Media General Oct. Sales Fall 11.8 Pct (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)

AP ^ | November 21 2007

[Milhous]

Media General Sales Fall 11.8 Percent in Oct., Hurt by Weak Classified, Political Advertising

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Media General Inc., which publishes newspapers including the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and runs TV stations, said Wednesday revenue fell 11.8 percent in October hurt by weak classified and political advertising sales.

Total revenue slipped to $97.1 million from $110.2 million in the same month last year. The decrease reflects the absence of nearly $17.5 million in political advertising revenue compared with October 2006, the company said.

Sales from Media General's publishing division fell 9.1 percent, mostly due to continued weakness in classified advertising, particularly in the Tampa, Fla., market.

Sales from the company's broadcast operations tumbled 16.9 percent due to reduced spending on political advertising in the off-election year.

Declines in print and broadcast advertising revenue were partially offset by increased sales from the company's interactive media division, which grew 27.3 percent in October. The increase reflects significantly higher revenue from its advergaming business, Media General said.

Shares of Media General slid 56 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $23.96 in midday trading, after hitting a new 52-week low of $23.79 earlier in the session. Shares have traded between $24.19 and $43.94 in the past 12 months.

[Milhous]

ping

[Brilliant]

No wonder the media keeps talking about a recession.

[george76]

Total revenue slipped to $97.1 million from $110.2 million in the same month last year...

8-)

[Grampa Dave]

One of these days, these drops in revenue might become significant:

“Revenue fell 11.8 percent in October”

[abb]

GONE WITH THE WIND - 2007

"There was a land of Publishers and Editors called the Newspaper Business... Here in this pretty world Journalism took its last bow... Here was the last ever to be seen of Reporters and their Enablers, of Anonymous Sources and of Stringers... Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered. A Civilization Gone With the Wind..."

With apologies to Margaret Mitchell...

Oh, fiddlededee!

[bert]

Fantastically magnificant, outstandingly brilliant observation!

The headline should be “America deserts the press.... Readers quit reading, advertisers quit advertising”

[Secret Agent Man]

Happy Thanksgiving, all!

[Milhous]

One of these days, these drops in revenue might become significant:

[Grampa Dave]

Another Thanksgiving Blessing for our side.

[Milhous]

Another Thanksgiving Blessing for our side.

Steve Boriss elegantly articulates my own thankfulness. Happy Thanksgiving to all! See you after holiday break.

Thankful to be in a nation with founding principles that renew lost freedoms 11/21/07

Posted by Steve Boriss in Thanksgiving.
trackback

If my non-American readers will allow me to engage in a little Yankee pride on this Thanksgiving, I would like to express my gratitude for living in a nation whose founding principles based on individual rights continue to be a source of inspiration and renewal after more than 200 years. Like every nation, we are not perfect and go astray every once in awhile. But unlike virtually every nation, we have an optimism and confidence that the eternal and enlightened principles in our founding documents will ultimately pull us back, redeem us, and put us back on the right path. Thomas Jefferson was a human embodiment of this principle. He set a standard that all men are created equal in the Declaration of Independence. It was a standard he did not personally meet as a slave-owner, but he knew in his heart that the standard was right and he was wrong, so he freed his slaves upon his death. Similarly, on the issue of slavery, our nation knew we did not live-up to our standard, and we freed our slaves, accepting the death of half a million.

In the area of news, our nation’s standard is the First Amendment, which promised us a multitude of voices engaged in a freewheeling marketplace of ideas, free of pressure from the entity most anxious to violate our rights — government. Instead, we now live with a single national conversation controlled by elites who insist that their one version of the story is the truth, and who scoff at dissenting opinions. We have a Congress that has engaged in malpractice by doing exactly what the First Amendment tells it not to do — abridging our free speech with laws and agencies that regulate and intimidate, controlling who can say what when. But the seeds of Old Media’s destruction were planted more than 200 years ago. Bloggers are emboldened by the First Amendment’s promises, and private enterprise has the freedom to pursue profits, protected from the government by the rule of law. News will be pulled back, redeemed, and set back on the right path. For that, we ought to be thankful.

[Grampa Dave]

Happy Thanksgiving, and the message below needs to be broadcast and remembered by all of us.

In the area of news, our nation’s standard is the First Amendment, which promised us a multitude of voices engaged in a freewheeling marketplace of ideas, free of pressure from the entity most anxious to violate our rights — government. Instead, we now live with a single national conversation controlled by elites who insist that their one version of the story is the truth, and who scoff at dissenting opinions. We have a Congress that has engaged in malpractice by doing exactly what the First Amendment tells it not to do — abridging our free speech with laws and agencies that regulate and intimidate, controlling who can say what when. But the seeds of Old Media’s destruction were planted more than 200 years ago. Bloggers are emboldened by the First Amendment’s promises, and private enterprise has the freedom to pursue profits, protected from the government by the rule of law. News will be pulled back, redeemed, and set back on the right path. For that, we ought to be thankful.

Nothing beats real Capitalism and the use of the first amendment by us not the MSM/DINOSAUR FISHWRAPS and PRAVDABCNNBCBS.

[hinckley buzzard]

The decrease reflects the absence of nearly $17.5 million in political advertising revenue compared with October 2006, the company said.

Well that figures, lacking any hotly contested elections this year.

[alrea]

Fund takes on N.Y. Times, Media General boards

We are frankly puzzled as to what Harbinger hopes to achieve by its hostile actions," said Media General Chief Executive Marshall Morton in a written statement.

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks for the ping. Like the people cited below, I have no idea what Harbinger is up to. If we knew the political leanings of the Harbinger key people, we might have an inkling of what is happening and why.

“We are frankly puzzled as to what Harbinger hopes to achieve by its hostile actions,” said Media General Chief Executive Marshall Morton in a written statement.”

[Grampa Dave]

Great Comment! You might want to make this your tagline!

““America deserts the press.... Readers quit reading, advertisers quit advertising”

[george76]

Media General Sales Fall 11.8 Percent in October.

On an annual basis, that would be...