Local media giant RJR/Gleaner Communications Group continues to tailspin, with its consolidated statements for the financial year ended March 31 reporting both a drop in revenue and compounding losses.

For the financial year 2023, RJR reported a profit of J$250 million due to a one-off gain of J$444 million as a result of the acquisition of 1834 Investments Limited.

For the financial year 2024, RJR posted a loss of J$529 million, which sent alarm bells ringing. Its board and senior managers vowed to turn things around and staunch the bleeding.

However, there is more sorrow in FY2025.

Revenue for the year under review dropped marginally to J$5.3 billion from the J$5.5 billion posted for the prior year.

RJR/Gleaner posted a net loss of J$666 million, a significant decline from the J$528.7 million posted for last year.

Expenses were largely contained, and RJR managed to keep a meticulous eye on this. Direct expenses came in at J$3 billion, the same as last year. Selling expenses were reduced, falling to J$599.5 million, J$54 million less than the J$653.3 million recorded for last year.

Administrative expenses for the year under review came to J$1.246 billion, with little difference from the J$1.258 billion posted last year. RJR did a good job with cost containment.

Total assets fell to J$5.57 billion, whereas last year they stood at J$6.38 billion.

RJR/Gleaner has to increasingly depend upon cash flow from investing activities, and this year, the yields have not been good.

Net cash provided by investing activities for the financial year 2025 was in the red by J$41 million, whereas it was in the black by J$48 million for the prior year. Of note, proceeds from disposal of property, plant and equipment were just J$986,000, a far cry from the J$20.4 million posted for FY24. 

The purchase of property, plant and equipment was severely curtailed, coming in at just $158.4 million. Last year, it was significantly higher at J$405.3 million.

Media businesses the world over are facing challenges, particularly with diminishing advertising dollars coming in –  the lifeblood of most media enterprises.

Technology and new business models have usurped more traditional operations. Many are now pivoting to digital, where operating expenses are far less and agility is the name of the game.

The RJR Group has a broadcasting history that goes back 74 years, and the Gleaner, at 191 years old, is one of the oldest newspapers in the Western Hemisphere.

In days of yore, both entities faced little competition and had the playing field all to themselves, but times have changed. Whereas competitors came and went, many are here to stay and have remained around for decades. With no competitive muscles, it’s not even a case of atrophy; both RJR and the Gleaner never had to respond—they both had to continue plodding along.

The RJR Group has to find a way to counter the proliferation of competition. Then there’s social media and its now ubiquitous tentacles, which have upended legacy media. In a country which has a fairly low literacy rate and where little stock is placed in reading and erudition, the RJR model is becoming extinct. 

There are too few companies with notable advertising budgets in Jamaica (10 at best), and they have become increasingly discerning with their spend.

Fewer people are reading newspapers in Jamaica while operating costs keep climbing. There are a plethora of radio stations now making life difficult for RJR, not forgetting the streaming companies like Netflix, Hulu and Apple killing free-to-air television. 

Media is not dying, it is evolving. In years past, the Gleaner would have a “salmon season” with revenue coming in from general election campaigning, so too TVJ. Neither can expect what it raked in back in the 2020 campaign as vloggers, bloggers, podcasters and other players take cash away that once automatically went to RJR. 

Editors and reporters have to work harder today. You can’t sit in a newsroom watching the cock until it’s time to go home. Greater productivity is now required and needed. More ingenuity is expected from senior media managers.

RJR will have to trim a lot of the fat that is clogging its heart. It will have to do more with less.

A cursory look at this year’s consolidated statement of income reveals that expenses are more than half of total revenue. It will have to send home staff to stay in the game and placate disgruntled shareholders.

The move that sees the Jamaica Gleaner and Jamaica Observer signing an MOU to explore a shared production and distribution platform should help with efficiencies and cost savings.

One would expect the Gleaner’s North Street facilities to take precedence, though the Jamaica Observer’s printing plant is not as old and worn as that of the Gleaner’s.

In Jamaica, one is increasingly seeing non-media professionals lead the bigger media houses. The aim is survival, and focus is placed on the bottom line rather than the craft.

The RJR Group decided to cast aside Gary Allen and Claire Grant, two long-serving media professionals, as it looks to the future. Media like football is a funny old game. You don’t see too many engineers as football managers – the job requires a unique set of skills, knowledge of the news business, workflow, getting the best out of content teams, leadership abilities, intuition, a familiarity with news makers, summoning up talent and delivering on a deadline. You need to love it.

It really is about garnering attention. An audience must want to listen to you, must want to read what you have to say, fell compelled to watch your content.

Media is now in a new era. The old model will have to adapt. Today, there are too many choices. Media operations have to stand out from the crowd and do so cost-effectively.