The New York Times Company has agreed to sell its Boston Globe newspaper and other New England media assets to the owner of the Boston Red Sox baseball team for $70m in cash，a steep discount on the $1.1bn the publisher paid for the newspaper in 1993.
紐約時(shí)報(bào)公司周六(8月3日)宣布，同意以7000萬(wàn)美元現(xiàn)金將《波士頓環(huán)球報(bào)》和其他新英格蘭媒體集團(tuán)資產(chǎn)出售給波士頓紅襪棒球隊(duì)所有者約翰·亨利。這一價(jià)格與紐約時(shí)報(bào)公司1993年收購(gòu)該報(bào)支付的11億美元相比已大打折扣。(《金融時(shí)報(bào)》)
《波士頓環(huán)球報(bào)》是美國(guó)最負(fù)盛名的幾家報(bào)紙之一，目前發(fā)行量在美國(guó)報(bào)紙中排第17位。該報(bào)創(chuàng)刊于1872年，從1873年開(kāi)始就由波士頓的泰勒家族擁有，直至被《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》收購(gòu)。當(dāng)時(shí)的收購(gòu)價(jià)格創(chuàng)出了美國(guó)報(bào)紙收購(gòu)史上的最高記錄。
The Times said the all-cash sale，expected to close in 30 to 60 days，includes BostonGlobe.com，Boston.com，The Worcester Telegram & Gazette，Telegram.com，the direct mail marketing company Globe Direct and the company’s 49 percent interest in Metro Boston，a free daily newspaper for commuters.
紐約時(shí)報(bào)公司稱，此項(xiàng)全現(xiàn)金收購(gòu)計(jì)劃預(yù)計(jì)將在30天至60天內(nèi)完成。除《波士頓環(huán)球報(bào)》以外，此次出售的資產(chǎn)還包括：《波士頓環(huán)球報(bào)》網(wǎng)站、Boston.com、《沃塞斯特電訊報(bào)》及其網(wǎng)站、直郵營(yíng)銷公司Globe Direct以及免費(fèi)日?qǐng)?bào)Metro Boston的49%股權(quán)。(《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》)
The Times announced in February it was putting the Globe and related assets up for sale four years after calling off a previous attempt to sell it. The company’s CEO said at the time selling the Globe would help the company focus attention on The New York Times brand.
紐約時(shí)報(bào)公司在2月宣布了出售《波士頓環(huán)球報(bào)》及相關(guān)資產(chǎn)的計(jì)劃。公司首席執(zhí)行官表示，出售《波士頓環(huán)球報(bào)》將有助于公司集中精力于拓展《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》品牌。早在4年前，紐約時(shí)報(bào)公司就曾宣布過(guò)出售《波士頓環(huán)球報(bào)》，后又取消了該計(jì)劃。(《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》)
The New England properties were the last pieces of a once much bigger New York Times Co empire. The company has sold off everything - TV and radio assets，dozens of U.S. regional papers，digital companies，and its stakes in sports ventures - to focus solely on its flagship and international edition.
新英格蘭媒體集團(tuán)是昔日強(qiáng)大的紐約時(shí)報(bào)公司所剩無(wú)幾的分支之一。為了專注于旗艦業(yè)務(wù)和國(guó)際版業(yè)務(wù)，紐約時(shí)報(bào)公司已拋售了電視和廣播業(yè)務(wù)、數(shù)十份美國(guó)地方報(bào)、數(shù)碼公司和其在體育企業(yè)中的股份等大量資產(chǎn)。(路透社)
Like many US newspapers，the Globe has been hit by a slump in advertising revenue with circulation declining.The Globe enjoyed a weekday circulation of more than half a million in the early 1990s，but this has fallen off as readers migrated to the internet.
同許多美國(guó)報(bào)紙一樣，《波士頓環(huán)球報(bào)》深受廣告收入大幅下降和報(bào)紙發(fā)行量減少的沖擊。在90年代初期，《波士頓環(huán)球報(bào)》的工作日發(fā)行量為逾50萬(wàn)份，但由于讀者轉(zhuǎn)向網(wǎng)絡(luò)，發(fā)行量便每況愈下。(英國(guó)廣播公司)
The Globe isn’t the only newspaper to see a huge drop in its price at sale time.In April 2012，Philadelphia’s two largest newspapers sold for $55 million，a fraction of the $515 million paid by a group of investors in 2006.
《波士頓環(huán)球報(bào)》并不是唯一出售價(jià)格大幅下降的報(bào)紙。2012年4月，美國(guó)費(fèi)城兩家最大的報(bào)紙以5500萬(wàn)美元的價(jià)格售出，該價(jià)格僅為2006年投資者為其支付的5.15億美元收購(gòu)價(jià)格的一小部分。(《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》)
Driving these deals，one way or another，is the collapse of the newspaper print ad market over the past few years—which shows no signs of stopping.U.S. print advertising fell 55% from 2007 to 2012，according to the Newspaper Association of America. A further drop of 6.2% is expected this year，and a 6.8% decline next year，predicts Magna Global，a division of IPG Mediabrands.Another media agency，ZenithOptimedia，expects total ad spending on newspapers to fall 8% annually in the years ahead. At that rate，the total market for print newspaper ads would be reduced to less than $10 billion over the next decade from $49.3 billion in 2006.
促成這些交易的一大原因是過(guò)去幾年中報(bào)紙平面廣告市場(chǎng)的衰落，這一狀況目前仍沒(méi)有停止的跡象。根據(jù)美國(guó)報(bào)業(yè)協(xié)會(huì)提供的數(shù)據(jù)，美國(guó)平面廣告從2007年到2012年間下滑了55%。IPG旗下盟博廣告公司的分支瑪格納環(huán)球預(yù)測(cè)，預(yù)計(jì)今年該市場(chǎng)將再下滑6.2%，明年將下降6.8%。另一家媒體機(jī)構(gòu)實(shí)力傳播集團(tuán)則預(yù)計(jì)，報(bào)紙的廣告總開(kāi)支在未來(lái)幾年中將每年下降8%。按照這一速度，在未來(lái)10年里，整個(gè)平面報(bào)紙廣告市場(chǎng)將從2006年的493億美元萎縮至不到100億美元。(《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》)
The newspaper industry has struggled to stay afloat amid the digital transformation. Big US city newspapers，such as the Boston Globe，have been particularly hard hit. Metro newspapers historically generated a larger portion of their revenues through classified ads，making them especially vulnerable to the rise of the web and direct online competitors such as Craigslist.
報(bào)業(yè)發(fā)展在數(shù)字化變革的過(guò)程中舉步維艱。《波士頓環(huán)球報(bào)》等美國(guó)大型都市報(bào)更是受到嚴(yán)重打擊。在地鐵上發(fā)行的報(bào)紙的銷售收入中，很大一部分來(lái)自于分類廣告，這使得這類報(bào)紙?jiān)诿鎸?duì)網(wǎng)絡(luò)的崛起和來(lái)自Craigslist等廣告網(wǎng)站的直接競(jìng)爭(zhēng)時(shí)格外脆弱。(《金融時(shí)報(bào)》)