The Providence Journal’s advertising sales dropped again during the first three months of this year, as Rhode Island’s statewide daily newspaper reported losses in nearly every type of notice.

The Journal’s advertising revenue was down 15% between Jan. 1 and March 31 compared with the same period in 2012, parent company A.H. Belo disclosed in an SEC filing. Quarterly ad sales fell to $9.6 million, or $1.7 million below last year’s level.

Total first-quarter revenue at The Journal from all sources was down 9% from 2013, falling to $20.6 million, thanks to a 10% increase in its contracts to print and distribute other newspapers. Circulation revenue fell 7% to $8 million.

“In Providence we got off to a bumpy start for a variety of reasons,” A.H. Belo CEO Robert Decherd told investors in a conference call last week. He said some of The Journal’s promotional plans for the start of the year were hamstrung by the winter storms that hit Rhode Island.

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The Providence Journal’s Sunday print circulation fell 10% during the six months ended March 31, figures released Tuesday showed, as the newspaper’s parent company reported a first-quarter loss of $8 million.

The Journal’s print circulation on Sundays – the most lucrative edition of the week for most papers – totaled 109,516 copies, down by 12,763 since March 2012, the Alliance for Audited Media (formerly the Audit Bureau of Circulations) reported Tuesday morning.

The Projo sold an average of 79,244 traditional print editions on weekdays between Oct. 1 and March 31, a decrease of 6,252 from a year earlier and 45% fewer than in September 2007.

Saturday circulation dipped below 100,000 for the first time, falling by 10,484 to 98,651. Weekday circulation fell below 100,000 for the first time in 2010. The overall pace of circulation loss has slowed since 2009-10, when the annual rate of decline on Sundays peaked at 17%.

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Robert Decherd

The Providence Journal’s parent company gave its top executives pay raises and $1.7 million in bonuses in 2012 as they eked out an annual profit for the first time.

A.H. Belo awarded CEO Robert Decherd $1.9 million in 2012, up from $1.6 million in 2011 and $499,180 in 2009, according to a Securities & Exchange Commission filing.

Decherd’s compensation included a $567,692 salary, bumped up from $480,000 in 2011; $705,678 in cash bonuses; $487,500 in stock awards; and $127,139 in other benefits, including $7,920 for life insurance. Decherd is also A.H. Belo’s chairman and president.

In addition, the Dallas-based company said it paid Executive Vice President James Moroney $1.4 million in 2012, up from $1.1 million in 2011; Chief Financial Officer Alison Engel $805,490, up from $626,091; and Senior Vice President Daniel Blizzard $557,672, up from $424,991. Former executive John McKeon received $272,286 before his departure last April.

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Legendary alt-weekly newspaper the Boston Phoenix is closing its doors, but its Providence sister publication is safe for now.

Phoenix Media/Communications Group CEO Stephen Mindich announced Wednesday the Boston newspaper will cease print publication with the issue dated March 15, and will publish its last edition online March 22.

“The Portland Phoenix in Maine and the Providence Phoenix in Rhode Island will be unaffected,” the company said. “They will continue weekly publication.”

Mindich elaborated in a statement: “Because of their smaller scale of operations and because we believe that they remain meaningful publications to their communities, with some necessary changes to each, it is our intent to keep the Providence and Portland Phoenixes operating and to do so for as long as they remain financially viable.”

Providence Phoenix news editor David Scharfenberg described the Boston Phoenix’s demise as “heartbreaking,” writing on his blog: “I will say my faith in the importance of the Providence Phoenix to this city, and state, is unshaken.” Scharfenberg’s predecessor, Ian Donnis of Rhode Island Public Radio, called it “a sad day for anyone who cares about the news.”

The Providence Phoenix was founded in 1979 as the NewPaper. Phoenix Media acquired it in 1988 and it was renamed the Providence Phoenix five years later.

By Ted Nesi

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – The Providence Journal’s revenue losses nearly stopped in 2012 as significant growth in the company’s contracts for printing and distribution helped offset dwindling advertising and declining circulation.

The Journal’s revenue totaled $93.8 million in 2012, according to an SEC filing by its parent company A.H. Belo. The 1.4% decrease compared with 2011 was the newspaper’s smallest in at least eight years. Total Journal revenue has plummeted 43% since 2005, when the paper pulled in $165.6 million.

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Don’t tell the owners of East Bay Newspapers their industry is dying.

The Bristol-based chain has launched a new free weekly, the Portsmouth Times, in the crowded Aquidneck Island media market. A 40-page first edition was published last Thursday, with an initial print run of 3,000 copies distributed at about 150 locations.

The Times joins EBN’s six other papers: the Barrington Times, the Warren Times-Gazette, the Bristol Phoenix, the East Providence Post, the Sakonnet Times and the Westport Shorelines.

“It’s nice after various years of contraction to be starting something new,” Scott Pickering, EBN’s general manager, told WPRI.com.

Portsmouth isn’t new territory for East Bay Newspapers: the company’s Sakonnet Times has covered the town, along with Little Compton and Tiverton, for 47 years. But Pickering said the company recently decided Portsmouth needed its own paper, though it will share regional stories with the Sakonnet Times.

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The Providence Journal laid off at least 23 of its roughly 460 employees this week as the paper struggles to stop a continuing decline in its circulation numbers and advertising sales.

The Journal said on its website 23 full-time workers lost their jobs Wednesday on top of the 11 who accepted a voluntary buyout in September. No reporters or columnists were laid off, and the paper said the cuts would have “minimal impact” on its news coverage. Three photographers reportedly lost their jobs.

Separately, Journal parent company A.H. Belo disclosed that the Providence paper’s total advertising revenue fell 13% compared with last year during the three months ended Sept. 30, to $10.5 million. The paper’s overall revenue rose 0.7% to $23 million as circulation and printing/distribution sales improved.

A.H. Belo CEO Robert Decherd told investors the Dallas-based company’s revenue picture worsened in October. “It’s been a little bit choppier in October and I couldn’t begin to tell you what will happen in November,” he said last week. “We’re definitely seeing a softer market in all three [A.H. Belo] markets – well, Providence and Dallas; Riverside is holding its own.”

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(Re-upping this in case you missed it during Sandy. -TN.)

Providence Monthly had a fun idea for its November edition – get a bunch of Rhode Island journalists together to talk shop and discuss where we think the battered media industry is going next.

The roundtable was earlier this month, and it was interesting to hear where all of us agree, disagree and aren’t sure. The group Providence Monthly brought together was Tim White and me (WPRI), Ian Donnis (RIPR), Erika Niedowski (AP), Dan McGowan (GoLocal), Tim Murphy (Projo) and Dave Scharfenberg (Phoenix).

The full conversation is here in five parts. A sample:

John T: We have seven reporters seated at the table and only one representing a print daily, which is quite a change from if we had had this conversation ten, fifteen, twenty years ago. What is the changing nature of this profession as the era of the traditional beat reporter gives way to this new media landscape? What does the beat reporter of the future look like? Who does the next generation’s Bob Woodward or Carl Bernstein work for?

Ted N: I think it’s interesting, because we’re at a time where you can jump in in different ways. My job was just an experiment by Channel 12. They never would have had a writer when it was just a TV station; there was nowhere to put the writing. Now everyone has a website. Erika’s stuff used to be primarily available inside a newsroom until it got into a paper. Now the AP has a mobile site. I don’t like to make predictions anymore – not that I ever did and I haven’t been in it that long – but I never predict where it’s all going. I think a lot of it is just trying to keep an eye on where things are moving and sort of get there along with the readers – not wait until you realize that people have migrated, and then you’re left behind. You’re not in the place where people want to be. But hopefully the standards can remain the same.

The Providence Journal’s print circulation fell 7% during the six months ended Sept. 30 as subscriptions to its new electronic edition rose past 4,000.

The Journal sold an average of 83,733 traditional print copies on weekdays between April 1 and Sept. 30, a decrease of 6,352 from the same period a year earlier, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported Tuesday.

The Journal said its total average weekly circulation was 114,303 when “branded editions” are included, which would include its free ProjoExpress publication. The Audit Bureau changed its rules in 2011 to count those.

The Projo’s print circulation on Sundays – the most lucrative edition of the week for most papers – totaled 117,784 copies, a drop of 11,240 since the September 2011 report. Saturday circulation fell by 9,117 copies, from 115,892 to 106,775.

ProvidenceJournal.com had 1.2 million unique visitors as of March 31, up from 868,693 in the six months ended March 31 and matching the audience for the old Projo.com a year ago, the Audit Bureau said.

The Journal reported 4,224 subscriptions to its e-edition, broken out as 1,398 on weekdays, 1,411 on Saturdays and 1,415 on Sundays.

(more…)

Providence Monthly had a fun idea for its November edition – get a bunch of Rhode Island journalists together to talk shop and discuss where we think the battered media industry is going next.

The roundtable was earlier this month, and it was interesting to hear where all of us agree, disagree and aren’t sure. The group Providence Monthly brought together was Tim White and me (WPRI), Ian Donnis (RIPR), Erika Niedowski (AP), Dan McGowan (GoLocal), Tim Murphy (Projo) and Dave Scharfenberg (Phoenix).

Part 1 is here and Part 2 is here. A sample:

John T: We have seven reporters seated at the table and only one representing a print daily, which is quite a change from if we had had this conversation ten, fifteen, twenty years ago. What is the changing nature of this profession as the era of the traditional beat reporter gives way to this new media landscape? What does the beat reporter of the future look like? Who does the next generation’s Bob Woodward or Carl Bernstein work for?

Ted N: I think it’s interesting, because we’re at a time where you can jump in in different ways. My job was just an experiment by Channel 12. They never would have had a writer when it was just a TV station; there was nowhere to put the writing. Now everyone has a website. Erika’s stuff used to be primarily available inside a newsroom until it got into a paper. Now the AP has a mobile site. I don’t like to make predictions anymore – not that I ever did and I haven’t been in it that long – but I never predict where it’s all going. I think a lot of it is just trying to keep an eye on where things are moving and sort of get there along with the readers – not wait until you realize that people have migrated, and then you’re left behind. You’re not in the place where people want to be. But hopefully the standards can remain the same.

The Providence Journal is set to lay off more than a dozen employees during the first week of November, according to the president of the newspaper’s largest union.

Providence Newspaper Guild president John Hill told WPRI.com he was informed late Wednesday by Journal executives that the paper had “a dismal October revenue experience” and they’ve decided the only option is to reduce headcount permanently.

“The advertising market is so uncertain,” Hill said Friday. “They do not have confidence in their ability to predict revenue at this point.”

Journal executives are still seeking $1.2 million in savings, which the Guild estimates will require the elimination of roughly 16 of its members’ jobs. The terms of its contract gives the publisher “complete discretion” over the size of the paper’s staff, he said.

(more…)

The Providence Journal’s executives are seeking about $1.2 million in concessions from their workers to deal with falling advertising revenue, a person familiar with the matter told WPRI.com on Thursday.

It’s estimated reaching that level of savings would require around 15 layoffs, but it’s unclear whether those will be ordered or if the paper’s union will get the chance to make an alternative offer, the person said.

Messages were left with Providence Newspaper Guild President John Hill seeking more information. The Journal’s work force has shrunk by a third since 2008 to an estimated 468 employees, about 220 of whom are members of the Providence Newspaper Guild.

Update: The Providence Phoenix’s Dave Scharfenberg has more information.

• Related: Union: Providence Journal to disclose plan for layoffs Tuesday (Oct. 5)

The Providence Journal is exploring a $10 million sale-leaseback deal for its historic headquarters on Fountain Street, executives disclosed last week.

Dallas-based parent company A.H. Belo has valued The Journal’s “non-core” real estate holdings in Providence at $18.85 million, executives said last Thursday in a presentation at its annual investor day.

The Journal currently occupies the entire five-story 75 Fountain St. building, which was built in 1932 and has 160,000 square feet of space that could be rented. The company wants to sell the building for about $10 million, then lease half of it to run the newspaper.

“A recent space-planning study confirmed that The Journal could fit on the top two floors, thereby freeing up the lower two floors for redevelopment,” Dan Blizzard, A.H. Belo’s senior vice president, told investors. “The building is currently being offered for sale on a sale-leaseback basis to a select group of potential buyers.”

The Journal is also trying to sell three parking lots worth a combined $4.85 million and a vacant inserting facility worth $4 million. Blizzard said the paper’s production plant is not for sale. In 2010 the company tried to get the city to buy the Fountain Street building for $9.75 million or lease it for $1.17 million annually.

Separately, Journal publisher Howard Sutton briefly summarized the paywall system the paper launched last February, noting that it differs significantly from that of sister paper The Dallas Morning News.

Sutton said the strategy has three goals: to “stabilize print circulation; increase value for subscribers by launching the e-edition and other value-added products; [and] maintain a vibrant online community.” He didn’t offer any details on the impact of the paywall thus far.

• Related: Union: Providence Journal to disclose plan for layoffs Tuesday (Oct. 5)

(photo: A.H. Belo)

An earlier version of this story incorrectly described The Journal’s building as four stories.

The Providence Journal’s top executives will disclose on Tuesday how many employees they’re looking to lay off to deal with its falling advertising revenue, according to the president of the paper’s largest union.

Providence Newspaper Guild President John Hill told WPRI.com he’s been told management will call him Tuesday and provide the number of layoffs it’s expecting to order to reach a certain level of savings.

“And the question will be, how do we achieve those savings?” Hill said. “Do they achieve it by laying people off or do they achieve it by bargaining concessions?” Hill has said repeatedly he wants to sit down with the paper’s management to discuss alternatives to layoffs before they make a move.

“If it’s a number that’s worth five jobs or if it’s a number that’s worth 35 jobs – that’s a completely different conversation,” he said. “We don’t know what we can or should do until we know what that is.” The Guild is surveying its members to see what they would be willing to give up to forestall layoffs.

Hill described the mood inside the newsroom as anxious. “Everybody’s stretched like a snare drum on this,” he said. But he also expressed hope that this morning’s better-than-expected employment report could be a sign the national recovery is picking up steam, which will eventually boost Rhode Island as well.

The Journal’s work force has shrunk by a third to an estimated 468 employees since 2008.

• Related: Projo union may offer concessions to avoid newspaper layoffs (Sept. 14)

One of Rhode Island’s largest newspaper chains is under new leadership.

WPRI.com has confirmed Jody Boucher replaced Nanci Batson on Monday as publisher of Rhode Island Media Group’s Southern Rhode Island Newspapers division, which includes nine daily and weekly newspapers in Rhode Island including the Kent County Daily Times.

Boucher has been the group’s advertising director for seven years. “Jody has a number of years of solid newspaper, print publication, and media industry leadership and experience, [and] her appointment to the position of publisher of our southern group of newspapers is a positive step for all of the communities our newspapers serve,” Melanie Radler, Rhode Island Media Group’s president, said in a statement.

Boucher described herself as “very excited” about the new job. “Our position in our markets is definitely positive as we continue to be the dominant news source for our communities,” she said in an email. Boucher’s previous experience includes two stints in the Chicago Sun-Times’ advertising department.

Rhode Island Media Group is the operating name of Marion, Ill.-based R.I.S.N. Operations Inc., which paid $7.6 million in 2007 to buy the Woonsocket Call, the Pawtucket Times and Wakefield-basked Southern Rhode Island Newspapers from the Journal Register Co. R.I.S.N. stands for Rhode Island Suburban Newspapers.

• Related: Seven employees laid off at Kent Co. Daily Times, sister papers (March 13)

More than half a dozen Providence Journal employees are ready to accept a buyout offer from the company and depart their jobs on Sept. 30, according to the newspaper’s largest union.

Journal management has informed the Providence Newspaper Guild that four of the union’s members requested buyouts – two editorial staffers and two advertising staffers, union president John Hill told WPRI.com. The deadline to apply for a buyout was 5 p.m. Monday.

Management also said more than four managers who aren’t Guild members requested buyouts, but the company won’t release the number until Tuesday morning after taking time to review whether any of them are essential to the paper’s functions, according to Hill.

Though no specific target was set, Journal management told the union earlier this month the paper needed “significantly more” than eight employees to volunteer for the buyouts in order to avoid layoffs.

The union isn’t releasing the names of which employees took the buyouts, and Hill cautioned his colleagues about what they’re hearing. “Until things are officially announced, they’re not official – there’s a lot of rumors going around and a lot of them are not correct,” he said.

The Journal’s work force has shrunk by a third to 468 employees since 2008.

• Related: Projo union may offer concessions to avoid newspaper layoffs (Sept. 14)

By Ted Nesi

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – A growing number of contracts for printing and distribution gave The Providence Journal a slight bump in revenue during the first half of this year despite a deep drop in springtime advertising revenue.

The Journal’s total revenue rose to $46.7 million during the six months of 2012, an increase of $597,000 or 1.3% compared with the first half of last year, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing this week by its parent company A.H. Belo.

The share of total Journal revenue that came from advertising fell below 50%, a symbolically important milestone in light of newspapers’ historic reliance on advertisements to pay the newsroom’s bills. Printing and distribution contracts’ share of revenue jumped to 13% and circulation accounted for 37%.

The Journal is one of many papers with a changing revenue mix, said Ken Doctor, a media analyst with Outsell. “All are seeing rapidly increasing percentile contributions from circulation – or what we should call reader revenue,” he told WPRI.com. “Projo is at the leading edge of change, probably due more to ad decline than [its] digital circulation program.”

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By Ted Nesi

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – The Providence Journal’s finances brightened during the first three months of this year, as the paper used higher circulation revenue and more third-party printing work to offset another sharp drop in advertising.

The Journal’s revenue totaled $22.7 million in the three months ended March 31, up 3% from $22 million in the same period last year, according to a regulatory filing. That performance helped offset weakness elsewhere within its Dallas-based parent A. H. Belo, which said companywide revenue slid 7% in the first quarter.

The Journal’s first-quarter contract work nearly doubled to $2.8 million year-over-year as the paper distributed more national and local newspapers and landed new commercial printing jobs. The paper’s circulation revenue also posted a healthy gain of nearly 6%, rising to $8.6 million.

Advertising is no longer the bedrock of The Journal’s business that it once was, contributing only 49.5% of total revenue in the first quarter. Ad sales through March 31 fell to $11.2 million, down nearly 10% from a year earlier, with declines in all categories. Digital advertising on ProvidenceJournal.com slipped 7% to $1.5 million compared with 2011.

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The Providence Journal’s print circulation fell almost 7% during the six months ended March 31 as it sold fewer than 300 subscriptions to its new electronic edition.

The Journal sold an average of 85,496 traditional print copies on weekdays between Oct. 1 and March 31, a decrease of 6,311 from the same period a year earlier, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported Tuesday.

The Journal said its total average weekly circulation was 114,013 when “branded editions” are included, which would include its free ProjoExpress publication. The Audit Bureau changed its rules in 2011 to count those.

The Projo’s print circulation on Sundays - the most lucrative edition of the week for most papers – totaled 122,279 copies, a drop of 8,380 since the March 2011 report. Saturday circulation fell by 7,676 copies, from 116,811 to 109,135.

ProvidenceJournal.com had 868,693 unique visitors as of March 31, down from 1.2 million for the old Projo.com in the six months ended Sept. 30, the Audit Bureau said. That echoes other estimates showing traffic down by about a third.

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By Ted Nesi

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Advertising sales at The Providence Journal plunged by more than 60% over the last six years, forcing Rhode Island’s top newspaper to eliminate a third of its work force and to rely increasingly on subscribers and printing contracts to pay the bills.

The Journal’s total revenue dropped for a sixth straight year in 2011 to finish at $95.1 million, down 5% from 2010 and off 43% since 2005, parent company A.H. Belo disclosed in an SEC filing. Lower advertising and circulation sales were partly offset by $3 million in new printing and distribution contracts.

Journal publisher Howard Sutton declined to comment on the results. “The printed Journal has adapted to changing times, intensifying its focus on local and regional news and carefully managing its cost structure to match lower revenues,” A.H. Belo CEO Robert Decherd wrote in an op-ed on Feb. 26.

The Journal sold $52.9 million worth of advertising in 2011, down 11% from the prior year, with retail, preprint and digital lower but classifieds higher. Advertising has fallen a dizzying 61% at the paper since hitting $136.5 million in 2005, though last year’s percentage decrease was the smallest since 2007.

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There’s more grim news from Rhode Island’s beleaguered newspaper industry.

R.I.S.N. Operations Inc., which owns nine daily and weekly newspapers in Rhode Island, recently eliminated seven full- and part-time jobs at the Kent County Daily Times and its sister papers, WPRI.com has confirmed.

The employees worked in several different departments, publisher Nanci Batson told WPRI.com. “The restructure was a business decision based on the current economic climate,” she said in an email. “We value the welfare of all our employees and we’re especially sensitive to those who lost their jobs as a result of this restructuring.”

“We appreciate the positive contributions they made to our newspaper team and their presence will be sorely missed,” Batson added.

R.I.S.N. Operations paid $7.6 million to buy the Daily Times, the Woonsocket Call, the Pawtucket Times and the Wakefield-basked Southern Rhode Island Newspapers group of weeklies from the Journal Register Co. in 2007. R.I.S.N. is incorporated in Marion, Illinois.

The layoffs come as R.I.S.N.’s papers face more competition. In addition to Edward A. Sherman Publishing Co.’s South County Independent and the Breeze Publications papers, AOL’s hyperlocal Patch network has created websites for Coventry, East Greenwich, Narragansett and South Kingstown, North Kingstown and Woonsocket.

The Valley Breeze reported last month that multiple reporters and other employees were recently laid off at R.I.S.N.’s Pawtucket and Woonsocket papers, as well.

• Related: Publisher: Kent County Daily Times staff down 28%, not 75% (Jan. 17, 2011)

(photo: Echo Media)

A.H. Belo executives gave no explanation Tuesday for why The Providence Journal’s sales trailed those of its two sister papers in 2011 and didn’t say if they’re satisfied with the response to its new website.

In a short conference call with investors, A.H. Belo CEO Robert Decherd and his management team outlined no plans for the Providence paper and didn’t indicate when the company expects to start charging Web and iPad readers for its new electronic edition created by Olive Software. The company’s Dallas Morning News flagship started charging last March.

Only one investor asked A.H. Belo executives questions during Tuesday’s call. Chief Financial Officer Alison Engel promised “a robust update” about its “subscriber content strategy” on its next investor call, which will likely happen in April or May. An executive said in November The Journal will launch its paywall this year.

The Journal suffered the largest year-over-year drop in advertising revenue during the fourth quarter among A.H. Belo’s three papers, the company said. Ad sales surpassed expectations at the Morning News and Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif., during the three months ended Dec. 31, Decherd said.

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The Providence Journal’s new website is drawing a smaller online audience than the one it replaced in October, according to two companies that track Internet traffic.

The total number of visitors and page views to ProvidenceJournal.com/Projo.com were both down 32% in the 10 weeks ended Dec. 24 compared with the 10 weeks before the new website launched, figures from Experian Hitwise show. The paper switched to the new, scaled-down ProvidenceJournal.com site on Oct. 17.

ProvidenceJournal.com/Projo.com averaged 300,241 U.S. visitors a week between Oct. 22 and Dec. 24, down from Projo.com’s 439,013 weekly average between Aug. 13 and Oct. 15, Hitwise said. Average weekly page views declined from 1.3 million to 884,706 over the same period.

Separate figures from Nielsen also showed a decline in The Journal’s Web audience.

(more…)

The press corps at Rhode Island’s State House just got a little smaller.

The Newport Daily News will not send longtime political reporter Joe Baker to Providence to cover this year’s session of the General Assembly that began Tuesday for the first time in memory, WPRI.com confirmed on Thursday. Baker, who joined the paper in January 1984, is no longer writing his political column but remains on staff.

Daily News editor Sheila Mullowney minced no words about the decision, describing it as a disappointing move and one of a number the paper’s parent company is making to deal with the financial challenges facing print media. She said she hopes the absence of a Daily News reporter at the State House is only temporary.

“We feel right now we can’t afford to send somebody to Providence during the session,” Mullowney, a former president of both the Rhode Island Press Association and the New England Associated Press News Executives Association, told WPRI.com. “It’s unfortunate. It’s not an easy decision to make.” Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed herself is from Newport.

(more…)

It’s looking like 2012 may be a make-or-break year in the long history of The Providence Journal.

With revenue and circulation still falling precipitously, the Projo is poised to bet big on pushing readers back to print by forcing those who want all its content to either subscribe to the print edition or read it in an electronic format that’s an exact digital replica of the dead tree version.

The strategy is risky, to say the least. The new ProvidenceJournal.com’s debut was met with withering criticism, including from the paper’s own commenters. The e-edition software developed by Olive Interactive remains buggy (the share tools stopped working on Firefox 8 for Mac earlier this month) and its article pages don’t even say that you’re reading a Providence Journal story. There are still no Projo iPhone or Android apps. It’s all a marked contrast with the award-winning new BostonGlobe.com, also launched this fall and also charging readers.

Journal management is notoriously tight-lipped, so it’s hard to judge if the new website is meeting their expectations. Compete.com says the paper’s unique visitors on the Web plunged from 425,486 in September (on Projo.com) to 233,091 in November (on ProvidenceJournal.com). But take that with a grain of salt, since Compete’s numbers are notoriously unreliable.

(more…)

After spending much of this year covering Rhode Island’s debate on the topic, staffers at The Providence Journal now face a “pension puzzle” of their own – whether to accept a corporate buyout, and the retirement benefit that comes with it.

The Journal wants eight employees to agree to buyouts by Friday, and their union says those who do will be eligible for a pension next year. But the pension plan itself is significantly underfunded, and the benefit on offer has changed significantly over the past decade, particularly for younger employees.

Projo parent company A.H. Belo’s two pension plans were 64% funded as of Dec. 31, 2010, with an unfunded liability of $132.4 million, SEC filings show. Experts say government pension plans should be at least 80% funded, and the federal government requires private ones like A.H. Belo’s to inform beneficiaries if their funding dips below the 80% benchmark.

To put the 64% figure in perspective, the Rhode Island pension system’s funded level rose from 48% to 60% after the new law was signed last month. All but seven of the state’s 24 cities and towns with locally run pension plans are worse-funded than A.H. Belo’s, but its $132 million unfunded liability is bigger than all but three of theirs; it’s roughly the same shortfall as Pawtucket faces.

(more…)

The Providence Journal has offered eight buyouts to its employees and may cut more positions depending on the level of interest in the offer, a union official said Friday.

The staff reductions will be the first cuts to The Journal’s newsroom since multiple rounds of layoffs in 2008 and 2009. They come as the paper prepares to begin charging next year for its new website, which debuted Oct. 17. The news was first reported by Scott MacKay of Rhode Island Public Radio.

The Journal is looking to cut one reporter, one copy editor, one photographer and one editorial assistant, plus four advertising representatives, said John Hill, president of the Providence Newspaper Guild. Employees in other jobs have been encouraged to apply for a buyout if they’re interested in leaving, he said.

“The impression we’re getting is there’s a dollar amount in terms of the total amount of savings they want,” Hill told WPRI.com. Layoffs will take place if the company doesn’t reach its goal and are decided by seniority, he said. The Dallas Morning News, its sister paper, reportedly laid off 38 newsroom staffers in September.

Journal employees have until Dec. 16 to decide whether to agree to a buyout, which Journal insiders described as less generous than previous offers. They would remain on the payroll until Dec. 30 and be eligible for a pension from the newspaper in 2012.

(more…)

A top executive at The Providence Journal’s parent company says he’s hopeful a shift toward getting more money from subscribers and less from advertisers will help its papers weather the storm.

“We don’t have an audience problem,” Jim Moroney, publisher of the Dallas Morning News, told students and faculty at the University of Texas at Austin last week. The problem is the failure of digital advertising revenue to match the rates the company gets for print. “Advertising is not a dependent source of revenue going forward,” he said.

The share of the Projo’s revenue that comes from advertising sales has fallen from 82% in 2005 to 56% in the first nine months of this year, according to SEC filings. Circulation’s share rose from 17% to 36%, and the paper has also been signing more printing and distribution contracts. Moroney cited similar trends at his paper in Dallas.

But the print edition remains vital. Moroney said ads on DallasNews.com would generate a maximum of $14 million in annual revenue at current rates, compared with roughly $90 million from print circulation.

The newspaper business is in “a transition and that’s hard,” he said. A video of Moroney’s presentation is posted after the jump.

• Related: Full Projo paywall set for 2012 as advertising sales slump 11% (Nov. 3)

(more…)

The Providence Journal’s new website is an interim step for the newspaper as it prepares to roll out its full digital paywall next year, executives at parent company A.H. Belo said Wednesday after reporting a third-quarter loss.

“Providence actually did what I would call a subscriber-content initiative ‘light’ … and there are plans for them to do what we’re doing [now in Dallas] next year,” Jim Moroney, publisher of the Dallas Morning News, told investors on a conference call. He made similar comments in July.

“Providence we will definitely do next year, and they’ll benefit from all the learning the Dallas Morning News will have,” Moroney said. The Journal replaced its old website on Oct. 17 with a new one that publishes brief news items and an electronic replica of the print edition.

The Journal’s advertising revenue fell 11.2% to $38.2 million during the first nine months of 2011, with double-digit declines in display, preprint and digital ads compared with 2010, A.H. Belo disclosed in an SEC filing. Total revenue was down only 6% to $68.8 million thanks partly to a 50% jump in printing and distribution contracts.

“Providence isn’t an easy market these days,” A.H. Belo CEO Robert Decherd said. “Frankly, I think we did well – all things considered – in Providence.”

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