Ziff Davis Media Files for Bankruptcy

[malware]

According to The New York Times, Ziff Davis Media - publisher of PC Magazine, EGM and 15 other magazines - is about to enter a prepackaged bankruptcy by the end of this week. Company officials had no comment on the potential bankruptcy, but acknowledged that there would be a financial restructuring by Friday. The company, which is principally owned by the investor group Willis Stein & Partners, had sought approval for a plan, arranged in May with key creditors, that would have cut its $450 million debt by $155 million and cut its annual interest payments $30 million without a bankruptcy proceeding. But a publishing official close to the situation said that the arrangement had failed to win the approval of 95 percent of the bondholders, as required by the agreement. "Over the past nine months, we have shored up our core properties, invested in our developing assets and exited poorly performing business sectors," said Robert F. Callahan, chairman and chief executive, through a spokesman. "We have almost deployed a financial restructuring plan that significantly reduces our debt. We will emerge stronger and more profitable." Continue reading the full story here.

Source: The New York Times

[WarEagleAU]

EGM I read for a little while (got a one year subscription) but to me it wasnt as good as say, Gamepro or something of the like. PC Magazine wasnt what I would call a great magazine, I think Computer Shopper is better. Sorry to hear this but hopefully it wont stop them two magazines or anything else.

[1c3d0g]

Ouch. There was a time, way back in '99, that ZDNet was THE website to find all tech-related info. Once they changed their focus to corporate issues, it all went downhill. Now they're nothing more than a distant memory.

[effmaster]

What I think is that seeing as how I have a subscription to both of these magazines (yes I really do) Dan Shoe Hsu will now be bought out by GameInformer (just kidding)

Seriously though I hope everything turns out ok for this company. It always pains me to see a pretty good company start to go into bankruptcy. That I think we can all agree with.

[Darkrealms]

I got Computer Gaming World for years. They had decent reviews and I liked the commentaries on things. They also shipped overseas when I was in the middle east, that was nice. Finally quit when it started coming as Games for Windows. Figured that was enough, I didn't read a lot of the articles anymore anyway.

[Cold Storm]

I don't really know what to think about this. Zdnet was a well known prov. of mag. but things changed and so forth. Its a sad day to see a empire like that fall. But, with no one behind them its going to happen...

[Sasqui]

Originally Posted by 1c3d0g

Ouch. There was a time, way back in '99, that ZDNet was THE website to find all tech-related info. Once they changed their focus to corporate issues, it all went downhill. Now they're nothing more than a distant memory.

Toally agree - surprisingly, zdnet still is one of the best freeware/shareware sites I've found, including pocketpc downloads. Hope they don't go away.

[Kreij]

Originally Posted by Darkrealms

I got PC Gamer for years. They had decent reviews and I liked the commentaries on things. They also shipped overseas when I was in the middle east, that was nice. Finally quit when it started coming as Games for Windows. Figured that was enough, I didn't read a lot of the articles anymore anyway.

PC Gamer is still PC Gamer and is owned by FortuneUS. It was Computer Gaming World that turned into Games for Windows (ZD).

I subscribe to both. Haven't seen a GFW this month yet. Maybe this is why.

[Darkrealms]

Originally Posted by Kreij

PC Gamer is still PC Gamer and is owned by FortuneUS. It was Computer Gaming World that turned into Games for Windows (ZD).

I subscribe to both. Haven't seen a GFW this month yet. Maybe this is why.

Thanks, yeah that was my bad, I had both of them for a while. I'll fix it in my post.

[CarolinaKSU]

I havent recieved my PC magazine either, I guess this explains it..

[lemonadesoda]

The computer industry has been BOOMING. While some economies are on the edge of a possible property crash, the PC and IT industries have been strong and advertising spend as been high.

If ZD is facing insolvency then somewhere in recent history is management incompetence. I agree with the bondholders to liquidate rather than lose $150m and face the same problem nxt year. Better to make the ZD executives fall on thier swords than bail them out an let them keep paying themselves million dollar salaries.

What exactly have ZD been up to? Investment scandal? Overpayment to directors/employees? Tunneling money out through agencies and supplier companies? Or just plain eye-off-the-ball after too many years of success, rot sinks in.

[pentastar111]

Originally Posted by CarolinaKSU

I havent recieved my PC magazine either, I guess this explains it..

Me neither