Gannett television interests take flight in Q3

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GannettThe strong NBC presence in the Gannett television station portfolio, along with excellent political results, fueled massive YOY gains in the third quarter, including a 38.1% boost in operating revenue.


Total revenue for Gannett, which is of courses heavily invested in the troubled newspaper business, were only 3%, but it still managed an overall net income increase of 33%.

Net revenue on the publishing side fell 3%, and publishing advertising revenue was down 6.6%.
But the Olympic and political-fueled broadcasting segment was soaring, generating results that broke existing company records. Operating revenues increased from $168.8 to $233.0M.

Gracia Martore , president and chief executive officer, said, “We are extremely pleased to report strong results and a return to revenue growth. We achieved record third quarter results in our Broadcasting segment. Our TV stations leveraged top 10 ratings positions and a more locally focused sales effort to generate substantially higher Olympic spending. Through strong ratings and a great footprint, they also maximized the opportunity to attract political spending. The early success of our new, all access content subscription model resulted in significant growth in company-wide circulation revenue, the first increase since early 2007. CareerBuilder once again delivered outstanding results that in turn enhanced Digital segment performance. Our digital strategies are working and company-wide digital revenue now represents more than 25 percent of total revenues. Finally, our continuing focus on creating efficiencies played an important role in delivering higher profitability and operating cash flow this quarter.”

RBR-TVBR observation: Try to remember this confluence of positives when Gannett issues its results for Q3 2013. Aa Misterogers might ask, “Can you say tough comps in the offing?”