Losing Control: The Ochs-Sulzberger family, is like that middle class family who is about to lose their house

How will the Ochs-Sulzberger family justify their relevancy now? -BY SDH The New York Times Co reported nasty second quarter results as its stock price continued slide slowing at $12.48. This puts the company's market cap at measly $1.76 billion opening the door for someone to drop a sweet offer on the table double the current value which would put massive pressure on the Ochs-Sulzberger family to sell. But to sell now would be a huge loss for the family and its shareholders. Perhaps now is the time for CEO Janet Robinson to either get creative or if she can’t go the distance, head for the exit. Her leaving won't make a difference but sometimes a change at the top gives those who have loads to lose, a little hope. Some would argue that the Ochs-Sulzberger's should have gotten out when they had a chance, but now the company may never run on all cylinders again. The Ochs-Sulzberger’s grip may finally break, if it isn't already broken. At its current $12.48 stock price—down 46.3% from a year ago—Times Co. has a $1.79 billion market cap. To put this in perspective, CBS recently acquired tech publisher CNET, a much weaker media brand, for $1.8 billion. Add in the company's $1.1 billion of debt, subtract $42 million for its cash on hand, and the company's total enterprise value—a valuation measure that totals up those items in such a fashion—is just $2.85 billion. How Can The New York Times Be Worth So Little?

Media stocks around the world taking a beat down

-SDH Media stocks are feeling the pain of a looming global recession which is good but bad news for people like Time Warner's Jeff Bewkes whose appointment as CEO has yet to tickle the stock. The whole world just seems to be fucked financially right now and the media industry which was already not looking too good is looking even worst. Disney is down 11.7%, News Corp is down on class by shares 8.9% and Time Warner, well Time Warner has been down since the whole AOL thing. Its not only here though. Media industry stocks overseas are also in a free fall. In London, jitters about the U.S. economy and the woes of financial services giants sent the FTSE top 100 shares down 323 points to 5,578, a plunge of 5.5% to the index's lowest level since 9/11 territory. Big media stocks were off, but not quite as much as the overall U.K. market. Shares in satellite broadcaster BSkyB lost 3.3% to close at 506p ($9.83), while shares in commercial broadcaster ITV were down 3.7% at 70.2p ($1.36). Germany's DAX index slid 7.2%. In line with that decline, shares of pay TV giant Premiere ended down 7.3% at EUR13.30. The Mohn Family of Germany's Bertelsmann AG must have big smiles across their faces reading news like this. They are hell bent on keeping their company private.