Just how much is The Globe losing The Times? Executives told union leaders that the paper lost $50 million last year, and would lose $85 million this year.But why did the Times Company threaten The Globe with a shutdown? It's something we've seen a bit of recently: The Newhouses did it with The Star-Ledger in Newark; the Hearst corporation with the San Francisco Chronicle. For a company as big as this, $20 million doesn't seem like a make-or-break sort of cut, especially when the paper is supposedly losing so much more.
And, as Mr. Keller said, Boston is an elite market. The New England Media Group, with The Globe representing the biggest breadwinner, brought in $523 million in revenue last year--not exactly chump change. Can an organization with $523 million in revenue really be on its last limbs over $20 million?
"At this point, it's primarily a negotiating strategy," said John Morton, the newspaper analyst. "The likelihood that The Times would shut down The Globe is pretty remote, but it does suggest that no company is required to lose $50 million a year."
This is the Sulzberger-Ochs family, we've been told more than once: They build newspapers, they don't dismantle them. So what is the real breaking point for The Boston Globe?
"It's really the trend," said Ed Atorino, the analyst from Benchmark Company who specializes in media. "The single number is not the key. If you're losing $85 million and you thought next year it's $40 million, you would ride it out. But if you're losing $85 million and you think the next year it's going to $100 million, and you think there's no stopping it, you can't let this continue."