Ziff Davis – Bankrupt

At the moment, I can’t think of one business sector in America that’s doing well or has a promising future. I’m sure I’ve oversimplified and one of you will point that out in a comment. But, by and large, business sucks.

I just read that Ziff Davis, the big tech publisher, has declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. They publish eWeek and PC Magazine, two big tech publications, plus a slew of others. They were the owners of TechTV, before selling out to Vulcan, which sold it to Comcast, which promptly folded it.

Somehow, ZD has a quarter billion dollars of debt. It always boggles my mind to find how deep in hock companies can get. Aren’t the lenders doing research?

Maybe I don’t want that answer.

When this is over, the company will have ‘only’ fifty some odd million dollars in debt… but those who owned 100% of Ziff Davis will then own 12%. Ouch.

At the moment, I can’t think of one business sector in America that’s doing well or has a promising future. I’m sure I’ve oversimplified and one of you will point that out in a comment. But, by and large, business sucks.

Among those doing the worst are print publications, which is where Ziff Davis comes in. The print business model seems very last century – though so do plenty of others.

Computer Shopper used to be a favorite magazine of mine. It was hundreds and hundreds of ad laden pages. Now, Kate Moss thin, I am dropping it.

In fact, I have allowed a few of my tech magazine subscriptions to expire rececntly. By the time the magazine gets to me, I already know what’s in it! The Internet has trumped pulp.

There’s some good news in all this. Business tends to be cyclical. Once the weakest players in an individual sector fold, or are absorbed, the remaining companies should thrive again.

That’s little solace to those cast aside in business closings and downsizings.

ZD won’t be the last bankruptcy we’ll be hearing about this year. It’s still sobering to hear an 80 year old business can get that deeply in trouble while staying pretty true to their historical core model.

5 thoughts on “Ziff Davis – Bankrupt”

  1. Geoff,

    Just take a look at the magazine stands in the stores. The PC related ones have all but disappeared. Sign of the times?

    Rod

  2. ZDTV and Tech TV were fabulous until they sold out to Vulcan and it got rolled into G4. Once they got rid of Leo Laporte and Patrick Norton I stopped watching and never returned.

  3. I wonder what this will do for ZD’s internet tech channel. They were producing shows like Cranky Geeks and DL.TV, and it seemed to me, essentially trying to be “ZDTV mini”.

    As for print.. I’ve seen it here in Madison. As of next month, the city’s afternoon newspaper, The Capital Times, will be ceasing to exist as a print paper, instead taking the majority of their content online. They’ll still I believe have inserts in the Wisconsin State Journal a couple of times a week. (The 2 papers are not co-owned but each have a stake in something called Capital Newspapers, Inc. which is a joint-venture for publishing, distribution and ad-sales.) I’m also not reading as many magazines as I used to. I used to have subscriptions to PC Mag, WIRED, Videomaker and Rolling Stone and QST. I’m down to reading just Rolling Stone and QST, though, my mom bought me a gift subscription to Videomaker again. I barely read it. Also, I can’t think of when the last time I actually picked up a newspaper and read the thing. Usually, if I do pick up a paper it’s because there was something that caught my eye on the front cover as I was walking through the newsroom.

    -Adam

  4. As an industry professional, I receive tons of “complimentary” subscriptions to magazines like these, and the ZD mags, like all the others, go straight to my recycle bin, and that’s been the case for the past few years – the info is out-dated before I get it…even eWeek, which as the name implies, is a weekly publication.

  5. Re: Cranky Geeks. watched it last night for the first time, and will watch it again. Very enjoyable.

    Chapter 11 allows a company to continue its normal business while they reorganize debt. This is a pre-packaged bankruptcy, meaning nothing we see should change.

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