in ad revenue and 22.8 percent in ad pages. Smart Money was off 17.2 percent in ad revenue and 20.8 percent in ad pages.
All of these numbers take on greater significance starting Monday with the first issue of new business magazine Conde Nast Portfolio hitting New York newsstands. How it fares in the market — and who it takes ad revenue away from — will be closely watched in the business of business magazines.
See the numbers here.
Slow progress in Dow Jones/union talks
by Chris Roush
The union representing business journalists at The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and Marketwatch says that its negotiations with parent company Dow Jones & Co. on Wednesday showed some progress, with the company offering a “slightly raised” wage offer.
In an update posted on its web site, the Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees local 1096 stated, “Which brings us to the main point: The pressure we are putting on them is showing some results, and above all, we need to keep up the pressure.
“Reporter decisions to decline voluntary appearances on CNBC, videos, radio, etc., on top of everyone’s insistence on being paid premium pay for work on days off, your commitment to file for overtime— every time— and our expected presence at the Dow Jones annual meeting next Wednesday (11 a.m. at the American Express building at World Financial Center) all are having an impact.
“At the Wednesday bargaining session, the company offered a raise of 2.5% for 2007 (still not retroactive), and 2.75% in each of the next two years. That still won’t keep us ahead of inflation and health premiums.”
Read more here.
Dow Jones poised to buy Financial News?
by Chris Roush
The Telegraph newspaper in London is reporting that Dow Jones & Co., the parent of The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and Marketwatch, is near a deal to acquire the Financial News newspaper in that country.
Ben Harrington wrote, “It is understood Dow Jones, which publishes The Wall Street Journal, is in advanced negotiations to acquire Financial News. A deal could be announced within days.
“Financial News is published in print every week and has its own real-time financial website with around 40,000 subscribers. It is widely read in the City of London, and has a strong following among Europe’s top investment bankers and investors. The newspaper was founded by journalists, including The Mail on Sunday’s former City editor Clive Wolman, and Peter Wilson-Smith, a former business correspondent for The Times, as London Financial News in the 1990s.
“The sale of Financial News, which is being handled by NM Rothschild, is likely to net some of the founders, who are still shareholders, a significant amount of cash.”
Read more here.
Is Dow Jones stuck in a rut?
by Chris Roush
Crain’s New York Business wonders if the stock of Dow Jones & Co., the parent of The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and Marketwatch, is overvalued and headed for a fall.
An item in the latest issue stated, “But with the stock’s decline of almost 10% in the past year, some analysts reckon the shares are overvalued.
“Lehman Brothers, for one, believes the stock needs to fall another 25% to be in line with the values of other newspaper companies.
“‘This company needs to do something radical, and I’m not sure they have the CEO who can do that,’ says Ivan Feinseth, research director at securities firm Matrix USA. He believes the company should slash its annual dividend payout of $83 million and publish the newspaper exclusively online.
“True, the old regime will finally bow out next week when former Chief Executive Peter Kann formally steps down as chairman. Since taking charge in January 2006, Chief Executive Richard Zannino has put more emphasis on the company’s Web businesses, most notably by buying full control of Factiva, the news database Dow Jones co-owned with Reuters. Subscriptions to WSJ.com rose 6% last year, to 811,000, while circulation of the dead-tree version was flat at 1.7 million. But even online, there were disturbing developments: a 6% decline in average monthly visitors to WSJ.com and a 14% drop at MarketWatch, a site Dow Jones acquired two years ago for $530 million.”
Read more here.
Dow Jones workers in Jersey City vote to join union
by Chris Roush
Employees of Dow Jones & Co., the parent company of The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, MarketWatch and Dow Jones Newswires, in Jersey City have voted to join the union that already represents hundreds of business journalists at the company.
Among the Dow Jones operations with employees in Jersey City are Dow Jones Newsletters and Dow Jones Newswires.
An AP story stated, “The union, the Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees local 1096, said if the vote count is verified by a third party, it would organize more than 200 employees, one of the largest Dow Jones employee groups not represented by the union. It could also give IAPE 1096 additional clout in ongoing contract talks with the company.
“IAPE 1096 represents more than 1,800 employees at The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Factiva and other Dow Jones properties. Some Newswires bureaus also are part of the union already.
“IAPE 1096 said it notified Dow Jones Friday morning that it has collected signed union-representation cards from a majority of union-eligible employees. An independent third party must verify the vote count, a process that could take several weeks.
“‘We’re quite certain of an overwhelming majority,’ said Tim Martell, the organizer for IAPE local 1096.
“The move comes after months of recruitment efforts at the Jersey City location. Dow Jones has said employees are better off under the current system, which gives employees benefits parallel to union-represented workers.”
Read more here.
Dow Jones Newswires editors to lead new editorial team
by Chris Roush
Dow Jones Newswires assistant managing editor Robert McGough and news editor Pat Sullivan will lead the newly formed editorial team for Dow Jones Wealth Manager, a new news service from the company, according to a release.
Dow Jones Wealth Manager maps news from Dow Jones and other leading sources to client-specific investments and professional and personal interests. Its Client News Match system allows advisors to better talk to clients and prospects with more frequent and meaningful communication.
McGough heads an eight-person reporting team responsible for covering personal finance, investment products, compliance and practice management. Sullivan’s team of eight editors keeps advisors on top of information by selecting stories on industry trends, investments and best practices from Dow Jones Newswires, all editions of The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Smart Money and global industry and trade publications from Factiva.
“Dow Jones is committed to serving financial professionals with premier journalism and innovative products,” said Rick Stine, senior editor, Dow Jones Newswires, Americas. “Now, with a strong editorial team focused on the needs of wealth managers, Dow Jones is enhancing its ability to deliver a personalized, high-quality service experience to high-net-worth clients.”
Prior to his current position, McGough was deputy editor of health and science coverage at The Wall Street Journal, where he previously was a senior special writer on the mutual fund beat and wrote the “Heard on the Street” column.
Sullivan joined Dow Jones in 2003 as a multimedia editor, and previously worked for an energy publisher and a financial data provider.
Read more here.
Dow Jones management to union: Contract ends in early April
by Chris Roush
The union representing business journalists at The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and Marketwatch has sent an e-mail to its members noting that Dow Jones management has decided not to extend its contract while they are negotiating on a new one.
The old contract expired Feb. 1 but was extended 60 days. The union offered to extend it another 60 days, but was told that the company wasn’t interested.
The e-mail, which came from union president Steve Yount and Journal reporter Jim Browning, head of the bargaining committee, stated, “That won’t affect your daily life much. They’ll keep paying your salary and providing the same benefits. You get the same seniority and layoff protection. Last time, we worked more than a year without a contract. One thing they don’t have to do is arbitrate new grievances.
“Importantly for us, unless the company takes us up on our offer, nothing will hold us back now from the kinds of joint actions we carried out last time.
“Because this frees our hands, we had thought they would want to extend the contract. But lately, they have been pretty much rejecting anything we suggest. They have gone more than a month without offering any new bargaining proposals, and, with no explanation, they simply canceled a recent bargaining meeting. Last week, they switched course again and said they would offer new proposals at our meeting Tuesday morning. We’ll see what they say.
“It’s hard to know what is behind this erratic behavior. Perhaps they think we will see it as toughness. Coming on top of Rich Zannino’s $4 million payday, it makes us wonder even more whether they are serious yet about offering us a quality contract.”
Barron's profile of Home Depot CEO falls into old trap of biz journalism
by Chris Roush
TheStreet.com’s Marek Fuchs critiques the profile of new Home Depot CEO Frank Blake in the latest issue of Barron’s and comes away with the impression that it’s a story that would have been right at home in the 1990s, when business journalists were making rock stars out of CEOs.
“Enter a Barron’s puff-file of Frank Blake, the new chief executive of the embattled Home Depot. And let The Business Press Maven say, Blake might be a good, modest man. He might even, like Mother Teresa, one day be put on the fast track to canonization.
“But all that matters to investors is, in very specific terms, what he plans to do to turn Home Depot around — and in a troubled housing market, no less. That’s why a storyline built around a worshipful single anecdotal lead about how a current leader is a good guy — and so unlike the last guy — can mislead investors like little else.”
Read more here.