Fred, let me clarify what I meant by my AOL comment. I wasn't really reffering to AOL access. Rather, AOL and Ticketmaster/Citysearch are going around setting up local user guides for the major destinations like sf, chicago, LA, and Nyc, etc. I expect that over time, and it may be years, these things will get some "eyeball" share.
But AOL and Citisearch won't get around to setting up local guides for places like Des Moines, Lincoln, and Corvallis Oregon. Therefore, I think that in the Internet age, the incumbent Monopoly newpaper in these smaller towns have a real chance at also dominating the local content Portal. In fact, they are on their way to doing just that.
Lee has MONOPOLY positions in their markets, which is why I prefer this company to Knight Ridder, which although is well run, has some publications which are NOT monopoly papers. I also like the agriculturee kicker with LEE even though it is not on anybody's radar. It has underperformed, so I think there is incentive to start OUTperforming.
I love ECP btw. It is a focused newspaper company with two great newspapers in mid-size cities. And management has been improving returns with a recap that has shrunk the shares outstanding while increasing debt. ecp also has a high technology recuriting business (westech puclications) with a nice Internet site called Incpad. The company just bought back a tranche of stock at $40. |
