Gannett reported $163.9 million in broadcasting revenue in the first quarter, down 2.2% from the same quarter a year ago. The lack of Olympics, Super Bowl and political advertising led to the decline at the Gannett stations. Adjusted TV revenues, excluding the impact of these programming events, were up 7.3%.
Reported operating revenues at Gannett overall totaled $1.3 billion in the quarter, down 3.7% from the same quarter last year. Publishing operating revenues slipped 6.2%.
The company said it's growing its digital footprint. "During the quarter, we continued to focus on enhancing content distribution on every platform and sales across platforms," said Craig Dubow, Gannett's chairman and CEO. "The success of those efforts resulted in a 12% increase in company-wide digital revenue...Core advertising in Broadcasting continued the momentum seen in 2010. As a result, television revenues, when adjusted for the positive impact of the Olympics, the Super Bowl, which moved from CBS to Fox, and political spending in the first quarter last year, were up significantly."
Gannett expects second quarter broadcast revenue to be flat, compared to the second quarter of 2010.
