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This
profile considers Goodson Newspapers, absorbed by Journal
Register Co group and Gannett
It covers -
introduction
Goodson Newspapers was a counterpart of the Grundy
group in Australia. It was founded by Mark Goodson (1915-1992)
and Bill Todman (1916-1979), who had made a fortune producing
radio and television game shows such as What's My
Line, I've Got a Secret and Family Feud.
The two invested in newspapers, leaving day to day management
to Ralph
Ingersoll I. Ralph Ingersoll
II assumed his father's role as manager of Goodson Newspaper
Group during the 1970s but after Todman's death began
aggressively acquiring titles in his own right, using
junk bond finance from Michael Milken. The relationship
deteriorated and Goodson shifted its alignment to the
Singleton-Scudder Garden City
Newspapers group. He is reported as commenting that Ingersoll
was spending too much time on his own titles and not enough
on Goodson's. "I knew we had a problem when someone
asked me at a party, 'Oh, do you work for Ralph Ingersoll
Jr.?'"
Ingersoll continued to expand following termination of
the Goodson management contract. His US operations were
ultimately acquired by backer Warburg Pincus and became
the heart of Journal Register
Co.
Goodson acquired Todman's interests following the latter's
death. After his own death the Goodson family sold the
rights to many of the shows (some had already been sold
to CBS) to Interpublic subsidiary
All American Television, which was subsequently acquired
by Pearson Television - in turn
acquired by Fremantle Media and now part of Bertelsmann
subsidiary RTL.
In 1998 Journal Register acquired 25 titles from Goodson
Newspapers. Gannett acquired
the Morristown Daily Record, Ocean County
Observer and weekly newspapers in Toms River and
Manahawkin, N.J along with "total market coverage"
products
studies
There has been no major general study of Goodson Newspaper
Group. Mark Goodson features in Producers on producing:
the making of film and television (Jefferson: McFarland
2001) edited by Irv Broughton and more briefly in a range
of memoirs.
For game shows see Morris Holbrook's Daytime Television
Game Shows and the Celebration of Merchandise: The Price
is Right (Bowling Green: Bowling Green State Uni
Press 1993) and William Boddy's Fifties Television:
The Industry & Its Critics (Urbana: Uni of Illinois
Press 1999). There is a brief account of All American
in Make It New: Essays in the History of American
Business (New York: iUniverse 2004) by Paul
Bodine.
landmarks
1946 Mark Goodson and Bill Todman form Goodson-Todman
Productions
1958 sell What's My Line to CBS
1958 acquire first daily, later form Goodson Newspaper
Group
1959 sell I've Got a Secret to CBS
1984 Goodson acquires Todman's share of Goodson-Todman,
rebadged as Mark Goodson Productions
1987 Ingersoll sells Morristown
Daily Record to Goodson Newspaper Group for US$160m
1989 Goodson sells New Haven Register for US$255m
1989 Goodson ends alliance with Ingersoll
1990 sells Milford Citizen to Capital Cities/ABC
1990 Garden State Newspapers forms
North Jersey Newspapers as partnership with Goodson Newspapers
and Ingersoll
1990 Garden State buys out Goodson from North Jersey Newspapers
1994 Goodson joins with Sony's
Merv Griffin Enterprises to launch the Game Show Channel,
later withdraws
1995 All American Communications and Interpublic
Group buy Mark Goodson Productions for US$50m
1995 All American buys Interpublic's stake in Mark Goodson
Productions
1995 All American acquired by Fremantle (later acquired
by Pearson)
1998 Journal Register buys
most Goodson titles in Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio
(inc Delaware County Daily Times, Pottstown Mercury,
Kingston Daily Freeman, Oneida Daily Dispatch
and Massilion Independent) for US$300m
1998 Gannett buys other titles,
inc Morristown Daily Record
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