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CNHI: Overview

Table of contents 
  1. Overview
    1. Introduction
    2. The group
    3. Studies

Overview

This profile deals with the Community News Holdings Inc (CNHI) newspaper group of the US.


It covers -

  • introduction
  • the group
  • studies

Introduction

Birmingham (Alabama) based CNHI is another US 'McPaper' chain that embraces daily, weekly and semiweekly newspapers in over 200 communities across the US.

It was founded in 1997 by former Thomson executive Ralph Martin with funding from Retirement Systems of Alabama and has been agressively buying (and selling) community papers in 22 states, with acquisitions from Gannett, Thomson, Hollinger and MediaGeneral.

By mid 2001 it owned 95 daily newspapers, 100 weeklies, 25 shopper publications, a direct marketing company and several commercial print facilities.

As of mid 2003 it has around 200 daily and weekly titles with a combined circulation of over 1 million. Most titles are monopoly operations with a circulation of 13,000 to 25,000. Around 30% of CNHI's publications are in Oklahoma and Texas. The group owns but does not operate two television stations.

Its corporate site is here.

The group

The group's expansion has been driven by investment from pension funds and perceptions that there are dwindling opportunities for acquistion - as major competitors hoover up minor chains and independent family publishers - so speed is of the essence. It has been reported that CNHI expects profit margins of around 30%.

Typically CNHI appears to aim to increase profitability by slashing costs - editorial content is often unsubstantial and resolutely parochial - and building clusters of titles that allow sharing of editorial resources and infrastructure (eg printing of several titles from a common base). Arguably the result does not make for great journalism.

CNHI's site indicates that its strategy is

to seek out newspapers in smaller markets with growth potential. A premium has been placed in purchasing newspapers in geographic proximity, for operational efficiency and in order to provide additional services to readers.

In 2003 Martin's successor Mike Reed commented

When you have 200 newspapers, it makes it extremely difficult to pay attention to all of them ... For years, it looked like we were buying everything. We bought some things we shouldn't have bought, we paid prices for some things we shouldn't have paid. Now we're going to run a business.

Studies

There is no major study of CNHI. Perspectives on McPapers are provided by Leaving Readers Behind: The Age of Corporate Newspapering (Fayetteville: Uni of Arkansas Press 2001) edited by Gene Roberts, Thomas Kunkel & Charles Layton, The Menace of the Corporate Newspaper: Fact or Fiction? (Ames: Iowa State Uni Press 1996) by David Demers and the 1999 paper The Myths and Realities of Newspaper Acquisition Costs: Fiduciary Responsibilities, Fungibility of Assets, Winners' Penalties & Excess Cash "Problems" by Dane Claussen.