Belo reports Q2 losses, but big web growth
David Johnson July 30th, 2007
The second quarter hits keep coming. Belo reported a 15 percent drop overall, largely due to dismal newspaper returns that pointed fingers on softening real estate, a scapegoat we’ve heard named from other publishers. On the broadcast side managed to produce slim increases, with local business advertising sales climbing 3.9 percent compared to national spot growth at a mere 1 percent. But, perhaps thanks to some very bright bulbs in the online division (cue to Cory), Belo’s web-related TV activities were up 48 percent.
3 Comments Add your own
1. Joe | July 30th, 2007 at 9:52 am
But here’s the $64,000 question: Is that 48% increase enough in real dollars to make up for that 15% decrease? In most cases, no. That realization is what brought down Knight Ridder, and is bringing down Tribune. There’s going to have to be some major shift in the way media companies monetize online to make up for the shortfall from their dying newspapers.
2. Rob | July 30th, 2007 at 10:29 am
Compared to the days when sales people used to drop ads on websites as “added value” it’s great news that their web sales are increasing. Local sales managers who know how to sell the web in web-savvy markets have made the difference.
Of course, not having to pay for the CueCat any more helps their web revenues too, and I’m sure that shrinking operating costs due to layoffs of the news division at Belo Interactive earlier this year have helped their bottom line.
As for newspaper revenues … follow the URL linked to my name for an article from this month’s Columbia Journalism Review on why newspaper revenues are down for Belo.
(Disclaimer: Yes, I’m a former Belo Interactive employee)
3. David Johnson | July 30th, 2007 at 11:30 am
joe, it isn’t enough, it is never enough for any of us. the real dollar amount for the 48% increase in belo’s web tv group is about $7 million.
we’ve been posting a lot lately about the challenges in recapturing dollars online that we’re losing from print and broadcast. see the buyers market quote in the fortune piece about washingtonpost.com blogged late last week. we’re seeing this story in every second quarter report. online is growing by percentage in high double digits, but those percentages just don’t capture the same dollars.
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