Ziff Davis files for bankruptcy protection
Print and Web publisher Ziff Davis Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Wednesday, citing declining advertising revenue and subscriptions as contributing factors, according an Associated Press report Wednesday.
(Credit: Ziff Davis Media)"Today's restructuring agreement goes a long way towards resolving the burdens of a debt load and capital structure established seven years ago, during a leveraged buyout of the company,'" Ziff Davis Media Chief Executive Officer Jason Young said in the statement.
The company said it had reached an equity-debt swap deal with senior creditors, to whom it owes $225 million. Once the company emerges from court protection, the senior creditors would receive $57.5 million and at least 88.8 percent of the common stock in the company.
Lay off Dvorak first. You might lose a few ad dollars on the web.
but you'll gain many dollars when you make "PC World" into
"Computer World" and give equal time and coverage to alternative
PC-based operating systems.
A myriad of things really I think caused the downfall of Ziff Davis. One of the most painful things is when they briefly sold the rights to ZDnet to Cnet. Cnet, pardon my rudeness, screwed up ZDnet. Cnet cut the staff that reviewed software on ZDnet's download section amongst other things that changed.
Another big issue is that PC Magazine one of their crown jewel properties much like most of its competitors like PC World has focused far too on non-PC devices at the cost of reviewing software and hardware like they did even 10 years ago. I don't really care about a stupid review on a car, why would expect that in a magazine called PC Mag? Really? Every page you waste on this tangential stuff is one page you can't write on stuff about PCs. Heck, they even admit that they receive letters from countless old time readers who complain that the magazine spends too much time on non-PC stuff. I hope during reorganization that they think about opening up one of their older issues, say 10-15 years ago and see how they have gotten away from their roots in many bad ways. How about a review longer than a page? Is that asking too much?
Another major factor is that PC Mag like a lot of other publications is far too Windows centric. While I will agree that there are dedicated Linux and Mac publications, I think that for a lot of users non-M$ platforms are not only viable, but promising options especially as Microsoft seems to be alienating many of their user base.
The final cause I think stems from the rise of other websites that cater superceded Zdnet in many ways. Betanews' Fileforum at least for Windows programs is far better than Zdnet or heaven forbid, download.com. Cnet, historically, has been very bad a keeping version numbers up to date and most of their user reviews border on something a gradeschooler would write. For news Ars Technica and Betanews I are my 2008 version of what ZDnet was back in 1999-2000. Betanews has actually been cited as a source here on Cnet on a few occasions. While Cnet occasionally will have a unique story, more often than not it shows up on Ars or Betanews first. Furthermore, their coverage tends to be more accurate and the user forum tend to attract a more knowledgable user base whereas news.com seems to attract some very unintelligent users to use kind words.
Can Ziff Davis avoid dissolving the company? I don't know, but I could have seen this coming a mile away.
I also have to agree their Microsoft coverage was sycophantic.
Critical analysis is what we expect from the media. We want them to show us the good, bad, and the ugly so we can make informed choices. If a media outlet becomes a "fanboy" they lose all credibility or use.
I suspect SUBSCRIPTIONS had a bigger impact than ad revenue. What advertiser wants to pay a premium on slumping subscriptions anyway?
Sad really, I like the website, and most of their news reporting is good. I could do without all of the blogs though.
At any rate, ZD will be around for some time to come.
Maybe instead of catering to advertisers they should actually start paying attention to the consumer who is using the content. RIP Ziff Davis; hopefully someone intelligent will win your properties in an auction.
What kind of drugs was his mother on at the time anyway..?!?
It's no surprise to me they are down the tubes. The surprise is that they lasted this long.