Meredith Corp.

The new quarterly dividend of $0.4075 per share, or $1.63 on an annual basis will be payable on March 15 to shareholders of record on Feb. 28.

The total during the company’s fiscal 2Q rose to $111 million, while the group’s operating profit climbed 65% from a year ago to $45 million.

On Friday, Meredith reaffirmed its earnings outlook for the second quarter of fiscal 2013 of $0.85 to $0.90, and for full fiscal 2013 of $2.60 to $2.95, both excluding a special charge related to business realignments and workforce reductions.

Stephen Lacy, the company’s CEO, says “approximately 30% of the [digital] traffic we generate is coming from mobile and tablet devices.” The company has looked to take advantage of that audience by introducing a series of mobile-specific site apps.

The company raises second quarter fiscal 2013 earnings per share range to $0.85 to $0.90. Donald C. Berg of Brown-Forman elected to its board of directors.

“We’ve been very active on the TV side, but we haven’t been able to close a transaction — yet,” says Chairman-CEO Stephen Lacy in today’s call with analysts. Looking ahead to the current quarter, Meredith is projecting that total company revenues should be up by a percentage in the high teens, led by growth of more than 20% in TV.

The total of $87 million in the fiscal first quarter is helped by $12 million in political and a 5% increase in non-political money, led by automotive.

The relaunch by StepLeader encompasses live streaming video support, app upgrades on the iOS and Android platforms, as well as enhanced interactive weather features.

Political and core advertising and retrans increases boost Local Media Group revenue to $85 million.

Time Warner Cable reported Wednesday night that the company has agreed to an extension of retransmission consent for Meredith TV stations through July 31.

The gain is driven by gains in automotive and professional services advertising and a 70% rise in digital revenue.

Meredith Corp. announced today that Jon Werther has been named chief strategy officer. In this role, Werther, 43, will work with Meredith’s senior management team on evolving corporate and business unit […]

But factoring out political results in a 9% revenue increase over last year’s quarter. Automotive and professional services categories were up 15% and 19%, respectively, while digital ad revenues rose by more than 50%.

CEO Steve Lacy made no bones about having taken a good, hard look at the four-station McGraw-Hill TV group. But the final multiple was beyond the range that was good for shareholders, he said.

That changes to a 3% increase when political is factored out. Automotive gained 4% in the quarter, while digital revenue was up over 25%.

Meredith’s women’s lifestyle show enters its fifth season with a New York affiliate, the CW Network Plus stations and a new HD studio in Manhattan. JD Roberto joins Audra Lowe as co-host.

The drop in political advertising held back performance. Taken out of the equation, non-political ad revenues were up 3%.

That non-political ad  increase is led by the automotive, retail and media categories and drove its Local Media Group revenue to $71 million.

A few words of caution for those enterprising station groups deciding to produce their own programming rather than buy syndicated fare. Think beyond just news; be merciless — if it doesn’t work, kill it and move on; and stay focused on building a strong, sustainable show for your own markets before even thinking about offering it to stations elsewhere.

The former president of Freedom Broadcasting will succeed Elden Hale as head of Meredith’s Nashville NBC affiliate.

The head of Meredith’s NBC affiliate will step down on April 1, ending a broadcasting career that began in 1967.

The gain was led by $22 million in political ad money in addition to strong performances from nine non-political ad categories including auto, professional services and retail.

Meredith’s CBS Affiliate WGCL will take over day-to-day operations of Turner’s Peachtree TV brand, including advertising sales, marketing and promotions and technical operations.