The Effects of Public Ownership and Newspaper Competition on the Financial Performance of Newspaper Corporations: A Replication and Extension

Abstract

This study supports the conclusions of a 1993 study by Blankenburg and Ozanich that the degree of public ownership affects the financial performance of media groups. High levels of stock ownership outside the media group result in increased returns to stockholders. The current study included competition as an independent variable and found that groups had lower operating margins and spent a greater percentage of revenues on expenses when a higher percentage of newspapers faced newspaper competition. Overall, the impact of public ownership was slightly greater than that of competition.