Gazette owner, Freedom Communications, files Chapter 11

Freedom Communications Inc., the owner of more than 30 daily newspapers including the Orange County (Calif.) Register and The Gazette of Colorado Springs, sought bankruptcy protection after print- advertising revenue declined.

Freedom, which also owns eight television stations, said it has assets of as much as $1 billion and debt of more than $1 billion in Chapter 11 papers filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. The Irvine, Calif.-based company’s revenue totaled $734 million last year, according to Moody’s Investors Service Inc.

U.S. newspaper publishers including Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, and Journal Register Co., owner of 20 daily newspapers, previously filed for bankruptcy as the recession speeds declines in ad spending and more readers seek news from the Internet.

Industrywide ad revenue fell 29 percent to $6.82 billion in the second quarter from $9.6 billion a year earlier, according to figures released by the Newspaper Association of America. Ad sales dropped 28 percent in the first quarter, the Arlington, Virginia-based trade group said.

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