Report: Ad Linage Up in January

By: E&P Staff Publicly traded newspaper companies such as Pulitzer, McClatchy and Gannett propelled the industry to ad revenue and linage gains in January, according to a report out Tuesday by MediaPost.com.

Ad revenues were up 3%, to $1.28 billion from $1.24 billion. Pulitzer was up 8%, to $28.1 million; McClatchy rose 5%, to $79.7 million; and Gannett gained 6%, to $373.6 million. Journal Communications, however, saw a 2% dip in ad revenue compared with January 2003.

Overall, linage went from 22.1 million inches a year ago to 22.5 million in January. Leaders in the category included E.W. Scripps, up 4%, and Lee Enterprises and Media General, both up 3%. Knight Ridder and The New York Times Co. dropped slightly, and Journal Communications was off 4%.

Retail advertising was a mixed bag: revenue rose 2%, but linage was off 3%. National advertising dollars were up 1%. And classified ad spending was up 4%, with most companies reporting gains in the mid- to high-single digits.

The MediaPost analysis did not include companies such as Belo or Dow Jones, which don't release detailed linage and revenue data on a monthly basis.