Allbritton Communications operates on a different calendar from most companies, so its report on the quarter May-June 2008 is its fiscal Q3. And while revenues were down, the owner of seven ABC affiliates did better than the industry overall. The decline in net revenues was only 1.2% to $57.4 million. Local and national spot sales were off 5.6% to $50 million. Political increased to $898,000 from only $60,000 a year earlier. We would also note that Allbritton continues to get some network comp, $858,000, down from $872,000. And cable/satellite/telco subscriber fees were $3.1 million, up from $2.7 million. That’s not just retrans for the ABC stations. Allbritton also has a 24/7 local cable news channel in the Washington, DC metro.
Included in Allbritton’s results, along with its TV and cable operations, is Politico, its print and online news operation for Beltway insiders. The company said a general decrease in demand for local and national TV advertising was partially offset by new billing at Politico.
Allbritton is privately owned, but has public bonds.
