New York Times, Media General post double-digit growth, others struggle
By Leah McBride Mensching, Wednesday 19 December 2007 at 23:43 :: Newspaper Data :: #998 :: rss
The latest monthly revenue figures from U.S. publishers the New York Times Company and Media General show both companies seeing double-digit growth. The New York Times Company saw revenue data slightly above the publisher's peers, while Media General underwent struggles in print, but saw double-digit growth for its interactive unit.
At the same time, two other major U.S. newspaper publishers, Gannett and McClatchy, seem to be experiencing more hurt by classified ad revenue reductions, paidContent reported
The New York Times Company saw high levels of online activity, although the whole picture for the group was mixed. Continuing operations revenues were up 1.7 percent to $283 million, compared to the same month last year. Advertising revenues dropped 0.2 percent to $189.5 million, and circulation revenues went up 3.7 percent.
Media General's interactive media division saw revenues go up 34.8 percent, due to the company's adver-gaming business and growth in national and regional advertising, the company reported. Media General's partnership with Yahoo-owned HotJobs also helped alleviate the a classifieds drop of 13.1 percent. Since last November, local online revenues grew 42.5 percent, due to the company focusing on direct sales instead of convergence-related print upsells.
Gannett's operating revenues dropped 4.6 percent to $634 million. Classifieds dropped 11.2 percent to $3.4 million, due to real estate revenues being down 17 percent, employment revenues being down 14.4 percent and automotive revenues dropping 10 percent. However, local advertising revenues did grow 1.6 percent in November. For the group's flagship paper, USA Today, ad revenues were down 1.6 percent on paid ad pages of 364, compared to 392 last year.
McClatchy's stocks have fallen due to classified and circulation woes, like so many other papers across the United States; however, McClatchy has taken a bigger hit than most. The company's shares closed on Monday at $12.75, a more than 80 percent drop from the company's peak in 2005. The sharp decline leaves the company, the third-largest U.S. newspaper publisher, with a market cap of barely $1 billion, far from the top U.S. newspaper publisher, Gannett, with $8.2 billion. The current state of affairs has the McClatchy family considering going private, but nothing is currently in the works, paidContent reported.
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