Cox’s converged media operations in Dayton will help position it for the future, Rob Rohr, Cox Media Group Ohio market vice president. Unlike in Dayton, Cox does not own broadcast operations in Austin and Palm Beach.
“Dayton is where Cox was founded and in 2009 it became a window into Cox Media Group’s future when we integrated all three of our media businesses into one of the world’s first fully converged media operations,” Rohr said.
“That move has helped us navigate the rapidly changing world of media preferences and enabled us to grow our local audience and helped our bottom line. Cox Media Group has recently announced that it will move to integrated media operations in other markets where it has multiple media properties.”
CMG owns broadcast operations in markets throughout the country.
Rohr noted that the Dayton Daily News will mark 120 years in business in 2018. “We have made that milestone because we continue to innovate and serve our customers as a fully integrated media company,” he said.
Guthrie said the decision to sell the Florida and Texas papers was “difficult but strategic.” She said the company plans to continue building on the foundation that was started “with a single newspaper in Dayton” more than a century ago.
“We have a long history of award-winning journalism in all of our newspaper markets,” she said.
Guthrie recently announced plans to converge CMG’s newspaper, TV and radio outlets in Atlanta, mirroring an operation already in place in Dayton.
“As the media business continues to change, we must adapt our business strategy to navigate these disruptive times for the benefit of our entire media portfolio,” Guthrie said. “We have made the decision that we will be better equipped to operate our newspapers in Atlanta and Ohio, where we have the integrated opportunity with our TV and radio operations.
She added: “We are deeply grateful to the employees in Austin and Palm Beach for the great work they have done over the years.”
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