The ink for the month of October was read at on-the-block Tribune Company. Consolidated revenues fell 9.3% to 383M. Publishing only suffered a 7.9% loss to 287M, while broadcasting and entertainment properties fell 13.3% to 96M. Actually, broadcasting did not fare as poorly as print, falling only 7.1% in a challenging advertising climate. The real drop came from the Chicago Cubs, where the problem was simple scheduling — the team had five fewer home games compared to the year before.
The company offered some category color on the broadcast side. Down categories included political, mivies and retail. On the upswing were food/packaged goods, telecom and restaurant/fast food. Retail was also a down category for the company’s newspapers, where the bigger problem was a 19.2% decrease in classified revenue fueled by a 26.9% drop in real estate.
