As media companies merge into massive conglomerates, one giant is doing the opposite. Gannett, the largest U.S. newspaper publisher that owns USA Today and dozens of television stations and websites, announced that it planned to separate its publication business from broadcasting and digital brands.

Amidst proposed media mergers like Comcast and Time Warner Cable, or AT&T and DirecTV, companies like Gannett is cutting back in order to expand. 

Gannett reasoned that its breakup would create “two focused companies” with room to grow — “as well as pursue strategic acquisitions.”

Rupert Murdoch employed a similar strategy when he sold Sky news affiliates to put 21st Century Fox in a better position to buy Time Warner, which had recently cut off its print publications, Time, Inc. E.W. Scripps, which publishes several local papers, and Journal Communications, which publishes the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel among others, also agreed to divvy their companies into publications and broadcasting, in a trend that forces self-sustainability on the print industry.

Gannett’s publication side owns 81 daily newspapers and its broadcasting side boasts 46 stations, largely affiliated with NBC and CBS. Before it split, the company was among the largest media conglomerates on the globe.

UPDATE: Rupert Murdoch dropped 21st Century Fox's bid for Time Warner on August 6. 

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Banner image by ShashiBellamkonda, CC BY 2.0