Tulsa World will be sold to BH Media Grouphttp://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20130225_11_0_BHMedi257516 (http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20130225_11_0_BHMedi257516)
QuoteBH Media Group today announced that it will acquire the Tulsa World from the Lorton family. The Tulsa World is a 95,000 daily and 133,000 circulation Sunday newspaper serving Tulsa County and the surrounding region.
The Tulsa World is the leading provider of local news and information for the Tulsa area. Tulsaworld.com is the largest and best read web site in Tulsa County and the surrounding area.
"The Tulsa World is a special newspaper in an outstanding market and we are honored to have the opportunity to own it," said Terry Kroeger, CEO of BH Media Group. "This is a great fit for our company, and we look forward for this region. We welcome the Tulsa employees into the BH Media family and are delighted to have the opportunity to work with them."
"The Lorton family has been great to do business with as we have worked toward this ownership transition," Kroeger said.
Robert E. Lorton Jr., Chairman of World Publishing Company, said, "Our family has been associated with the Tulsa World since my grandfather came to Tulsa in 1911. During these more than 100 years I believe there has been a symbiotic relationship between the World and Tulsa. Today the Lorton family passes along that community relationship to Berkshire Hathaway's BH Media Group, a company with a strong commitment to local news and community engagement."
"We see this is as a positive step for Tulsa and the Tulsa World. BH Media has the breadth and depth of commitment to support the dedicated employees of the World in the changing journalistic world in which we now live," Lorton said.
"This sale will strengthen the role of the World in this marketplace and assures a secure future for a local Tulsa World newspaper and, important to the Lorton family, an exciting future for our employees."
"Our family takes great pride in the Tulsa World and its many years of service to Tulsa and Oklahoma. The newspaper business has become a difficult business model within a changing society and in particular for local family owned newspapers. BH Media Group presents the best opportunity to continue a local paper that will serve this community, our friends and neighbors."
The sale is expected to close in March. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
BH Media Group, headquartered in Omaha, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Company (NYSE: BRK.A and BRK.B). BH Media Group now owns 28 daily newspapers and related weekly newspapers in Nebraska, Iowa, Texas, Oklahoma, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama and Florida.
Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20130225_11_0_BHMedi257516
Will be interesting to see how this unfolds. I am even more curious how it came about.
Quote"Our family takes great pride in the Tulsa World and its many years of service to Tulsa and Oklahoma. The newspaper business has become a difficult business model within a changing society and in particular for local family owned newspapers. BH Media Group presents the best opportunity to continue a local paper that will serve this community, our friends and neighbors."
In other words: "We had the chance to cash out and we'll see you suckas on the flip-side!"
Wow,
Not surprising I guess. I wonder how long they keep doing seven days of print.
A much better outcome than Oklahoma City got with the Oklahoman being sold to Philip Anschutz to be just be part of his right wing propaganda machine.
Didn't a poster here predict this recently?
Based upon my little experience with Buffett and FlightSafety, BH was pretty hands off primarily because they are buying because the business model worked. They are not like Bain Cap, they are not trying to reorganize. However, I am not sure about BH Media.
Quote from: swake on February 25, 2013, 10:33:39 AM
Wow,
Not surprising I guess. I wonder how long they keep doing seven days of print.
A much better outcome than Oklahoma City got with the Oklahoman being sold to Philip Anschutz to be just be part of his right wing propaganda machine.
Bets that they had to get rid of the all of the unused square footage to make the deal go through?
Had to cash out now. Walls caved in. Lorton's got too much in houses. You were given a heads up by ttc. You must read between
my line
s.
Quote from: Teatownclown on February 25, 2013, 10:44:55 AM
;D
The World was one of the very last family owned papers and has been laying off people for years. You only predicted the very obvious. The interesting thing here is who the buyer is.
Sheesh snake... this drama may just be the tip of the iceberg.
Quote from: Teatownclown on February 25, 2013, 10:52:34 AM
Sheesh snake... this drama may just be the tip of the iceberg.
Eh, hinting at rumors does nothing for anyone.
What does this mean for the building at Main St with the "earthquake damage"? Hopefully this is a stay of execution?
Rumors? I hear you are one.
I suspect more fallout.
4 day a week paper?
When credit dries up....
Quote from: Teatownclown on February 25, 2013, 11:00:42 AM
Rumors? I hear you are one.
I'm as real as the other people you're paranoid about.
KOTV grabbed it:
Warren Buffett To Acquire Tulsa World Newspaper
http://www.newson6.com/story/21327256/bh-media-to-acquire-tulsa-world-newspaper?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter (http://www.newson6.com/story/21327256/bh-media-to-acquire-tulsa-world-newspaper?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter)
Why can't you guys just give the poster a little credit? If it was so obvious how come I've received four calls/texts from business people active in the community that are shocked?
If you can set aside the obvious posts that I believe are primarily looking for a reaction you'll find the poster provides great information. I guess some people just can't resist being poked.
Quote from: rdj on February 25, 2013, 11:20:10 AM
Why can't you guys just give the poster a little credit? If it was so obvious how come I've received four calls/texts from business people active in the community that are shocked?
If you can set aside the obvious posts that I believe are primarily looking for a reaction you'll find the poster provides great information. I guess some people just can't resist being poked.
What are you talking about?
Quote from: Teatownclown on February 25, 2013, 11:00:42 AM
Rumors? I hear you are one.
I suspect more fallout.
4 day a week paper?
When credit dries up....
I predicted fewer days of print in this very thread before you did. Big deal.
However, I've done some reading since this came out and Buffett is on a real newspaper buying binge. He now owns 80 newspapers and is buying more. He's said that he is committed to maintaining daily print papers. If someone else had bought the World we probably would have dropped to a 3-4 day printing. A lot of papers are going that way. Buffett feels that news has to be produced every day to for a newspaper to keep its relationship with its readers and that the content has to be locally focused. I agree with that but I'm not sure that requires an actual printed paper every day.
Buffett is going to pay wall route like what the World has already done. He's probably going to use centralized IT, web development, HR and other non local content groups to save money over what the local papers could do individually. Putting the papers together probably has value selling adds nationally but with the ability to tailor messages to local markets. Advertisers love that. He could also string together all the papers and offer them all for a single fee nationally, I would pay some more than I do now for that.
Quote from: Townsend on February 25, 2013, 11:21:42 AM
What are you talking about?
Talking about you and others refusing to believe that Teatownclown has credible information about our little berg.
Many posters get so worked up about his opinions on politics that you can't process the good information he provides.
I don't even read the politics boards on this forum. I click mark read and move on to other topics. Am I alone in doing so?
Quote from: rdj on February 25, 2013, 11:25:37 AM
Talking about you and others refusing to believe that Teatownclown has credible information about our little berg.
Many posters get so worked up about his opinions on politics that you can't process the good information he provides.
I don't even read the politics boards on this forum. I click mark read and move on to other topics. Am I alone in doing so?
If his rumors and predictions proved more accurate, I might spend a little more time accepting them.
He would hardly care one way or another.
I'm sure your concern warms him.
The politics threads are mostly jokes with no opinions swaying anyone. I understand why you skip them.
Where's the mass hysteria about Buffett acquiring too much influence via media buyouts like Bain Crapital with Clear Channel, and Rupert Murdoch with his various acquisitions?
Quote from: Conan71 on February 25, 2013, 11:55:48 AM
Where's the mass hysteria about Buffett acquiring too much influence via media buyouts like Bain Crapital with Clear Channel, and Rupert Murdoch with his various acquisitions?
You think it'd do any good?
Quote from: rdj on February 25, 2013, 11:25:37 AM
Talking about you and others refusing to believe that Teatownclown has credible information about our little berg.
Many posters get so worked up about his opinions on politics that you can't process the good information he provides.
I don't even read the politics boards on this forum. I click mark read and move on to other topics. Am I alone in doing so?
Yes, he is an insider and he has information that others don't have. Got it. I have little use for his broken clock "predictions" because they are either cryptic: "Tip of the Iceberg!" or overarching: "too many forks chasing too few mouths". His predictions are self-serving and his contempt of the city core is clear.
Quote from: carltonplace on February 25, 2013, 12:24:36 PM
Yes, he is an insider and he has information that others don't have. Got it. I have little use for his broken clock "predictions" because they are either cryptic: "Tip of the Iceberg!" or overarching: "too many forks chasing too few mouths". His predictions are self-serving and his contempt of the city core is clear.
I never said he or anyone was an insider.
My take on internet forums is they're like the modern version of the cafe gossip table. You know the one I'm talking about, the one that is always full of the same people day after day talking about the events of their town. At that table you'll get plenty of opinions on politics, developments, people, all of it mostly hearsay, but in that conversation you're going to find a lot of truth and even some wisdom.
I don't believe everything I read here (or in print or television or radio for that matter) but I do keep it in mind when reading other sites or in conversation with other people. If you learn to take a little from here, mixed with a little news media, mixed with TGOV and actually conversing in real life you can put together a pretty good idea of where things in this city are headed.
In my opinion, the majority of active posters on this board only believe something if it is linked from somewhere else on the internet or if the poster claims to be the developer, business owner, etc. It is a funny mix here at Tulsa Now, a lot of optimism about the potential for Tulsa's future mixed with a whole lot of cynicism about who is carrying out plans and who here posts about it.
/endrant
Quote from: rdj on February 25, 2013, 01:06:26 PM
I never said he or anyone was an insider.
My take on internet forums is they're like the modern version of the cafe gossip table. You know the one I'm talking about, the one that is always full of the same people day after day talking about the events of their town. At that table you'll get plenty of opinions on politics, developments, people, all of it mostly hearsay, but in that conversation you're going to find a lot of truth and even some wisdom.
I don't believe everything I read here (or in print or television or radio for that matter) but I do keep it in mind when reading other sites or in conversation with other people. If you learn to take a little from here, mixed with a little news media, mixed with TGOV and actually conversing in real life you can put together a pretty good idea of where things in this city are headed.
In my opinion, the majority of active posters on this board only believe something if it is linked from somewhere else on the internet or if the poster claims to be the developer, business owner, etc. It is a funny mix here at Tulsa Now, a lot of optimism about the potential for Tulsa's future mixed with a whole lot of cynicism about who is carrying out plans and who here posts about it.
/endrant
You have a crystal clear view of it.
Quote from: Conan71 on February 25, 2013, 11:55:48 AM
Where's the mass hysteria about Buffett acquiring too much influence via media buyouts like Bain Crapital with Clear Channel, and Rupert Murdoch with his various acquisitions?
It's one of those perspective things.... like how stupid it was for all the whining, crying, and gnashing of teeth around here over a $500 million loss of Fed money to the solar company that went bankrupt. When that same group of people was all over the spending of a couple trillion dollars for a contrived, false war.
Buffet has 80 media outlets - someone said earlier. Murdoch has 80,000 or so media outlets in radio, tv, movies, probably papers - well, tabloids, anyway.
I will have the exact same proportional hysteria and outrage for this that I had over the Fed spending issues. Not too much for the 500 being wasted when there is 1,000,000 being wasted. Or twenty thousand times less hysteria for the solar subsidies and eight thousand times less hysteria for Buffet owning a block of papers.
Quote from: Conan71 on February 25, 2013, 11:55:48 AM
Where's the mass hysteria about Buffett acquiring too much influence via media buyouts like Bain Crapital with Clear Channel, and Rupert Murdoch with his various acquisitions?
Knowing what I do about Buffett; Bain, CC and Mudoch are not in the same ballpark as him, heck there not even in the same country. Buffett does not invest or buy a company because he thinks he can change the business model or he thinks he can flip it for a quick buck. He is a long term investor. He buys companies that already have a good thing going. If they are in a solid position, he sees it at a safe investment. Heck, go read his quarterly and annual reports. He is very open about all of his stuff, including a big mess up with some company called General Re.
Of course, this is all said from the outside and based upon the information he releases. So internally he could be just as bad as the rest, but I don't believe I have ever seen an old photo of him with a group of people flashing hundreds and I really don't believe I have ever heard about a scandel involving hacking. He is a very reserved person and he was still driving a big ole Lincoln continental and living in the same house he bought in Omaha several decades ago, when I stop keeping up with him after I left FS.
Quote from: swake on February 25, 2013, 11:24:36 AM
Buffett is going to pay wall route like what the World has already done. He's probably going to use centralized IT, web development, HR and other non local content groups to save money over what the local papers could do individually. Putting the papers together probably has value selling adds nationally but with the ability to tailor messages to local markets. Advertisers love that. He could also string together all the papers and offer them all for a single fee nationally, I would pay some more than I do now for that.
Agreed on his plan. And I'm not happy with their current web/mobile offerings so I'm kinda happy with that part. I can't stand their iPad app. I am not an app developer but I'm pretty sure I've stayed at enough holiday inns to make a better ipad app than that. You can even tap on "continued on A-8" to get to the rest of an article. You have to pull out the menu, go to today's paper, go to section A, got page 8.. pancakes srsly
Quote from: JCnOwasso on February 25, 2013, 02:47:59 PM
Knowing what I do about Buffett; Bain, CC and Mudoch are not in the same ballpark as him, heck there not even in the same country. Buffett does not invest or buy a company because he thinks he can change the business model or he thinks he can flip it for a quick buck. He is a long term investor. He buys companies that already have a good thing going. If they are in a solid position, he sees it at a safe investment. Heck, go read his quarterly and annual reports. He is very open about all of his stuff, including a big mess up with some company called General Re.
Of course, this is all said from the outside and based upon the information he releases. So internally he could be just as bad as the rest, but I don't believe I have ever seen an old photo of him with a group of people flashing hundreds and I really don't believe I have ever heard about a scandel involving hacking. He is a very reserved person and he was still driving a big ole Lincoln continental and living in the same house he bought in Omaha several decades ago, when I stop keeping up with him after I left FS.
A satirical stab at media influence, not how someone runs or tanks a business is what I was getting at. From a pure historical perspective, if BH actually now owns 80 dailies, that would be more than WH Hearst owned at the height of his empire in the 19 teens.
You apparently took my post more serious than intended. During the election, supposedly we couldn't count on Clear Channel to give us the straight scoop on Mitt Romney since Bain owned them. Murdoch has been a favorite bogeyman of the left for quite a few years now.
Quote from: sgrizzle on February 25, 2013, 02:56:39 PM
Agreed on his plan. And I'm not happy with their current web/mobile offerings so I'm kinda happy with that part. I can't stand their iPad app. I am not an app developer but I'm pretty sure I've stayed at enough holiday inns to make a better ipad app than that. You can even tap on "continued on A-8" to get to the rest of an article. You have to pull out the menu, go to today's paper, go to section A, got page 8.. pancakes srsly
Somebody spent nearly 45 minutes writing that app. You are going to hurt some feeling here.
Seriously it sucks. Donkey balls.
Quote from: Conan71 on February 25, 2013, 02:58:06 PM
A satirical stab at media influence, not how someone runs or tanks a business is what I was getting at. From a pure historical perspective, if BH actually now owns 80 dailies, that would be more than WH Hearst owned at the height of his empire in the 19 teens.
You apparently took my post more serious than intended. During the election, supposedly we couldn't count on Clear Channel to give us the straight scoop on Mitt Romney since Bain owned them. Murdoch has been a favorite bogeyman of the left for quite a few years now.
That's not a fair comparison. I don't think he has any big city papers. From what I read he's buying smaller city papers that are still profitable and plans to maintain them. The WSJ alone has to have a bigger circulation that all these papers combined.
Hello, Swake???
QuoteA satirical stab at media influence,
Looks like I need to send some people a gift certificate for a sense of humor.
Quote from: Conan71 on February 25, 2013, 04:30:18 PM
Hello, Swake???
Looks like I need to send some people a gift certificate for a sense of humor.
Ah. missed that.
Quote from: Conan71 on February 25, 2013, 02:58:06 PM
A satirical stab at media influence, not how someone runs or tanks a business is what I was getting at. From a pure historical perspective, if BH actually now owns 80 dailies, that would be more than WH Hearst owned at the height of his empire in the 19 teens.
You apparently took my post more serious than intended. During the election, supposedly we couldn't count on Clear Channel to give us the straight scoop on Mitt Romney since Bain owned them. Murdoch has been a favorite bogeyman of the left for quite a few years now.
I fail at internet :(
Quote from: swake on February 25, 2013, 10:33:39 AM
Wow,
Not surprising I guess. I wonder how long they keep doing seven days of print.
A much better outcome than Oklahoma City got with the Oklahoman being sold to Philip Anschutz to be just be part of his right wing propaganda machine.
Funny, but I thought anything would be an improvement over Eddie Gaylord.
In Major League Soccer circles, Mr. Anschutz is referred to as "Saint Phil."
I am concerned the Cain's may be the next institution to go non locally owned....just a hunch.
A Tulsa World article touting the local family ownership is usually a signal of doom.
Quote from: Teatownclown on February 28, 2013, 10:52:39 AM
I am concerned the Cain's may be the next institution to go non locally owned....just a hunch.
Last I knew (and this was some years ago) it was owned by a woman that lived in Florida, so you're a bit behind on your prediction there.
Quote from: custosnox on February 28, 2013, 03:14:23 PM
Last I knew (and this was some years ago) it was owned by a woman that lived in Florida, so you're a bit behind on your prediction there.
Well, that's just idiotic.
Marie Myers is the only female owner.
She lived in Tulsa...sometimes in the back room office at Cains...with a bucket to pee in.
Quote from: Teatownclown on February 28, 2013, 03:30:11 PM
Well, that's just idiotic.
Marie Myers is the only female owner.
She lived in Tulsa...sometimes in the back room office at Cains...with a bucket to pee in.
wiki post:
QuoteIn 1976, the year after Bob Wills died, Marie sold Cain's Ballroom to rock concert investor Larry Shaeffer, also a Bob Wills traditionalist. His investment in Cain's focused on reviving the original elements and structure to its true historic roots. Late 1977 marked the re-opening of Cain's Ballroom with a concert by Elvin Bishop. Shaeffer's show production support was Little Wing.
The Sex Pistols were booked through Malcolm McLaren in early 1978.
After the Sex Pistols gig, Cain's enjoyed a wild range of successes primarily in music bookings and oddity performances. In the 1980s, Cain's embarked on a new Inter-continental fusion in rock history. Shaeffer took a business partner named Davit Souders who was influential in the underground 'New Wave' scene. Tucked away in Tulsa was a branch of this 'Post Punk' movement. It was connected to Cain's and the tradition of subversive music experimentation. Souders orchestrated the influx of international artists in this growing genre and solidified this emerging movement to Cain's.
Ownership of Cain's passed from Larry Shaeffer to The Finnerty brothers in the late 1990s. The new millennium has seen new ownership through Rodgers Properties in October 2002 hosting Doc Roc Productions as its show production team.
TW:
5 questions with Chad Rodgers, Cain's Ballroom manager
Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectID=269&articleID=20110609_269_WK3_CUTLIN133264http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectID=269&articleID=20110609_269_WK3_CUTLIN133264 (http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectID=269&articleID=20110609_269_WK3_CUTLIN133264)
(http://www.tulsaworld.com/articleimages/2011/20110609_ChadRogers0609.jpg)
QuoteChad Rodgers helms one of the oldest and most successful - if not the oldest and most successful - venues in Oklahoma. Definitely in Tulsa.
He manages Cain's Ballroom, built in 1942 and bought by the Rodgers family close to a decade ago. It's consistently one of the highest-selling ticket venues of its size in the world and hosts an array of stars, from a super-rare early tour stop by the Sex Pistols to modern influential artist including Wilco and Brooks & Dunn.
1. What is your favorite late-night greasy spoon in Tulsa, and why?
I don't frequent any late-night greasy spoon places in Tulsa, unfortunately, due to my work schedule and my health. (I have Type 1 diabetes.) Of course, I am often at Cain's late at night, and we have lots of bands order late-night grub from Fat Guy's Burgers, Mazzio's Pizza and Joe Momma's Pizza.
2. What would you like most to see happen in Tulsa in the next year?
One of the most important things I'd like to see happen in Tulsa over the next year is that the first annual Brady District Block Party (Aug. 6) has a good showing as DCF Concerts and Doc Roc Productions (Cain's Ballroom) has worked hard to put together a great diverse music festival (Flaming Lips, Primus and more) that will bring people from all over.
3. What is your idea of a perfect weekend in Tulsa?
Relaxing in front of the TV and watching college football or a basketball game (college or NBA). If not watching basketball, I'd enjoy shooting hoops myself. If I'm not grilling at my house, my family and I enjoy eating dinner at Mahogany Prime Steakhouse or Osaka Steakhouse.
4. What has been your favorite music act at Cain's this year, and why?
Wilco. Need I say more. If you haven't heard of the band, people, you need to check them out as you're missing one of the best bands today.
5. How is Cain's Ballroom integral to the continued growth of downtown Tulsa?
Whenever my family and I bought the Cain's in 2002, there wasn't much going on in downtown, but it's a totally different landscape now. It seems like a new business is popping up every week, and it's great to see that, as downtown is critical for the health of the entire community. ... (In 2010) Cain's was responsible for bringing over 90,000 people to downtown Tulsa and the Brady District.
Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectID=269&articleID=20110609_269_WK3_CUTLIN133264
Quote from: Teatownclown on February 28, 2013, 03:30:11 PM
Well, that's just idiotic.
Marie Myers is the only female owner.
She lived in Tulsa...sometimes in the back room office at Cains...with a bucket to pee in.
and you have known all of the owners over the years?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2
http://www.salon.com/2013/03/03/mainstream_media_meltdown/
Long article but a worthy read...I'll always cherish the days of throwing down the Tulsa Tribune or using the Tulsa World as kindle.
QuoteMainstream media meltdown!
Newspapers will never be the same. But what happens to democracy if the Web business model can't fund journalism?
"The assumption is that there has to be a way to make profits doing digital journalism if journalists and owners simply wise up and get with the program. Over the past few years, many American newspapers have been purchased on the cheap by hedge funds—nearly a third of the twenty-five largest dailies are now so owned—the subtext being that these business geniuses can generate profits where dummkopf journalism industry types have failed. As John Paton, the journalist-cum-CEO for a newspaper company purchased by the Alden Global Capital hedge fund in 2011, put it: "We have had 15 years to figure out the web and, as an industry, we newspaper people are no good at it." Apparently, neither are the hedge fund managers. David Carr wrote in July 2012 that "hedge funds, which thought they had bought in at the bottom, are scrambling for exits that don't exist."
"Armstrong's memo raises the question: What happens when a story— like that of a distant war or the privatization of a local water utility—fails to achieve proper "traffic potential, revenue potential"? What if no PR spinmeister wants to push it and provide free content? Does it disappear off the radar—and with it the ability of citizens to know what is being done in their name but without their informed consent? That might be a smooth ride for the CEOs, but it's a clunker for a democratic society."
"There is probably no better evidence that journalism is a public good than the fact that none of America's financial geniuses can figure out how to make money off it. The comparison to education is striking. When managers apply market logic to schools, it fails, because education is a cooperative public service, not a business. Corporatized schools throw underachieving, hard-to-teach kids overboard, discontinue expensive programs, bombard students with endless tests, and then attack teacher salaries and unions as the main impediment to "success." No one has ever made profits doing quality education—for-profit education companies seize public funds and make their money by not teaching. In digital news, the same dynamic is producing the same results, and leads to the same conclusion."
I think the local news stations will replace the newspaper.
Quote from: davideinstein on March 03, 2013, 03:53:06 PM
I think the local news stations will replace the newspaper.
Replace? Doubtful. Hard to list deaths, divorces, and personals. Unless, are you talking online? They're not journalists in the true sense of the occupation.
Quote from: Teatownclown on March 03, 2013, 05:53:54 PM
Replace? Doubtful. Hard to list deaths, divorces, and personals. Unless, are you talking online? They're not journalists in the true sense of the occupation.
Easy enough to replace on-line.
I suspect my great-grandchildren won't have a clue what newsprint
is was. I can still remember when I had a Trib route, I couldn't wait to get my stack so I could see what all had happened in the city that I didn't have to wait for the evening news to find out.