Out of Biz

Mark Cuban on colleges going out of business.

The newspaper industry was once deemed indestructible. Then this thing called the internet came along and took away their classified business. The problem wasn’t really that their classifieds disappeared. It was more that they had accumulated a ton of debt and had over invested in physical plant and assets that could not adapt to the new digital world. 

When revenue fell the debt was still there, as were all the big buildings they had purchased, all those presses they had bought and the acquisitions they had made declined in value, but the debt accumulated to pay for them never went away. They were stuck with no easy way out. 

The exact same thing is happening to our 4 year schools. You can’t go to a big state university and not see construction. Why?

Very smart point on newspapers.  I did not know they had huge amounts of debt.  Dumb, dumb, dumb.  Even with the internet, I don't see how newspapers or at least the very basic model of news, is necessarily threatened.  People still need information.  They will pay for good information or at least watch ads for it.  Look at ESPN.  You're telling me that thing doesn't make a shitpile of money from their website?  From their channel?  And that's just sports news.