Though its headquarters building rises 46 stories over Central Park, and though its biggest magazine franchise, Cosmopolitan, sells more than a million copies on newsstands every month, Hearst Corp. is still, in some ways, little known to the general public. Certainly few people would guess that the 126-year-old publisher would be best described as a cable-television behemoth.Or that its No. 2 business, after its stakes in A+E Networks and ESPN and a joint venture with Mark Burnett, producer of Survivor, Shark Tank and The Voice, would be in business media, with particular strength in health care and financial services. Imagine the Cosmo Girl palling around with Duck Dynasty—and Milliman Care Guidelines, Zynx Health and Fitch Ratings.The empire that grew out of the newspaper chain forged by the legendary and controversial William Randolph Hearst confounds the usual notions of a legacy media giant. While its print businesses grapple with the transition to digital distribution, Hearst is galloping ahead with a more diversified portfolio and expansive media footprint than either of its rivals, Advance Publications—owner of Condé Nast—and soon-to-be spun-off Time Inc. For the third year in a row, privately held Hearst is projecting record earnings, as well as record revenue of nearly $10 billion, up from just over $9 billion in 2012, according to a spokesman. It climbed to No. 3 this year, up from No. 9 in 2012, on Crain's list of New York's biggest private companies.Steven... Continue reading at 'Crains New York'
[ Crains New York | 2013-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]