Belo Corp. reported first quarter revenue of $151.5 million, a 1.9% decrease over first quarter revenue a year before. Local spot revenue was up 2.1% while national spot fell 2.7%. Revenue also fell due to the lack of Super Bowl and Olympic programming in this year's first quarter, compared to the first quarter of 2010.
Total spot revenue, including political, was down 4.2% in the first quarter.
"Belo's spot revenue excluding political was up slightly in the first quarter of 2011 despite difficult comparisons to the first quarter of 2010, which included significant Olympics and Super Bowl revenue," said Dunia A. Shive, Belo's president and CEO.
Station programming and other costs were $4.6 million more than the first quarter of 2010, due to what Belo called a "non-cash expense reduction related to third-party funding of certain newsgathering equipment" in the quarter.
Belo owns 20 TV stations.
