Journal Register Company

The Journal Register Company Pinksheets|JRCO is an American media company, specializing in newspaper publishing. The company owns 22 daily and 302 non-daily newspapers and other niche publications. The company is led by chairman and CEO James W. Hall, who succeeded Robert M. "Bob Jelloneck" Jelenic on November 1, 2007. Hall had been appointed interim CEO June 8 when Jelenic took a medical leave of absence to undergo cancer surgery. [ [http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003596607 "Jelenic, Journal Register Chief, Takes Leave for Cancer Surgery"] Editor & Publisher, 8 June 2007] [ [http://www.journalregister.com/press/10122007.htm "Jelenic, Journal Register Company Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, to Step Down on November 1, 2007"] Press release issued 12 October 2007] In 2007, the company was carrying $646 million in debt, [ [http://www.247wallst.com/2007/07/could-journal-r.html "Could Journal Register (JRC) Miss Its Debt Service?"] [http://247wallstreet.blogspot.com 24/7 Wall Street] , 20 July 2007] largely as a result of its purchases. In September 2006, JRC was named one of the Ten Worst Managed Companies in America by 24/7 Wall Street [ [http://247wallst.blogspot.com/2006/09/ten-worst-managed-companies-in-america_22.html "The Ten Worst Managed Companies In America: Conexant And Journal Register"] [http://247wallstreet.blogspot.com 24/7 Wall Street] 22 September 2006] In April 2008, Journal Register hired the financial advisor Lazard Freres to evaluate its business options for the possible sale of newspapers in Michigan and its other clusters.

Properties

The company owns daily and weekly newspapers, other print media properties and newspaper-affiliated local Web sites in the U.S. states of Connecticut, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It also operates 3 commercial printing facilities.

JRC's flagship daily newspaper is the "New Haven Register". Its ten largest daily newspapers (approximate daily circulation over 20,000) are:

* "New Haven Register" of New Haven, Connecticut (76,664)
* "The Oakland Press" of Pontiac, Michigan (63,174)
* "Delaware County Daily and Sunday Times" of Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania (43,520)
* "The Macomb Daily" of Mount Clemens, Michigan (42,045)
* "The Trentonian" of Trenton, New Jersey (Sunday: 26,500)
* "The News-Herald (Ohio)" of Willoughby, Ohio (39,453)
* "The Daily Local News" of West Chester, Pennsylvania (27,087)
* "The Morning Journal" of Lorain, Ohio (26,777)
* "The Mercury (Pennsylvania)" of Pottstown, Pennsylvania (21,080)
* "Daily Freeman" of Kingston, New York (18,492)

History

In 2004, JRC bought 21st Century Newspapers, gaining ownership of several daily newspapers in Greater Detroit.

In 2006, JRC bought the Web site JobsInTheUS.com. It is also a major shareholder in consulting company PowerOne Media. That same year, the company moved its headquarters to Yardley, Pennsylvania from Trenton, New Jersey.

In early 2007, JRC completed the sales of its former Massachusetts and Rhode Island newspapers to GateHouse Media and RISN Operations, respectively.

In early 2008, the New York Stock Exchange announced it was planning to suspend trading of JRC's common stock. The stock had been below $1.05 for 30 consecutive days, at one point falling to 16 cents, which was the all-time low at that time. The stock was delisted as of 16 Apr.

On July 24, 2008, JRC stock fell to 3 cents, an all-time low.

Monday, September 22, 2008 marked the fall of a share of JRC stock below one cent, when it closed at .005.

External links

* [http://www.journalregister.com/ Journal Register Company corporate web site]
* [http://messages.finance.yahoo.com/Stocks_%28A_to_Z%29/Stocks_J/forumview?bn=10106 Yahoo! JRC messageboard]
* [http://jrcbites.blogspot.com/ JRC: Behind the scenes web site]

References