SOLD!!! KANSAS CITY STAR PRINT PALACE AND OFFICES PURCHASED AT EPIC LOSS FOR LOCAL DEAD-TREE MEDIA!!!



The not-so-great Kansas City journalism sellout continues as The Star is once again forced to downsize.

Here's a portion of the quickie update on the fading fortunes of this institutions:

The agreement transfers ownership of the building to Ambassador Hospitality, LLC for a price of $30.1 million. The sale closed Wednesday.

McClatchy, on behalf of The Star as its parent company, is leasing the building back for 15 years with annual payments initially set at $2.8 million.

Star employees will continue to work in the building for the life of the lease.

That is, if they can keep paying rent.

A few facts to keep in mind that our GROWING COMMUNITY OF KICK-ASS TKC READERS TOUT . . .

- McClatchy reports a net loss of $42 million for the first three months of 2019.

- Internets won't save McClatchy: Digital-only advertising revenue was down — down by 5.2 percent against the first quarter of 2018.

- Total advertising revenue was $85.2 million, down 14.7% compared to the first quarter of 2018.

Moreover . . .

Despite a year of deals, discounts, layoffs and reorganization:

McCLATCHY STOCK BELOW TWO-FIDDY!!!

Turns out newspapers are a great place to make a small fortune if you start out with a large fortune.

Over the past full year, investors have seen an MNI loss amounting to -48.95%

Again and again, the newspaper thinks digital subscriptions might save them but with so many news options to choose from, it's unclear if waiting for a wordy and authoritative take from middle-class writers will interest many local news readers . . . Especially at the exorbitant costs they're touting.

Reality check:

Kansas City hasn't had a newspaper since 2004. Everything since that point has been prologue to an institution desperately clinging to fading influence and impact over local politics and culture.

You decide . . .

Comments

  1. It will make a fine museum and future hotel.

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    Replies
    1. This is actually sad news for kansas city. we need a real newspaper and not just a donation business or a blog. Look at the corruption at city hall, if it's getting worse, it's because we don't have a newspaper to expose it. Think about it.

      Delete
  2. the star and its employees could have gone out proud, but they leave looking like weirdos who have no grasp of reality. One of the more embarrassing ways to go. Looks like the company who bought it is into hotels...and they got a great deal. Soon it will be a nice hotel.

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  3. AMF - Adios My Friends at the Star

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  4. Waiting for the rest of the world to catch up with our innovative ways5/15/19, 6:58 PM

    "Knight Ridder's legacy is a massive $199 million, two-block long, glass-enclosed printing and distribution plant on the northeast side of the Star's landmark red brick headquarters at 1729 Grand Avenue. The plant began printing in June 2006. It took nearly four years to build, and is considered a major part of the effort to revitalize downtown Kansas City."

    Well so much for that legacy.

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  5. Tony is right. When they built the glass albatross on Truman road that marked the end. Thanks for the quote about the hype from when knight ridder built it. Wow 200 million to build and they selling for thirty. Damn. Agree that the loss of attention span journalism is a tragedy. What is the answer??? I have no idea. But blogs like this do no reporting. Just a bunch of opinions and very few of them meaningful.

    Thanks
    Radish

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the drivel, Ra-douche.

      Delete
  6. ^^^ they have no one to blame but themselves so.......

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  7. How about making it into luxury apartments ... One Light, Two Light, now Star Light?

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  8. The seed corn is just about completely gone.
    And it's unlikely that anyone at the Star is going to save the day by writing a best-selling book.
    What in the world was the new guy who just joined the editorial board thinking?
    Hope he negotiated a good escape package that has to be included in bankruptcy proceedings.
    A serious city needs a good newspaper that keeps tabs on the goings on of local governments, but the Star hasn't even tried to meet those responsibilities for decades.
    Maybe they can all get jobs with wherever Sly ends up.
    They've carried lots of water for him for eight years.
    Or perhaps the editorial board can all move to Brooklyn where their unhinged progressivism might be met with wider acceptance.
    The paper certainly won't be missed.
    Sad.

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  9. Radish, your opinions suck so.....

    Thanks
    Celery

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  10. Maybe some billionaire out there will want their own personal newsletter, I.e. Washington Post.

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  11. More Fake News Failure....... don’t worry libs, there’s much more to come! Fake News layoffs approaching 3000 since Govt shutdown.... no more taxpayer funded propaganda assistance. The People are waking up to the lies!

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  12. The star has maybe 5 good reporters and writers doing excellent work. They need to be hired at another place so they can continue. The rest can sink with the ship.

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  13. The Star’s Plan if it was Serious to Shareholders:

    1. Reduce Expense. This unequivocally means FIRE THE EDITORIAL BOARD!
    2. Quit alienating people. This means FIRE THE EDITORIAL BOARD!
    3. Hire college interns to take photos. It would be more interesting and save $65k a photog.
    4. Have readers submit photos. It would be more interesting and save $65k a photog.
    5. Have employees all be home based. All of them. Get with the Times!
    6. Hire by ability and forget all the nonsensical gender/skin-color/nationality/sexism hiring. You can lie to readers, but not your mirror.
    7. Make Headlines Interesting. Yours are boring as hell! You suck at Headlines and you all know it! “Bezos Exposes Pecker” is not in your vocabulary... Are you capable of 2nd best?
    8. Put more effort into Investigations. Why don’t the Police solve murders? Why didn’t Sly let the whole city vote on MLK naming? Put your big boy pants on or risk insolvency. You are 99% bankrupt now.
    9. Quit doing the same crap! Look up Einstein’s definition of Insanity.
    10. FIRE THE EDITORIAL BOARD! Trust me- you will unite all sides and it will be a national story! Applause will be heard. Coast to coast.
    Bonus: Get the sex stories going:
    A- So stories on affairs attract- get some locals to expose cheaters.. popular people cheat!
    B- Why is KC VD on the rise in minority communities? Or is it?
    C- Go undercover and get some teachers or clergy to violate sex laws.
    D. Put a topless girl and man of-the-day photo on page 2.
    E. When you go paperless in 2020... do your own version of the Naked News. And don’t hire Mary Sanchez for this!


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  14. Star sold the building for $30 million and leasing it back on a 15 year lease for $2.8 Million a year???? OMFG do the math on that deal, they didn't sell this building, they paid Ambassador $12 million to take it off their hands! Who the fuck negotiated that deal for Ambassador, Donald Trump? LOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  15. Top 5 Unwanted Candidates for the KC Star Naked News tryouts:
    1. Sanchez
    2. Brisbane
    3. Tammeus
    4. Ostertag... well... maybe.
    5. HELLing

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  16. 7:37 for the Rainbow 5 Coalition Win!!

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  17. It needs to become a non-profit much like Cincinnati is trying to do..

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  18. But Wait! It's Even Worse Than Stated!

    McClatchy (MNI) closed Wednesday at $2.44, an ALL-TIME LOW.

    Perf Week -18.39%
    Perf Month -29.89%
    Perf Quarter -60.13%
    Perf Half Y -65.14%
    Perf Year -75.00%
    Perf YTD -68.10%

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  19. The fact that Dave Helling is still employed says everything about the dismal state of affairs at the STAR!!

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  20. You know, the Star is a business like any other. It's up to them to sink or swim. KC needs to stop propping it up like it's a damn stadium. For that matter, we need to stop giving money to the stadiums.

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  21. That may be a suitable structure for a med maryjane/ CBD greenhouse, with a therapy spa, and retail sales center. Ka-Ching!

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  22. The building would make a great Nordstrom's.

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  23. No one buys a newspaper anymore, but they are still delivered 5 at a time to QT, The KC star building needs to be torn the fuck down so we have the room to build the 3 light tower!! Millenals will pay to live outside their means and the KC star building was a waste of money the second they broke ground to build the dump! Propaganda is never profitable and finally the KC shit star is figuring that out. Good ridence douchbags!!

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  24. Schadenfreude

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  25. ^^^Just freude. No schaden.

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  26. Look at the St Louis Post Dispatch or the Little Rock Arkansas Gazette Democrat. These are great papers. the Star is a bad paper with superficial reporting and bad management. It needs to be replaced with a better paper or a total house cleaning. Not likely.

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