If you throw all the products we buy and the services we use in one basket, then add up the price tag, that's the Gross Domestic Product, which is the primary metric economists use to assess the economic health of a country or region.

The easy part of calculating GDP is the calculation itself: C+I+G+(X-M)=GDP. Got it? No? Well, add Consumption, Investment by companies, Government purchases, and then take the product of eXports (calling it 'E' would lack sexiness) minus iMports ('I' was taken). Viola! GDP.

Still don't get it? Well, knowing the components helps. Consumption is the biggest component, and it's a tally of the cost of all the goods and services we buy. Investment is what companies spend on the real assets they own, plus the value of the inventory that we haven't gobbled up through consumption. Government purchases are what the Feds pay money for (whether it be highways or fighter jets, though big social programs, like welfare, aren't counted). And then we calculate the difference between the goods and services we¿re sending to other countries and the stuff we're bringing in.

Good. That explains it, except there's a catch. Inflation has a habit of distorting the numbers, so economists talk about either Nominal GDP or Real GDP. In fact, Real GDP isn't necessarily "real" for most folks, since it takes any inflation out. Nominal GDP includes the effects of inflation. (There's something called the implicit price deflator which is a calculation using the two, but we'll spare you the details.)

So, now that we know GDP, why do we want to? Well, it's good to compare different markets. And watching the trend shows whether a given economy is growing (good), stagnating (not so good), or shrinking (very not so good). When GDP goes down two quarters in a row, we're officially in a recession.

For the record, GDP is released at the end of each month, with most reporting ¿preliminary¿ data for the previous month. But you won't get final GDP numbers for the fourth quarter of a year until the very end of the first quarter of the next year. After all, it's not an easy number to calculate.

Home / Markets / Industries / Media

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Journal Communications' Broadcast Group Signs Asset Purchase Agreement for KNIN-TV in Boise, Idaho

Email this Story | Respond to Editor | Print

Comtex

MILWAUKEE, Jul 01, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) ----Journal Communications, Inc. (NYSE:JRN) announced today that its Journal Broadcast Group, Inc. and Journal Broadcast Corporation have entered into an asset purchase agreement with Banks-Boise, Inc. to purchase KNIN-TV for $8 million, subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions. KNIN-TV, Analog Channel 9 and Digital Channel 10, is the CW Network affiliate serving the Boise market.

Journal Broadcast Group currently owns KIVI-TV, the ABC affiliate, and radio stations KJOT-FM, KQXR-FM, KTHI-FM, KGEM-AM, KRVB-FM and KCID-AM in Boise.

"The acquisition of KNIN is on strategy and gives us an opportunity to build out cross-platform businesses in Boise, one of the country's fastest growing markets," said Doug Kiel, vice chairman and chief executive officer of Journal Broadcast Group. "With two television stations and our radio properties in this market, we can better serve advertisers and viewers in the Treasure Valley and build an even stronger presence in the community."

Lyle Banks, chairman and president of Banks Broadcasting, the parent of Banks-Boise, commented: "KNIN has a terrific and hardworking staff. I'm particularly pleased that KNIN is being turned over to an experienced broadcasting company whose leadership has a real commitment to the Boise market, the local community and to its employees."

The KNIN-TV transaction was brokered by Kalil & Company, Inc.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements related to our businesses that are based on our current expectations. Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties, including changes in advertising demand and other economic conditions that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations expressed in forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements should be evaluated with the understanding of their inherent uncertainty. Our written policy on forward-looking statements can be found on page 1 of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

About Journal Communications

Journal Communications, Inc., headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was founded in 1882. We are a diversified media company with operations in publishing, radio and television broadcasting, interactive media and printing services. We publish the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which serves as the only major daily newspaper for the Milwaukee metropolitan area, and 52 community newspapers and shoppers in Wisconsin and Florida. We own and operate 35 radio stations and 11 television stations in 12 states and operate an additional television station under a local marketing agreement. Our interactive media assets include more than 121 online enterprises that are associated with our daily and community newspapers and television and radio stations. We also provide a wide range of commercial printing services - including printing of publications, professional journals and documentation material - and operate a direct marketing services business.

SOURCE: Journal Communications, Inc.

Journal Broadcast Group Jim Thomas 414-967-5293 jthomas@journalbroadcastgroup.com

Copyright
   Business Wire 2008 ********************************************************************** As of Friday, 06-27-2008 23:59,
   the latest Comtex SmarTrend� Alert, an automated pattern recognition system, indicated a DOWNTREND on 04-11-2008 for JRN @
   $6.81. For more information on SmarTrend, contact your market data provider or go to www.mysmartrend.com SmarTrend is a registered
   trademark of Comtex News Network, Inc. Copyright � 2004-2008 Comtex News Network, Inc. All rights reserved.