Well, nobody much rose to the bait of the rumor tossed my way, of Hearst perhaps about to take over operations of the L.A. Daily News. Nobody within LADN, and that probably is telling. A rumor always is hottest at its source.
I labeled it a rumor in a post a day ago, and that’s what it is, apparently.
A couple of readers weighed in with their inexact knowledge of the Singleton/Hearst/Copley history of the region, which is interesting. But maybe isn’t germane to the Daily News at this point in history.
Wrote one:
“This may shed some light. It’s my understanding Singleton bought the Daily Breeze from Copley in a three-way deal. Copley didn’t want to touch the hand of Dean, so [they] sold it to Hearst, which traded it to Singleton in exchange for the Oxnard Street [L.A. Daily News] property on which its ugly windowless building sits. Hearst has a real estate division that was going to manage the property — not start up another failing newspaper.
“Also, a poster on sportsjourno [sportsjournalists.com] (rpmmutant) posted a similar nugget about a month ago about Singleton being so deep in debt that he may have to give up some of his properties to Hearst. Hearst and Singleton have forged what many consider an unholy alliance in the Bay Area. (I’m fuzzy on the details, but I think it involves ad-revenue sharing, and loans.)
“It’s good for the Chron to have Singleton as a competitor (same reason the LA Times fronted him money in the 90’s to buy the Daily News, fearing OC Register ownernship of the DN would present real competition).”
Another individual wrote in, asking not to be quoted, so I’ll synthesize some of it. This person said the “Daily News to Hearst” rumor is at least a month old, and suggested it would be no surprise if it happened. And might involve all of L.A. News Group, noting the massive debt MediaNews is carrying and questioning the sanity of Dean Singleton spending $1 billion a few years ago to buy all those properties (led by the Mercury News) in the Bay Area.
Anyway, this rumor never gained much traction, and we’re going to put it to bed until we hear something else.
But, you bet, absolutely nothing involving the newspaper industry surprises me these days.
4 responses so far ↓
1 The Silver Streak // May 13, 2008 at 11:02 PM
I was reading Gannett’s annual report for 2006. In the notes, I found that Gannett owned a share of California News Group and was involved with a partnership with Singleton in Texas and New Mexico. That would seem to be an easier transfer to accomplish
2 Mike Rappaport // May 14, 2008 at 11:36 AM
For those folks still at LANG and desperately hoping to escape from the Singleton/Lambert junta, never forget the first rule of mergers, purchases, etc., in the modern world.
New ownership NEVER makes things better.
3 Gary Scott // May 14, 2008 at 11:41 AM
Singleton has established several partnerships around the country during his buying spree. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was reaching out to Hearts to help shore up revenues at the Daily News. Nor would it surprise me if the Daily Breeze/Press-Telegram forged even closer ties with Freedom.
I’ve heard the rumor that Singleton created distinct divisions in Southern California as part of a plan to sell them off in pieces, but that doesn’t make much sense to me. More likely he decided it was cheaper to pay one GM than three publishers, easier to sell ads as a division than as individual papers, and easier to share content with fewer editors protecting their turf.
4 Gary Scott // May 14, 2008 at 11:41 AM
Hearst, not Hearts
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