Media General Newspapers Report August Uptick in Ad Revenue

By: E&P Staff Media General reported on Thursday total revenues of $74.9 million in August, a 13.3% increase compared to the same period last year.

Publishing division revenues dropped 0.9% to $43.5 million. Newspaper advertising revenue was up slightly to $36.6 million.

"Retail advertising growth at our newspapers mostly reflected the success of our focus on new product initiatives," Marshall Morton, president and CEO, said in a statement. "Our classified advertising results mirrored industry trends, including healthy growth in real estate advertising offset by lower spending in the automotive category, and softening of help-wanted advertising compared to the robust growth of that category over the past few years. "

Retail advertising revenue was up 3.3% to $16.4 million. National declined 1.8% to $3.0 million. Classified advertising fell 2.5% to $16.5 million.

By property, total revenue at the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch was up 0.7% to $10.5 million. In Tampa, revenue dropped 1.7% to $13.6 million. The Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal's revenue was up slightly to $4.0 million. Revenue at the company's community newspapers fell 1.45 to $15.1 million.

In Richmond, total advertising revenue grew 2.4% to $8.3 million. At the Tampa (Fla.) Tribune, it decreased 1.3% to $12.4 million. Ad revenue was up slightly in Winston-Salem to $3.2 million. The community newspapers reported ad revenues of $12.2 million, down 0.5%.

Circulation revenue dropped 6.7% to $425,000. Approximately 40% of the decline was due to the elimination of subsidies to independent carriers at several newspapers.