The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Not Surprising: Tina Brown’s ‘Newsbeast’ Still Losing Millions of Dollars a Year

Posted on | July 24, 2012 | 14 Comments

“The investors can expect to lose a crapload of cash in the process. The New Yorker reportedly lost $42 million in three years (1995-97) under Ms. Brown’s editorship. Talk lost an impressive $80 million during its two-year existence. Whatever else you might say about Tina Brown, she’s undeniably brilliant at convincing investors to lose money on her projects.”
— Robert Stacy McCain, Nov. 11, 2010

Some 20 months after it was announced that the worthless magazine Newsweek would merge with Tina Brown’s Daily Beast, we learn that Brown’s deep-pocketed patron Barry Diller has taken over controlling interest from the family of Rep. Jane Harman (D-Hezbollah).

Peter Lauria of Reuters explains the incredible sums of cash Tina’s “Newsbeast” has lost in the past couple of years:

The Harman family confirmed its ownership stake has been diluted by its decision to cap contributions to the loss-making venture, but would not give a figure. . . .
Sidney Harman acquired Newsweek from the Washington Post Co in August 2010 for $1 plus the assumption of the magazine’s more than $50 million in liabilities.
Barry Diller launched The Daily Beast under the auspices of former New Yorker and Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown in October 2008. . . .
[M]edia reports have estimated losses at The Daily Beast at around $10 million annually.
Diller and Harman decided to merge their titles in November 2010 — the rationale was to leverage the combined audiences to cross-sell advertising at both publications and subscriptions for Newsweek. . . .
So far, however, the combined venture is still losing money, according to Diller, though he has said this year’s loss will be substantially less than last year’s. He did not give a figure and Brown has called reports of $30 million in losses last year “excessive.”

OK, if $30 million is an “excessive” estimate of their 2011 losses, but nobody’s arguing with estimates of $10 million of red ink a year, isn’t it a fair guess that Tina has pissed away at least $50 million in the past four years, including about a million a month since the merger?

Y’know, with a million bucks a month, maybe I could put together a kinda trendy Web site or something. Even without Barry Diller-sized cash infusions, we haven’t done too badly.

Hit the freaking tip jar. Like you were a multimillionaire media mogul and Tina Brown was giving you a hand job in the backseat of your limo.

Because we all know that’s how she does it, right?

 




 

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Category: Newsweek

Comments

14 Responses to “Not Surprising: Tina Brown’s ‘Newsbeast’ Still Losing Millions of Dollars a Year”

  1. JewishOdysseus
    July 24th, 2012 @ 5:28 pm

    You’ve gotta lotta damm nerve, Stacey, being so right like that!  

    Yes, your predictions were 100% ON THE MONEY–too bad Tina Brown’s churn-it-and-burn-it ideas never were!

  2. Bob Belvedere
    July 24th, 2012 @ 5:50 pm

    Only a hand job?!?

  3. DaveO
    July 24th, 2012 @ 5:56 pm

    Who does she think she is? Steven Rattner?

    Tina Brown does have integrity though. She’s running the business the same way her main man Obama is running the country.

  4. robertstacymccain
    July 24th, 2012 @ 5:59 pm

    She uses lots of lotion.

  5. Killian
    July 24th, 2012 @ 6:01 pm

    What I don’t understand is, why can’t a group of conservatives buy some of these media publications?

    No, it’s not going to be a money maker, but look at what say the Koch Brothers or Sheldon Adelson piss away every election cycle?  You could easily buy some of these media outlets that have a far greater reach (much as we hate to admit it) then hundreds of millions of dollars every election cycle on 15 second ads.

    Just look at what Fox News has done, and that’s just one cable news channel.  Imagine if a Newsweek or USA Today had a center-right perspective?

  6. Adjoran
    July 24th, 2012 @ 6:03 pm

    Actually, it wouldn’t be untruthful to claim a report of a $30 million loss is “excessive” even if the actual loss is $29.7 mil, would it?

    This is great news and we should encourage Tina and her backers  to persevere.  It’s the best of possible worlds for conservatives:  her publications are read only by a tiny audience of True Believers so they influence no one, while her leftist investors might find some more effective way to spend their extra cash if it’s weren’t for the sucking black hole that is Tina’s venture.

    Party on, dudes!

  7. Film Ladd
    July 24th, 2012 @ 6:13 pm

    Not entirely true that they have a tiny audience – they do get an enormous amount of traffic (beast, gawker, tpm, etc.).  Get a front-page link from one of them, you’ll see.

  8. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    July 24th, 2012 @ 7:34 pm

    How much is the Beast paying Sullivan and Frum?  Well at least Sullivan generates them some traffic.   Frum not so much.  

  9. Charles Johnson
    July 24th, 2012 @ 11:58 pm

    I use bike lube.  

    I have a lot of free time from being on disability.  

  10. AnonymousDrivel
    July 25th, 2012 @ 12:55 am

    Well one thing is for certain. Tina Brown truly did not build that. Done a pretty fine job of tearing it down, so she has that going for her. I do hope she’s hired by both NBC and CNN soon. It’s just the nudge they need.

  11. theCL Report: Obama’s Economy – and Ours
    July 25th, 2012 @ 11:32 am

    […] Not Surprising: Tina Brown's 'Newsbeast' Still Losing Millions of Dollars a Year […]

  12. Texlovera
    July 25th, 2012 @ 12:49 pm

    Saw today that Newsweak will supposedly go digital only soon.

    No more lonely copies in the dentist’s office, sitting unloved and unread…

  13. Mikey NTH
    July 25th, 2012 @ 2:42 pm

    “Because we all know that’s how she does it, right?”

    You, sir, are a beast.  My eyes, my eyes…

  14. Tina Brown to Newsweek Staff: ‘Don’t Worry, We Can Lose Millions Forever’ : The Other McCain
    July 26th, 2012 @ 9:06 am

    […] Forever’Posted on | July 26, 2012 | No CommentsOr words to that effect. Tuesday we got the not-surprising news that the merger of Newsweek with Tina Brown’s Daily Beast has failed to stem the […]