2Q TV Revenue At Journal Rises 12.8%

Journal Communications today announced results for its second quarter that were powered by a 12.8% increase in television revenue, to $46.9 million, up from $41.6 million in the same period of 2013.

Steven J. Smith, Chairman and CEO, said: “Last week, Journal Communications announced an exciting transaction with The E.W. Scripps Company, where together we will create two publicly traded media businesses that will continue to serve their communities with a commitment to integrity, excellence, and enterprise journalism.

“Today, we are focused on the second quarter of 2014 and we are pleased to report that Journal Communications revenue of $105 million grew nearly 5%, benefiting from the continued growth in television retransmission revenue.

“Digital revenue growth of 10% and radio revenue growth in the quarter were also encouraging.

“Increased revenue drove an operating earnings increase of 34% in the quarter. Earnings per share were $0.21 compared to $0.13 last year.”

TV segment revenue broken down:

• Retransmission revenue was up 80.7% to $9.8 million
• Political advertising revenue was $1.5 million compared to $200,000.
• Local advertising revenue, excluding political, decreased 0.7%.
• Digital revenue, which is reported in local revenue, was $1.1 million, up 24.9%.
• National advertising revenue, excluding political, decreased 2.0%, primarily due to a decrease in the media advertising category.
• Total revenue, excluding political and retransmission revenue was $35.6 million, down 0.9%.

Operating earnings from television were $12.7 million, an increase of 52.0%. Television operating expenses increased 2.9%, or 5.3% excluding $0.7 million in acquisition costs in 2013, primarily due to increased network fees. The operating loss for the second quarter was $2 million compared to $2.3 million.