Well, there were also tough comps during a political off-year which led to red-ink results at multimedia Journal Communications. Chairman/CEO Steve Smith explained, "The weak advertising environment persisted in the third quarter of 2007." The loss of political was a big key, along with ongoing weakness in the automotive category and general weakness in national business. The company is mitigating the traditional damage somewhat with increased results online.
Overall, operating revenue from continuing operations was down 5.6% to 144.4M. Net earnings actually increased 3.1% to 12.6M, although much of that was attributable to a favorable 825K tax adjustment and a 430K insurance settlement. Broadcast revenue was down 7.9% to 53.7M, reflecting a change in political issue advertising. In Q3 2006, the category was good for 4.2M; this time, 400K. TV was down 11.6% to 31.2M, and radio was down 2.3% to 22.5M. However, radio, on a same station basis, was down only 0.5%.
