Final edition will be published Feb. 27
CINCINNATI, Feb. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Following a sale process
that produced no qualified buyers, The E.W. Scripps Company (NYSE: SSP)
announced that the Rocky Mountain News, Colorado's oldest newspaper, will
cease publication after its final edition on Friday, Feb. 27, 2009.
"Today the Rocky Mountain News, long the leading voice in Denver, becomes
a victim of changing times in our industry and huge economic challenges," said
Rich Boehne, chief executive officer of Scripps. "The Rocky is one of
America's very best examples of what local news organizations need to be in
the future. Unfortunately, the partnership's business model is locked in the
past."
Scripps bought the Rocky Mountain News, which is Colorado's first
newspaper and the state's oldest continuously operated business, in 1926.
After a decades-long circulation war, the newspaper in 2001 entered into a
joint operating agreement (JOA) with The Denver Post, which is owned by
MediaNews Group.
Boehne and Mark Contreras, the company's senior vice president of
newspapers, discussed the Rocky's closure with employees at a newsroom meeting
today. Rocky employees will remain on the Scripps payroll through April 28,
2009.
Citing mounting financial losses in Denver, Scripps announced on Dec. 4,
2008, that it intended to seek a buyer for The Rocky Mountain News, as well as
the company's 50-percent interest in the Denver Newspaper Agency (DNA), which
publishes the Rocky and The Denver Post under the JOA. The DNA, a 50/50
partnership with Denver-based MediaNews Group, has not made cash distribution
payments to either partner since last summer, leaving Scripps to cover the
full cost of the Rocky Mountain News editorial product. In its year-end
earnings report last week, Scripps disclosed that its losses in Denver totaled
$16 million in 2008.
Following the mid-January deadline for parties to express interest in
negotiating a purchase, only one potential buyer worked with the company's
broker, and that party was unable to present a viable plan. Since that date,
Scripps has worked with MediaNews Group, to formulate a plan to unwind the
partnership.
Although the newspaper will cease publication after Friday's edition,
Scripps will continue to own and offer for sale the assets of the Rocky
Mountain News, including its name, masthead, archives and Web site.
Change at Prairie Mountain Publishing
Scripps also announced today that its 50 percent interest in Prairie
Mountain Publishing, a three-year-old partnership involving Colorado
newspapers originally owned by Scripps and MediaNews Group, will be
transferred to its partner later this year.
About Scripps
The E.W. Scripps Company is a diverse, 130-year-old media enterprise with
interests in television stations, newspapers, local news and information Web
sites, and licensing and syndication. The company's portfolio of locally
focused media properties includes: 10 TV stations (six ABC affiliates, three
NBC affiliates and one independent); daily and community newspapers in 14
markets and the Washington, D.C.-based Scripps Media Center, home of the
Scripps Howard News Service; and United Media, the licensor and syndicator of
Peanuts, Dilbert and approximately 150 other features and comics. For a full
listing of Scripps media companies and their associated Web sites, visit
http://www.scripps.com/.
SOURCE The E.W. Scripps Company
CONTACT: Tim King, The E.W. Scripps Company, +1-513-977-3732,
tim.king@scripps.com
/Web Site: http://www.scripps.com
: The E.W. Scripps Company; Prairie Mountain Publishing; Rocky Mountain
Ohio, Colorado
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