Held down by the print side, total revenues were up only 1.7% in Q3 for Journal Communications to $101.6 million. But the broadcast side shot up 14.2% to $48.5 million, with radio gaining and TV soaring.
“The primary drivers of the broadcast revenue increase were political and issue advertising of $4.7 million and a 30.5% increase in automotive advertising. Publishing revenue was down 6.5%. Declines in publishing continue to moderate in key advertising categories including classifieds,” said CEO Steven Smith. Within that 30.5% increase for auto, TV was way, way up – 48% – with radio up 7%. In all for Q3 TV revenues rose 22.3% to $30 million and radio gained 3.1% to $18.5 million.
“Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, we anticipate broadcast revenue will increase once again, given that political and issue advertising has exceeded our expectations,” Smith told Wall Street analysts. As of now, Q4 is pacing up in the high teens for television, with radio up mid- to low-single digits. The print side, though, is expected to have another down quarter.
Publishing revenues were down 6.5% in Q3 to $43.4 million, actually falling below the broadcast division. National advertising was up, but that wasn’t enough to counter declines for retail and classified.
