THE MORNING CALL, July 21, 2017. …Rodale is tapping its equity in real estate to maintain cash flow while it tries to right a ship that media consultant Peter Kreisky says hasn’t been able to smoothly sail into the digital era. “The entire industry has been under similar pressures, but some are in a better position than others to respond,” said Kreisky, of New York-based Kreisky Media Consultancy. “When like Rodale you’re neither a specialized publisher nor a massive player, then it’s all the more difficult.” Kreisky said Rodale has struggled to adapt from its position as a medium-sized player in the legacy media industry. Bigger competitors have the firepower to attract talent and make the necessary investments to thrive in a digital-first world, while smaller niche publishers have more leeway to focus on serving an extremely loyal audience, he said. While unfamiliar with the specifics of Rodale’s finances, Kreisky said the growing pressure to move aggressively in one direction or the other is likely related to pressure from Rodale’s lenders. When a company can’t clearly demonstrate its ability to produce the cash needed to cover both operating costs and interest payments, he said, lenders usually put enormous pressure on the company to renegotiate the terms of a loan. “Someone like Rodale has to consider either merging with a larger media company so it can shed operating costs, or it has to become more specialized, which probably means shedding some of its titles and focusing on enthusiast segments of the market,” he said.