Media General Buyout?

Media General stock fell 1.91 to 8.91 a share today. What's next?


Media General's Tampa paper is joining the rest of the country in massive media layoffs. Media General employees recently received terms of a buyout offer from the company. The offer has gone out to half the 1,326 employees of Media General subsidiary Florida Communications Group, which includes outlets such as WFLA-Ch. 8, the Tampa Tribune, TBO.com, Hernando Today and many more outlets. Will the Danville Register & Bee be next? We'll know soon. In a Tampa news story we read:


The money provided in the buyout is the same amount an employee would receive if they were laid off involuntarily, so there doesn't seem to be a lot of incentive to participate -- particularly if certain employees are not being informed that they will be laid off involuntarily if they don't take it; Schueler insists that is not happening. And because the company hasn't announced target levels for savings or buyouts, it's tough to anticipate whether involuntary layoffs will be necessary.

To hear what Media talk said about Media General, listen to the conversation in this video about 4:30 into the video. Not looking good.