By Robert Wall
LONDON--Britain's salmon-colored Financial Times faces a new
chapter in its 127-year history after owner Pearson PLC on Thursday
said it was in talks to sell the paper.
Pearson has owned the Financial Times, or FT for those in the
know, since 1957. Pearson stuck with the paper even as changes in
advertising markets, falling print circulation and growth in
digital media prompted other newspaper proprietors to exit the
business.
The London-based paper, which reached almost 720,000 in print
and online circulation last year, is edited by Lionel Barber for
the past decade, who previously was the paper's U.S. managing
editor.
The publication moved to using pink paper in 1893 to
differentiate itself on the news stand. The paper publishes
regional editions for its home British market, the U.S.,
Continental Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
More recently, though, it has focused on digital content. In
2012, it reported its digital subscriptions exceeded print for the
first time. Digital subscribers grew to about 70% of the paying
audience last year.
In a bid to woo high-end advertisers, the FT in 1994 launched
its "How to Spend It" supplement. It has gained a reputation for
high-end fashion advertising, featuring expensive holiday
destinations and tech gadgets.
The company's weekend paper also introduced its "Lunch with the
FT" interview more than 20 years ago. The column features one of
its journalists interviewing a person of note over a meal. Lunch
partners have included a diverse set of personalities from Chinese
dissident artist Ai Weiwei to former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman
Alan Greenspan. The paper generally pays, and publishes the
tab.
The FT has playfully positioned the bills for the meals as an
economic barometer in its own right. Average prices for lunch
between 2003 and 2012 peaked in early 2008, just ahead of the
global financial crisis, according to the FT's website. The most
expensive meal during the period totaled GBP306 ($478) with former
Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone. The paper forked out
just over GBP3.82 to entertain rapper Sean "P-Diddy" Combs. A
recent lunch with British media tycoon Richard Desmond ran to
GBP758.81, which included a GBP580 bottle of Chateau Palmer
1983.
Amid growing appetite for faster news, the newspaper began a
push two years ago to compete more effectively with faster news
outlets, adding staff for its new fastFT service, even as the
traditional newsroom shrank.
Write to Robert Wall at robert.wall@wsj.com
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