Washington Post 2008 Annual Report Download - page 5

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Well, that was something.
We could do without more years like 2008.
Great companies (and major advertisers) fell like
boulders; more shakiness is obviously in store as
2009 starts.
Poking our heads up from the rubble, we at The
Washington Post Company would like to say:
prospects look reasonably good going forward at
our largest businesses, but 2009 will be another
very rough year at the media companies.
The Company’s stock price was dramatically af-
fected by the financial crisis of 2008. The effect
on business results was less dramatic. Advertising
declined still further at our media businesses;
certain Kaplan businesses (mostly smaller) were
hurt badly.
But Kaplan’s largest business should get a bit of
a tailwind from a declining economy, and Cable
ONE, our second-largest profit center, should
hold up far better than most businesses (Cable
ONE recorded an outstanding 2008).
Two big questions face the Company:
1. How large and how successful can
Kaplan become?
2. What’s the future of the media business?
TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS
32008 Annual Report