Gannett TV station revenue was up 3.6% for the second
quarter of 2013 (the 13-week period ended June 24) to $204.8 million on the
strength of increased retrans and ad revenue, though "mitigated" by
lower political ad revenue. Digital revenue is more than a quarter of total
revenue.
The $204.8 million was compared to $197.7 for the second
quarter of 2012. Retrans revenues were up 62.3%, with advertising revenues up
1.5% over the same period last year, but that would have been 9.1% if political
ads were taken out of both sides of that equation (political revenue was down
$9.9 million compared to second-quarter 2012 when Congressfolk and a president
were being elected).
Gannett did not release the retrans figure for 2Q2013, but for 1Q2013 it was $36 million and 2Q is expected to be roughly the same.
"We are very pleased to report solid revenue growth in
our broadcasting and digital segments as well as our fourth consecutive quarter
of year-over-year circulation revenue growth overall in our publishing
segment," said president and CEO Gracia Martore in announcing the results.
Gannett said that companywide, digital revenue -- $185.5 million -- was up 20%
to almost 30% of total company revenue.
The company said it is still expecting to close its $2.2
billion buy of Belo by the end of 2013, subject to FCC approval.
Total TV revenues are expected to be down double-digits
(mid-teens) for the next quarter compared to 3Q2012 given the combination of
political and Summer Olympics dollars in that 2012 quarter that accounted for a
whopping $75 million. Excluding those, Gannett says Q3 TV revenue would be up
mid-teens.
Gannett owns 23 TV stations covering 18.2% of
the U.S. population (approximately 21 million households).
