This is also what Hearst told the Justice Department in interrogatory responses last November.

Hearst does not believe that entry into the metropolitan daily newspaper business in the relevant area [San Francisco] in direct competition with the combined San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner newspapers (or the Chronicle alone) is either economically feasible or rational business behavior." [PX 16.]

Hearst estimates the cost of a new printing plant at $210 million of which $139 million is unrecoverable sunk costs, and annual operating costs at $172 million for a newspaper of 300,000 daily circulation. (Id.) Hearst also estimates the annual production and distribution costs for The Examiner itself to be $48 million. This does not include news or editorial costs, which have totaled an additional $25 to $30 million per year. (PX 81; Deposition of James Asher ("Asher Depo."), pp. 191-195.) The total cost of producing The Examiner is thus three to five times what the Fangs plan to spend.

Indeed, Ted Fang himself testified in a Justice Department deposition last November 9 that Hearst’s attempts to sell The Examiner were "phoney" (Justice Department Fang Depo., p.126); and that, to be viable, a buyer would need an interest in the Sunday paper, a share of agency ad revenues, at least a six month transition period, and additional printing facilities (id., pp. 134-37, 171) – none of which the Fangs are acquiring.

Hence, the evidence that the sale to the Fangs is a sham is overwhelming.