Journal Communications, Inc. (NYSE: JRN) is a publicly traded media company based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It publishes the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a daily newspaper, and it also owns television stations, radio stations and weekly newspapers, among other businesses.
Journal Communications, Inc. operates through four business segments: publishing, broadcasting, printing services and other. The Company’s publishing segment consists of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which serves as a daily newspaper for the Milwaukee metropolitan area, and community newspapers and shoppers in Wisconsin and Florida. As of December 27, 2009, the broadcasting segment consisted of 33 radio stations and 13 television stations in 12 states, and operated a television station under a local marketing agreement. The printing services segment provides a range of commercial printing services, including printing of publications, professional journals and documentation material. The other segment consists of corporate expenses and eliminations, and historically included a direct marketing services business, PrimeNet Direct Marketing Solutions, LLC, which was sold on February 8, 2010. On February 3, 2010, the Company completed the sale of certain assets of the St. Paul, Minnesota-based mailing services operations of its direct marketing services business to Impact Mailing of Minnesota, Inc.
Publishing
The Company’s publishing business is conducted through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Journal Sentinel, Inc. and Journal Community Publishing Group, Inc. The publishing business accounted for 44.8% of Journal Communications, Inc.’s revenue during the fiscal year ended December 27, 2009 (fiscal 2009). Within its publishing segment, the Company’s daily newspaper accounted for 82.4% of its publishing revenue. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel serves as a daily and Sunday newspaper for the Milwaukee metropolitan area. In addition to its traditional print media, the Company operates a number of Websites that provide editorial and advertising content, including JSOnline.com, MilwaukeeMarketplace.com, Milwaukeemoms.com and the MyCommunityNOW family of 26 community Websites, which it operates under the name of Journal Interactive division of Journal Sentinel, Inc. The Company also produces a subscription-based Website, PackerInsider.com, dedicated to coverage of the Green Bay Packers. Its employment site, JobNoggin.com, which is co-branded with Monster Worldwide, Inc. (Monster), combines capabilities of its daily newspaper, JSOnline.com and its Milwaukee television and radio properties with Monster’s product and brand. During the fiscal year ended December 28, 2008, the Company’s daily newspaper joined the Yahoo! Consortium, a newspaper and Yahoo! Web portal partnership that shares content, advertising and technology. In January 2009, its daily newspaper launched a co-branded online automotive offering under a franchise agreement with CarSoup of Minnesota, Inc. (CarSoup).
The Company owns and operates community newspapers and shoppers in Wisconsin and Florida, and a printing plant in Wisconsin through its subsidiary, Journal Community Publishing Group, Inc. Its community newspapers have a combined paid and free average weekly distribution of approximately 240,000. Its community newspapers focus on local news and events that are of interest to the local residents. The Company’s shoppers have a combined average weekly distribution of approximately 291,000. Shoppers are free distribution publications, primarily carrier-delivered to each household in a geographic area, featuring advertisements primarily from local and regional businesses. A few of its shoppers also include local interest stories and weekly columns, such as fishing/hunting reports, obituaries and television listings. The Company also publishes publications that appeal to very specific advertisers and readers, with a combined paid and free average weekly distribution of approximately 76,000. These include lifestyle, sports, automotive and boat enthusiast, and agricultural publications.
Broadcasting
Journal Communications, Inc.’s broadcasting business is conducted through its wholly owned subsidiary, Journal Broadcast Corporation, and its subsidiaries. Its broadcasting business accounted for 39.6% of its revenue during fiscal 2009. The Company’s radio and television stations focus on providing local programming that is responsive to the interests of the communities in which they operate. In five of its markets, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Boise, Idaho; Tucson, Arizona; Omaha, Nebraska, and Palm Springs, California, the Company either owns and operates both television and radio stations, or own, and operate, more than one television station.
During fiscal 2009, revenue from television operations accounted for 61.5% of the Company’s broadcasting revenue. On April 23, 2009, Journal Broadcast Group, Inc. and Journal Broadcast Corporation completed the asset purchase of KNIN-TV from Banks Boise, Inc. In all of its markets and regardless of network affiliation, the Company focuses on delivering local news programming, locally produced programming and contracting for syndicated programming. The Company has retransmission consent agreements with distributors (cable, satellite and telecommunications) in its local markets for the rights to carry its signals and local programming in their pay television services to consumers.
During fiscal 2009, revenue from radio operations accounted for 38.5% of the Company’s broadcasting revenue. On September 25, 2009, Journal Broadcast Group, Inc. and Journal Broadcast Corporation completed the sale of radio stations, KGEM-AM and KCID-AM, in Boise, Idaho, to Salt & Light Radio, Inc. The Company has long-term contracts with many of its on-air personalities. In addition, its Milwaukee radio station, WTMJ-AM, maintains exclusive radio broadcast rights for the Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Bucks and Milwaukee Brewers, and arranges a statewide radio network for the broadcast of their games. Most of the Company’s radio broadcasting revenue is generated from the sale of local advertising, including developmental revenue, which refers to non-transactional revenue that targets non-traditional advertisers, with the balance generated from the sale of national advertising, political and issue advertising and other sources.
Printing Services
The Company’s printing services business is conducted through its wholly owned subsidiary, IPC Print Services, Inc. (IPC). Its printing services business accounted for 11.1% of its revenue during fiscal 2009. IPC provides a range of printing services, including complete production of magazines, professional journals, catalogs and documentation material, as well as distribution solutions and fulfillment. The printing business includes printing scientific, medical and technical journals and magazines. The Company generally utilizes conventional and electronic pre-press processes, Web and sheet-fed printing, and complete bindery and finishing in its production processes. All of these markets are served through its direct national sales force or by the use of print brokers.
The Milwaukee Journal was started in 1882, in competition with four other English-language, four German- and two Polish-language dailies. It launched WTMJ-AM (620) in 1927, and WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) in 1947. The Journal Company, until then primarily owned by local interests, introduced an employee stock trust plan in 1937, and as a result most Journal stock was eventually held by its employees (under certain restrictions). A small bloc of Journal stock was given to Harvard to fund the Nieman Fellowship program for promising journalists, and another bloc was still held by the original owning families until the IPO.
The Milwaukee Sentinel, begun in 1837 as a weekly published by Solomon Juneau, passed through the hands of several owners before being sold to the Hearst Corporation in 1924. Hearst operated the Sentinel until 1962, when, following a long and costly strike, it abruptly announced the closing of the paper. Although Hearst claimed that the paper had lost money for years, The Journal Company, concerned about the loss of an important voice (and facing questions about its own dominance of the Milwaukee media market), agreed to buy the Sentinel name, subscription lists, and any "good will" associated with the name. In 1995 the Journal and Sentinel were consolidated. The new Journal Sentinel then became a seven-day morning paper.
OVERALL
Beta: 3.12
Market Cap (Mil.): $292.88
Shares Outstanding (Mil.): 56.43
Annual Dividend: --
Yield (%): --
FINANCIALS
JRN Industry Sector
P/E (TTM): 10.27 16.09 12.60
EPS (TTM): 166.72 -- --
ROI: 7.72 7.19 1.12
ROE: 14.42 12.53 1.87
Name Age Since Current Position
Smith, Steven 61 2010 Chairman of the Board, President, Chief Executive Officer
Fernandez, Andre 42 2008 Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President - Finance and Strategy
Brenner, Elizabeth 56 2006 Executive Vice President
Leahy, Mary 56 2008 Senior Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer, General Counsel, Secretary
Trickle, Karen 54 1999 Vice President, Treasurer
Bauer, Anne 46 2000 Vice President, Controller
Prather, James 53 1999 Vice President
Miles, Royce 43 2010 Vice President
Kaiser, William 60 2010 Vice President
Wexler, Steven 50 2007 Vice President
Drury, David 63 2008 Lead Independent Director
Peirce, Roger 73 2003 Independent Director
Stanek, Mary 54 2003 Independent Director
Meissner, David 73 2004 Independent Director
Newcomb, Jonathan 64 2005 Independent Director
Tully, Jeanette 63 2005 Independent Director
Siminoff, Ellen 43 2007 Independent Director
Sullivan, Owen 53 2007 Independent Director
COMPANY ADDRESS
Journal Communications Inc
333 West State Street
Milwaukee WI 53203
Journal Communications, Inc. operates through four business segments: publishing, broadcasting, printing services and other. The Company’s publishing segment consists of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which serves as a daily newspaper for the Milwaukee metropolitan area, and community newspapers and shoppers in Wisconsin and Florida. As of December 27, 2009, the broadcasting segment consisted of 33 radio stations and 13 television stations in 12 states, and operated a television station under a local marketing agreement. The printing services segment provides a range of commercial printing services, including printing of publications, professional journals and documentation material. The other segment consists of corporate expenses and eliminations, and historically included a direct marketing services business, PrimeNet Direct Marketing Solutions, LLC, which was sold on February 8, 2010. On February 3, 2010, the Company completed the sale of certain assets of the St. Paul, Minnesota-based mailing services operations of its direct marketing services business to Impact Mailing of Minnesota, Inc.
Publishing
The Company’s publishing business is conducted through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Journal Sentinel, Inc. and Journal Community Publishing Group, Inc. The publishing business accounted for 44.8% of Journal Communications, Inc.’s revenue during the fiscal year ended December 27, 2009 (fiscal 2009). Within its publishing segment, the Company’s daily newspaper accounted for 82.4% of its publishing revenue. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel serves as a daily and Sunday newspaper for the Milwaukee metropolitan area. In addition to its traditional print media, the Company operates a number of Websites that provide editorial and advertising content, including JSOnline.com, MilwaukeeMarketplace.com, Milwaukeemoms.com and the MyCommunityNOW family of 26 community Websites, which it operates under the name of Journal Interactive division of Journal Sentinel, Inc. The Company also produces a subscription-based Website, PackerInsider.com, dedicated to coverage of the Green Bay Packers. Its employment site, JobNoggin.com, which is co-branded with Monster Worldwide, Inc. (Monster), combines capabilities of its daily newspaper, JSOnline.com and its Milwaukee television and radio properties with Monster’s product and brand. During the fiscal year ended December 28, 2008, the Company’s daily newspaper joined the Yahoo! Consortium, a newspaper and Yahoo! Web portal partnership that shares content, advertising and technology. In January 2009, its daily newspaper launched a co-branded online automotive offering under a franchise agreement with CarSoup of Minnesota, Inc. (CarSoup).
The Company owns and operates community newspapers and shoppers in Wisconsin and Florida, and a printing plant in Wisconsin through its subsidiary, Journal Community Publishing Group, Inc. Its community newspapers have a combined paid and free average weekly distribution of approximately 240,000. Its community newspapers focus on local news and events that are of interest to the local residents. The Company’s shoppers have a combined average weekly distribution of approximately 291,000. Shoppers are free distribution publications, primarily carrier-delivered to each household in a geographic area, featuring advertisements primarily from local and regional businesses. A few of its shoppers also include local interest stories and weekly columns, such as fishing/hunting reports, obituaries and television listings. The Company also publishes publications that appeal to very specific advertisers and readers, with a combined paid and free average weekly distribution of approximately 76,000. These include lifestyle, sports, automotive and boat enthusiast, and agricultural publications.
Broadcasting
Journal Communications, Inc.’s broadcasting business is conducted through its wholly owned subsidiary, Journal Broadcast Corporation, and its subsidiaries. Its broadcasting business accounted for 39.6% of its revenue during fiscal 2009. The Company’s radio and television stations focus on providing local programming that is responsive to the interests of the communities in which they operate. In five of its markets, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Boise, Idaho; Tucson, Arizona; Omaha, Nebraska, and Palm Springs, California, the Company either owns and operates both television and radio stations, or own, and operate, more than one television station.
During fiscal 2009, revenue from television operations accounted for 61.5% of the Company’s broadcasting revenue. On April 23, 2009, Journal Broadcast Group, Inc. and Journal Broadcast Corporation completed the asset purchase of KNIN-TV from Banks Boise, Inc. In all of its markets and regardless of network affiliation, the Company focuses on delivering local news programming, locally produced programming and contracting for syndicated programming. The Company has retransmission consent agreements with distributors (cable, satellite and telecommunications) in its local markets for the rights to carry its signals and local programming in their pay television services to consumers.
During fiscal 2009, revenue from radio operations accounted for 38.5% of the Company’s broadcasting revenue. On September 25, 2009, Journal Broadcast Group, Inc. and Journal Broadcast Corporation completed the sale of radio stations, KGEM-AM and KCID-AM, in Boise, Idaho, to Salt & Light Radio, Inc. The Company has long-term contracts with many of its on-air personalities. In addition, its Milwaukee radio station, WTMJ-AM, maintains exclusive radio broadcast rights for the Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Bucks and Milwaukee Brewers, and arranges a statewide radio network for the broadcast of their games. Most of the Company’s radio broadcasting revenue is generated from the sale of local advertising, including developmental revenue, which refers to non-transactional revenue that targets non-traditional advertisers, with the balance generated from the sale of national advertising, political and issue advertising and other sources.
Printing Services
The Company’s printing services business is conducted through its wholly owned subsidiary, IPC Print Services, Inc. (IPC). Its printing services business accounted for 11.1% of its revenue during fiscal 2009. IPC provides a range of printing services, including complete production of magazines, professional journals, catalogs and documentation material, as well as distribution solutions and fulfillment. The printing business includes printing scientific, medical and technical journals and magazines. The Company generally utilizes conventional and electronic pre-press processes, Web and sheet-fed printing, and complete bindery and finishing in its production processes. All of these markets are served through its direct national sales force or by the use of print brokers.
The Milwaukee Journal was started in 1882, in competition with four other English-language, four German- and two Polish-language dailies. It launched WTMJ-AM (620) in 1927, and WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) in 1947. The Journal Company, until then primarily owned by local interests, introduced an employee stock trust plan in 1937, and as a result most Journal stock was eventually held by its employees (under certain restrictions). A small bloc of Journal stock was given to Harvard to fund the Nieman Fellowship program for promising journalists, and another bloc was still held by the original owning families until the IPO.
The Milwaukee Sentinel, begun in 1837 as a weekly published by Solomon Juneau, passed through the hands of several owners before being sold to the Hearst Corporation in 1924. Hearst operated the Sentinel until 1962, when, following a long and costly strike, it abruptly announced the closing of the paper. Although Hearst claimed that the paper had lost money for years, The Journal Company, concerned about the loss of an important voice (and facing questions about its own dominance of the Milwaukee media market), agreed to buy the Sentinel name, subscription lists, and any "good will" associated with the name. In 1995 the Journal and Sentinel were consolidated. The new Journal Sentinel then became a seven-day morning paper.
OVERALL
Beta: 3.12
Market Cap (Mil.): $292.88
Shares Outstanding (Mil.): 56.43
Annual Dividend: --
Yield (%): --
FINANCIALS
JRN Industry Sector
P/E (TTM): 10.27 16.09 12.60
EPS (TTM): 166.72 -- --
ROI: 7.72 7.19 1.12
ROE: 14.42 12.53 1.87
Name Age Since Current Position
Smith, Steven 61 2010 Chairman of the Board, President, Chief Executive Officer
Fernandez, Andre 42 2008 Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President - Finance and Strategy
Brenner, Elizabeth 56 2006 Executive Vice President
Leahy, Mary 56 2008 Senior Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer, General Counsel, Secretary
Trickle, Karen 54 1999 Vice President, Treasurer
Bauer, Anne 46 2000 Vice President, Controller
Prather, James 53 1999 Vice President
Miles, Royce 43 2010 Vice President
Kaiser, William 60 2010 Vice President
Wexler, Steven 50 2007 Vice President
Drury, David 63 2008 Lead Independent Director
Peirce, Roger 73 2003 Independent Director
Stanek, Mary 54 2003 Independent Director
Meissner, David 73 2004 Independent Director
Newcomb, Jonathan 64 2005 Independent Director
Tully, Jeanette 63 2005 Independent Director
Siminoff, Ellen 43 2007 Independent Director
Sullivan, Owen 53 2007 Independent Director
COMPANY ADDRESS
Journal Communications Inc
333 West State Street
Milwaukee WI 53203