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Results of AFCP Quarterly Revenue Survey
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By Craig McMullin
Recent earnings releases by major media companies, announcements of newspapers for sale and closings and AFCP's recent revenue survey indicate that across the country media is experiencing a slowdown unprecedented.
The articles below are just a small sample of recent press releases.
AFCP's fourth quarter revenue survey showed that many free papers finished a very tough year with an exceedingly tough fourth quarter.
- Fourth Quarter revenues were down year over year for 73 percent of respondents compared to 59%, 64% and 66% in the first three quarters of 2008.
- Revenue decreases spanned the country with every region reporting more decreases than increases.
- Suburban markets showed the softest areas with 81% of respondents showing revenue decreases.
- Both shoppers and newspapers shared the pain equally.
Graphs for each of the comparisons can be downloaded by clicking on the following links:
Revenue by Region
Revenue by Publication Type
Revenue by Market Type
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Harte-Hanks' fourth-quarter profit down
48 percent
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Harte-Hanks Inc.'s
earnings fell nearly 50 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 as
companies drastically cut advertising spending in response to the
weakening economy.
San Antonio-based Harte-Hanks (NYSE: HHS) reported net income of
$14.3 million, or 23 cents per diluted share, on revenues of $269.6
million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2008. This compares to net
income of $27.5 million, or 39 cents per diluted share, on revenues of
$303 million for the same period a year ago.
Read more...
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Gannett earnings fall in 4Q
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 Gannett Co. reported lower preliminary earnings for the fourth quarter of 2008.
But the McLean, Va.,-based multi-media giant, which owns WGRZ-TV in
Buffalo, the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle newspaper and USA
Today, warned on Friday that even those profits will be wiped out after
it takes pretax write-downs of as much as $5.9 billion to reflect the
lower value of its newspapers.
The nation's largest newspaper publisher (NYSE: GCI) said
preliminary fourth-quarter earnings fell to $158 million, down 36
percent from the previous year.
The recession, which continues to beat up on ad revenue, was a major factor.
To help realign costs, Gannett slashed the work force at most of its
U.S. newspapers by 10 percent and cut newsroom jobs at USA Today by
about 5 percent in late 2008.
Those moves preceded a one-week unpaid furlough that Gannett is imposing in the first quarter of 2009.
It said revenue declined 8.5 percent to $1.74 billion, below expectations of $1.79 billion.
The results do not reflect accounting write-downs, which Gannett
expects to total $5.1 billion to $5.9 billion before taxes. The
write-downs would reduce profits by $4.5 billion to $5.2 billion after
taxes, the company said.
Fourth-quarter advertising revenue in publishing fell 22.7 percent
overall and 18.5 percent at USA Today, the nation's top-selling
newspaper, Gannett said.
Read more...
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Gannett offers to sell assets of the Tucson Citizen, or close it
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McLEAN, VA - Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI) today said it is offering to sell
certain assets of the Tucson (AZ) Citizen. If a sale is not completed by March
21, 2009, Gannett said it will have to close the newspaper.
"The Tucson Citizen has been part of Gannett since 1976 and we deeply
regret having to take this step. But dramatic changes in our industry combined
with the difficult economy - particularly in this region - mean
it is no longer viable for our partnership with Lee Enterprises Incorporated
to produce two daily newspapers in Tucson," said Bob Dickey, president
of the U.S. Community Publishing division of Gannett. "We applaud the
hard work and ongoing efforts of our employees at the newspaper. Their dedication
to journalism and to the community of Tucson deserves the highest praise. We
hope for a quick and positive response to this offer."
The Tucson Citizen is an afternoon newspaper that publishes Monday through
Saturday. It is one of the two newspapers produced by TNI Partners as part of
a joint operating arrangement (JOA) under the Newspaper Preservation Act. The
Arizona Daily Star, which is owned by a subsidiary of Lee Enterprises Incorporated,
is the second newspaper in the JOA. TNI Partners provides the production, distribution,
sales and other non-editorial business functions for both the Citizen and The
Star.
Read more...
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No Buyer for Baltimore Examiner; Free Paper Ceases Publication
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January 30, 2009 01:00 PM
by
findingDulcinea Staff
The Baltimore Examiner, a three-year-old free tabloid paper, has fallen victim to the adverstising slump and has closed up shop. Read more... |
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Cheers,
Craig McMullin
AFCP
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