Big changes could be coming to The Boston Globe under its impending regime change that could include staff cuts, a narrower focus in coverage and a newsroom relocation, industry experts told the Herald.
"The two biggest questions are how large a newsroom do they keep and how do they deploy those resources," Ken Doctor of Newsonomics said. "Do they go more local and assume more people are getting more national and global news elsewhere? That's going to be a very important question."
Any day now, The New York Times Co. is expected to announce the sale of its little sister paper, the Globe. Potential buyers reportedly have included Red Sox owner John Henry, Tampa-based Revolution Capital and a local group consisting of the Taylor family and former Time CEO Jack Griffin.
Doctor said new owners will have to decide how much patience they'll have for low profits at a time when the Globe's bottom line is likely to be under even more strain this year than it was in 2012.
"The critical question for the new owners, especially with the names we've seen, is what is it willing to accept for the next two to three years in terms of profitability?" Doctor said. "Are the owners willing to take less profits?"
Another question facing new ownership: what to do with other assets in the Globe portfolio, including the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
"I think odds are the Worcester paper will be sold separately once the transaction is concluded," said Joshua Benton of the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University.
And Globies' days on Morrissey Boulevard may soon be numbered, Benton said.
"I do think real estate is a really big part of the hard asset value of a lot of newspapers these days," Benton said. "Whoever ends up owning the Globe in six months will be thinking very hard about maximizing the value of the real estate asset."
The Times paid $1.1 billion for the broadsheet in 1993, the highest newspaper sale price in U.S. history at the time. Earlier bid prices this time reportedly have been in the disappointing $65 million to $80 million range.
Meanwhile, the Times is expected to host a quarterly earnings call this morning — an opportunity for Times CEO Mark Thompson to reassure investors the Globe won't be part of its portfolio much longer, Doctor said.
"For the last several reports, the Globe has lagged the Times itself, so it has brought down the Times-owned progress," Doctor said. "From Mark Thompson's point of view, the optics are, 'Look at this as the New York Times digital expansion and look at the numbers in that light. You no longer have to pay attention to the Globe group financials, because those are no longer part of the picture.'"
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