classified advertising
Tribune CEO Sam Zell's entry in the understatement of the week contest: "We are operating in an exceptionally difficult financial and economic environment." True, but Tribune's problems stretch back further and go deeper than backlash from the current economy. The company reported a Q3 loss of $124 million Monday, compared with earnings of $84 million for the same period last year.
Given the level of distress throughout the newspaper business these days, maybe the industry should consider lobbying Capitol Hill for a bailout of it own? While it's safe to say that's not going to happen, panelists speaking about "old media" at the Dow Jones/Nielsen Media and Money Conference gave the idea some thought.
The New York Times (NYSE: NYT) company's revenues fell sharply in August (16 percent at its three main papers NYT, IHT and Boston Glober), yet its online showed a marked improvement over the flat July. Online ad revenues in its news media properties grew 7.9 percent despite weakness in online recruitment advertising, particularly in late August. About.com Group's ad revenues rose 16.1 percent due to growth in both cost-per-click and display advertising.
-- Jupitermedia: In its 10-Q, the stock photo and online media company, says its MediaBistro unit did revenue of $2.3 million in the latest quarter, and $4.4 million in the first half. Based on the $5 million in revenue the company did in the second half of last year, the unit now has trailing revenue of $9.4 million.
