The New York Times Company has agreed to sell its Boston Globe newspaper and other New England media assets to the owner of the Boston Red Sox baseball team for $70m in cash，a steep discount on the $1.1bn the publisher paid for the newspaper in 1993.
紐約時報公司周六(8月3日)宣布，同意以7000萬美元現金將《波士頓環球報》和其他新英格蘭媒體集團資產出售給波士頓紅襪棒球隊所有者約翰·亨利。這一價格與紐約時報公司1993年收購該報支付的11億美元相比已大打折扣。(《金融時報》)
《波士頓環球報》是美國最負盛名的幾家報紙之一，目前發行量在美國報紙中排第17位。該報創刊于1872年，從1873年開始就由波士頓的泰勒家族擁有，直至被《紐約時報》收購。當時的收購價格創出了美國報紙收購史上的最高記錄。
The Times said the all-cash sale，expected to close in 30 to 60 days，includes BostonGlobe.com，Boston.com，The Worcester Telegram & Gazette，Telegram.com，the direct mail marketing company Globe Direct and the company’s 49 percent interest in Metro Boston，a free daily newspaper for commuters.
紐約時報公司稱，此項全現金收購計劃預計將在30天至60天內完成。除《波士頓環球報》以外，此次出售的資產還包括：《波士頓環球報》網站、Boston.com、《沃塞斯特電訊報》及其網站、直郵營銷公司Globe Direct以及免費日報Metro Boston的49%股權。(《華爾街日報》)
The Times announced in February it was putting the Globe and related assets up for sale four years after calling off a previous attempt to sell it. The company’s CEO said at the time selling the Globe would help the company focus attention on The New York Times brand.
紐約時報公司在2月宣布了出售《波士頓環球報》及相關資產的計劃。公司首席執行官表示，出售《波士頓環球報》將有助于公司集中精力于拓展《紐約時報》品牌。早在4年前，紐約時報公司就曾宣布過出售《波士頓環球報》，后又取消了該計劃。(《華爾街日報》)
The New England properties were the last pieces of a once much bigger New York Times Co empire. The company has sold off everything - TV and radio assets，dozens of U.S. regional papers，digital companies，and its stakes in sports ventures - to focus solely on its flagship and international edition.
新英格蘭媒體集團是昔日強大的紐約時報公司所剩無幾的分支之一。為了專注于旗艦業務和國際版業務，紐約時報公司已拋售了電視和廣播業務、數十份美國地方報、數碼公司和其在體育企業中的股份等大量資產。(路透社)
Like many US newspapers，the Globe has been hit by a slump in advertising revenue with circulation declining.The Globe enjoyed a weekday circulation of more than half a million in the early 1990s，but this has fallen off as readers migrated to the internet.
同許多美國報紙一樣，《波士頓環球報》深受廣告收入大幅下降和報紙發行量減少的沖擊。在90年代初期，《波士頓環球報》的工作日發行量為逾50萬份，但由于讀者轉向網絡，發行量便每況愈下。(英國廣播公司)
The Globe isn’t the only newspaper to see a huge drop in its price at sale time.In April 2012，Philadelphia’s two largest newspapers sold for $55 million，a fraction of the $515 million paid by a group of investors in 2006.
《波士頓環球報》并不是唯一出售價格大幅下降的報紙。2012年4月，美國費城兩家最大的報紙以5500萬美元的價格售出，該價格僅為2006年投資者為其支付的5.15億美元收購價格的一小部分。(《華爾街日報》)
Driving these deals，one way or another，is the collapse of the newspaper print ad market over the past few years—which shows no signs of stopping.U.S. print advertising fell 55% from 2007 to 2012，according to the Newspaper Association of America. A further drop of 6.2% is expected this year，and a 6.8% decline next year，predicts Magna Global，a division of IPG Mediabrands.Another media agency，ZenithOptimedia，expects total ad spending on newspapers to fall 8% annually in the years ahead. At that rate，the total market for print newspaper ads would be reduced to less than $10 billion over the next decade from $49.3 billion in 2006.
促成這些交易的一大原因是過去幾年中報紙平面廣告市場的衰落，這一狀況目前仍沒有停止的跡象。根據美國報業協會提供的數據，美國平面廣告從2007年到2012年間下滑了55%。IPG旗下盟博廣告公司的分支瑪格納環球預測，預計今年該市場將再下滑6.2%，明年將下降6.8%。另一家媒體機構實力傳播集團則預計，報紙的廣告總開支在未來幾年中將每年下降8%。按照這一速度，在未來10年里，整個平面報紙廣告市場將從2006年的493億美元萎縮至不到100億美元。(《華爾街日報》)
The newspaper industry has struggled to stay afloat amid the digital transformation. Big US city newspapers，such as the Boston Globe，have been particularly hard hit. Metro newspapers historically generated a larger portion of their revenues through classified ads，making them especially vulnerable to the rise of the web and direct online competitors such as Craigslist.
報業發展在數字化變革的過程中舉步維艱。《波士頓環球報》等美國大型都市報更是受到嚴重打擊。在地鐵上發行的報紙的銷售收入中，很大一部分來自于分類廣告，這使得這類報紙在面對網絡的崛起和來自Craigslist等廣告網站的直接競爭時格外脆弱。(《金融時報》)