More than two years after announcing plans to sell off its television group (5/11/05 TVBR #93), Emmis Communications still has one station to go. In the company's quarterly conference call yesterday, CFO Pat Walsh told analysts that the company is still working to find a buyer for WVUE-TV (Ch. 8, Fox) New Orleans and that he expected to announce a sale in 3-12 months – the same time frame heard in earlier calls.
Since many TVBR subscribers likely still have Emmis stock from what used to be a 16-station TV group, you may be interested in the company's financial results from its fiscal Q1 (March-May). It was another tough quarter for the company. Wall Street had lowered the bar so much for Emmis, though, that the company actually beat expectations slightly. But that was due to better-than-expected results from its international radio operations. Domestic radio was down 9%, mainly due to continued shortfalls in New York and Los Angeles. Look for more of the same in the current quarter.
