Gannett Gain

The newspapers of round, beaming Frank Ernest Gannett rarely make exciting news. Now & then the public hears that Publisher Gannett has bought another small daily like the Saratoga Springs (N. Y.) Saratogian or the Danville (Ill.) Commercial News, as he did last year; or the Utica (N. Y.) Daily Press, as he did last week. But the sum of Frank Gannett's unspectacular doings makes a story that many a publisher would like to be able to tell about himself.

With last week's purchase, the Gannett chain numbered 19 newspapers, its peak to date. This made it numerically the third largest group in the land, outranked only by Hearst's 27 dailies, Scripps-Howard's 24.* Practically all in the group are established, prosperous properties, with an average age of 75 years. Last year Gannett Co. earned $1,011,000, more than in any year since the 1929 top of $1,237,000. Gannett preferred stock, offered to the public four years ago at $100 a share, hit a low of $58 in 1933, was quoted last week at $91. Last month SEC revealed President Gannett's salary as $64,370. He owns 93% of the common stock.

*In circulation, however, the Gannett papers, with their 465,000 readers, are not to be compared with Hearst's 5,564,000, or Scripps-Howard's 1,930,000.

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