Gannett completes split of newspaper, broadcast units

US media giant Gannett said Monday it completed its breakup which separates its newspaper division, including flagship USA Today, from broadcast and digital businesses.

Gannett is the latest of the media conglomerates to spin off struggling print operations, following similar moves by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., Tribune Co. and others.

The renamed parent company called Tegna owns or provides services to 46 television stations and operates websites such as Cars.com and CareerBuilder.

The plan unveiled last year spins off the newspaper unit, which will retain the Gannett name and operates some 90 US newspapers and includes the British-based Newsquest Media Group.

“With more than 4,000 journalists across digital and print publications in more than 110 markets across the US and UK, plus the national reach of USA Today, Gannett is uniquely positioned as a next-generation media company," said Robert Dickey, chief executive of the new company.

"Over the next year, we will continue to innovate and invest in this network, push the boundaries of storytelling and how it's experienced and diversify our offerings."

Tegna CEO Gracia Martore said in a separate statement that "today is the culmination of relentless focus and hard work over the past three and a half years to transform our businesses... we are ready to hit the ground running and we couldn’t be more excited about what the future holds."