If newspapers dropped their print product

Assume a newspaper has revenue of $100 million a year operating on a 15% margin with 60% of its costs and 90% of its revenues tied to print. Alan Mutter of Newsosaur runs the math:

“If the company abandoned print but were able to double its online sales to $20 million, it would lose $14 million in a year, for an operating margin of a negative 70%. To break even, the prototypical publication would have to more than triple its sales from the current levels. To make a profit of 15%, the company would have to quadruple it sales.”

Which, you could argue, is conceivable. But not anytime soon.