Top 10 Newspapers Likely to Fold Next
In response to the the worsening plight of the newspaper industry - including newspaper closures, bankruptcies and cutbacks, 24/7 Wall Street has predicted which 10 newspapers will be the next to fold (or go all-digital), reports MediaBuyer Planner.
Newspapers on 24/7 Wall Street’s top- 10 list:
- The Philadelphia Daily News
- The Minneapolis Star-Tribune
- The Miami Herald
- The Detroit News
- The Boston Globe
- The San Francisco Chronicle
- The Chicago Sun-Times
- The New York Daily News
- The Fort Worth Star-Telegram
- The Cleveland Plain Dealer
Fitch Ratings predicts that newspaper industry revenue growth will be negative for the “foreseeable future,” as both ad pricing and linage will be under pressure within each of the four main components of newspaper companies’ revenue streams: circulation and local, classified and national advertising. As newsprint costs rise, it could be difficult for newspapers to offset revenue declines with cost cuts, according to a recent Fitch report.
Of the newspapers that were tops in circulation in 1990 - the year newspaper employment peaked and the last year before circulation declines really began to trend downward - 20 have declined, and one was shut down completely.
The way I understand it, the speculation that the Fort Worth Star-Telegram is among the 10 newspapers most likely to fold next was based on the (false) assumption that it is one of two newspapers that provide redundant coverage of the Fort Worth/Dallas Metroplex. The author is displaying a complete lack of knowledge of the Metroplex marketplace and the distinct differences between the two cities. The Star-Telegram specializes in covering local Tarrant County news, while the Dallas Morning News specializes in coverage of Dallas County. Were one or the other to fold, the surviving paper would have to significantly alter the scope of its coverage to include the other county. Is the Star-Telegram facing significant financial challenges that may alter its operations? Most certainly. but so, too, is the Morning News. Steps such as limited shared reporting of the local professional sports teams by beat reporters may help both papers cut overhead, but it’s unlikely the Star-Telegram will simply fold its tent and go away. Perhaps a combined “Telegram-News” in some form or fashion could work, but I don’t think that’s a likely outcome