Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Union-Tribune online numbers plunge 22.44 percent

Can Soon-Shiong hit five million L.A. Times subs?

New L.A.Times headquarters in El Segundo
New L.A.Times headquarters in El Segundo
Union-Tribune online visits shown by SimilarWeb.com

A bold new digital subscription prediction by Los Angeles-based Patrick Soon-Shiong regarding the L.A. Times, which he bought last June for $500 million-plus and has since infused with $150 million worth of staff salaries, along with an elaborate El Segundo headquarters, has some Internet mavens rolling their eyes.

"I have made a decision to invest what it will take to make sure that the Los Angeles Times remains a viable business for at least another 100 years,” Soon-Shiong was quoted as saying by the Wall Street Journal in a story run March 19. “If we get to five million ultimately, that will make that possible.”

Noted the Journal, which observed that Soon-Shiong presented no timeline for achieving his objective, "the target is no small task, as the Times now has 150,000 digital-only subscribers."

Sponsored
Sponsored
Patrick Soon-Shiong: "We're obviously now one to two years behind. But it won't take us long."

Soon-Shiong, who also acquired the San Diego Union-Tribune when he bought the Times last year, went on to share an ambition for his L.A. flagship that could spell eventual doom for the smaller paper, which has turned out to be the poorer little sister in the deal.

"He said he envisioned the L.A. Times as a kind of super-regional news source, with its primary focus on being the paper of record for California’s 40 million residents," according to the account, "rather than trying to compete directly for a national audience with the New York Times or Washington Post. But he also wanted to expand the L.A. Times’s audience reach into Mexico, western Canada and across the Pacific Rim, as well as into surrounding states."

Those ambitions are revised a bit downwards from the wealthy physician's proclamation last year to National Public Radio that "we'll be as competitive vis-à-vis the New York Times and The Washington Post. We're obviously now one to two years behind. But it won't take us long. I hope, to be as competitive and to be perceived not just as a regional paper but indeed a national paper and hopefully an international paper."

The Journal story made no mention of the future of the Angeleno's faltering San Diego holding, but for the Times to have any hope of getting to five million paid subscribers as a regional powerhouse, observers note, the U-T would likely have to get out of the way.

Despite his hopes for the future, the billionaire obliquely acknowledged that making money as a big-time publisher isn't easy these days, and he called for unspecified action against the newspaper industry's current top nemeses, Google and Facebook.

"They freely use all the amazing journalism work being produced locally, regionally and nationally while drawing away the revenue stream,” he told the Journal. “At some point, something will have to be done to address that, because it has become an unfair breach of the infrastructure of democracy.”

Yet, in the face of plunging circulation in both L.A. and San Diego, Soon-Shiong vowed to carry on printing the Los Angeles paper, at least for the time being.

"Dr. Soon-Shiong said he remained committed to producing a print product for the foreseeable future," the Journal reported, "despite circulation that has fallen 68% in the past decade on weekdays to 233,000, and 54% on Sunday to 477,000, according to the Alliance for Audited Media."

Unspoken was the ticking time bomb represented by the paper's downtown L.A. printing plant, which produces the runs of both the Times and U-T. The property was sold to a developer by Times prior owner tronc, Inc., and the lease to Soon-Shiong is reportedly set to expire in 2023.

Meanwhile, in San Diego, the latest estimation by SimilarWeb.com has total online visits to the U-T's website down 22.44 percent.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

India Hawthorne is common in coastal gardens, Citrus trees are in full bloom

The vernal equinox is on March 19
New L.A.Times headquarters in El Segundo
New L.A.Times headquarters in El Segundo
Union-Tribune online visits shown by SimilarWeb.com

A bold new digital subscription prediction by Los Angeles-based Patrick Soon-Shiong regarding the L.A. Times, which he bought last June for $500 million-plus and has since infused with $150 million worth of staff salaries, along with an elaborate El Segundo headquarters, has some Internet mavens rolling their eyes.

"I have made a decision to invest what it will take to make sure that the Los Angeles Times remains a viable business for at least another 100 years,” Soon-Shiong was quoted as saying by the Wall Street Journal in a story run March 19. “If we get to five million ultimately, that will make that possible.”

Noted the Journal, which observed that Soon-Shiong presented no timeline for achieving his objective, "the target is no small task, as the Times now has 150,000 digital-only subscribers."

Sponsored
Sponsored
Patrick Soon-Shiong: "We're obviously now one to two years behind. But it won't take us long."

Soon-Shiong, who also acquired the San Diego Union-Tribune when he bought the Times last year, went on to share an ambition for his L.A. flagship that could spell eventual doom for the smaller paper, which has turned out to be the poorer little sister in the deal.

"He said he envisioned the L.A. Times as a kind of super-regional news source, with its primary focus on being the paper of record for California’s 40 million residents," according to the account, "rather than trying to compete directly for a national audience with the New York Times or Washington Post. But he also wanted to expand the L.A. Times’s audience reach into Mexico, western Canada and across the Pacific Rim, as well as into surrounding states."

Those ambitions are revised a bit downwards from the wealthy physician's proclamation last year to National Public Radio that "we'll be as competitive vis-à-vis the New York Times and The Washington Post. We're obviously now one to two years behind. But it won't take us long. I hope, to be as competitive and to be perceived not just as a regional paper but indeed a national paper and hopefully an international paper."

The Journal story made no mention of the future of the Angeleno's faltering San Diego holding, but for the Times to have any hope of getting to five million paid subscribers as a regional powerhouse, observers note, the U-T would likely have to get out of the way.

Despite his hopes for the future, the billionaire obliquely acknowledged that making money as a big-time publisher isn't easy these days, and he called for unspecified action against the newspaper industry's current top nemeses, Google and Facebook.

"They freely use all the amazing journalism work being produced locally, regionally and nationally while drawing away the revenue stream,” he told the Journal. “At some point, something will have to be done to address that, because it has become an unfair breach of the infrastructure of democracy.”

Yet, in the face of plunging circulation in both L.A. and San Diego, Soon-Shiong vowed to carry on printing the Los Angeles paper, at least for the time being.

"Dr. Soon-Shiong said he remained committed to producing a print product for the foreseeable future," the Journal reported, "despite circulation that has fallen 68% in the past decade on weekdays to 233,000, and 54% on Sunday to 477,000, according to the Alliance for Audited Media."

Unspoken was the ticking time bomb represented by the paper's downtown L.A. printing plant, which produces the runs of both the Times and U-T. The property was sold to a developer by Times prior owner tronc, Inc., and the lease to Soon-Shiong is reportedly set to expire in 2023.

Meanwhile, in San Diego, the latest estimation by SimilarWeb.com has total online visits to the U-T's website down 22.44 percent.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Stinkfoot Orchestra conjures Zappa at Winstons

His music is a blend of technical excellence and not-so-subtle humor
Next Article

Pacific Beach – car thief's paradise

Take photos of your automobile and license plate
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.