Gannett reported television revenues of $197.7 million in the second quarter, up 11.2% from the same quarter last year. A $9 million increase in political advertising, and "significantly higher" core advertising, led by automotive, drove the growth.
Retransmission revenues totaled $22.7 million, a 17.1% increase from the second quarter a year ago, and television station digital revenues were 11.5% higher. TV's core revenue was up 6.2%.
Gannett forecasts big things for its 23 stations in the third quarter. "Based on current trends, we expect the percentage increase in television advertising revenues to be in the low-thirties for the third quarter of 2012 compared to the same quarter last year, benefiting from the Summer Olympic Games and political advertising," the company said. Gannett warned that it was too early to make concrete predictions.
Total operating revenues for Gannett in the second quarter were $1.31 billion, a decline of 2.1% from the second quarter of 2011.
Publishing segment operating revenues in the quarter were $920.3 million, compared to $977.1 million in the second quarter last year. "Volatile advertising demand and the sluggish economic recovery impacted results," said Gannett. Digital revenues in the publishing division were up 29.3% in the quarter.
Gannett's digital segment operating revenues totaled $181.3 million in the quarter, an increase of 4.5%.
"Gannett is making measurable progress in implementing our growth strategy," said Gracia Martore, president and CEO. "We are pleased with the early results of these efforts and look forward to strong progress in the second half of the year.
"All of Gannett's business segments remained solidly profitable in the second quarter, with Broadcasting and Digital operations delivering strong revenue growth," she added. "Broadcasting results were positively impacted by significantly higher core and politically related ad demand and retransmission revenue."
