Dean Singleton gets it! Oh, wait …
So Dean Singleton says 40 percent of the top metros in the country are losing money, and that the future of the industry is online.
So Mr. Singleton can’t tell Barack Obama from Osama bin Laden, but he does see the future clearly, right? Not so much. Toward the end of his speech, he says this:
This year, we’ll generate 89% of total revenue from our core, 7% from online and 4% from new products.
On operating cash flow, we currently generate 73% from core, 22% from online and 5% from niche products.
In five years or 2012, we expect 68% of revenue to come from core, 20% from online and 12% from niche.
On operating cash flow, our goal in 2012 is 40% from core, 50% from online and 10% from niche.
What’s wrong with this picture? First, his choice of wording. As long as print is the “core,” it will be treated as the core. Second, print does not generate anywhere near 89 percent of current revenue; that’s due to legacy accounting that attributes classified revenue to print.
Finally, he brags about his heavy investment in the dying core while laying off the people needed for the growing segments of the company.
