The newly-newspaperless Washington Post still owns a television group, where the lack of political and Olympic income caused the red ink to flow freely in Q3 2013. Results for its cable division weren’t nearly as gruesome.
TV revenue fell from $106.4M to $87.1M, a decrease of 18%; and the rate of decline for operating income was even steeper – it fell 33% from $54.1M to $36.3M.
It’s not hard to find the loss in revenue – political was down $15.9M during Q3 and $10.8M in Olympic revenue was also making the act of matching Q3 2012 comps a nightmare.
There were a couple of bright spots – the company pulled in some extra income from ABC’s NBA finals, and it enjoyed increased retransmission consent income.
The company’s cable division enjoyed a 1% increase in revenue to $202.4M, despite losing basic video subscribers. Higher rates and lower promotional discounts were given credit for holding the line on revenue. WaPo says it will be focusing on reducing churn on its subscription rolls and working harder to retain its biggest-spending customers.
