Gannett, which owns 23 stations across the country including KARE in Minneapolis-Saint Paul and WUSA in D.C., announced today that its first quarter TV revenue had dipped 2%, compared to the same period last year.
In a news release, Gannett’s chairman and CEO Craig Dubow blamed the dip on the fact that the company’s NBC-affiliates had the Olympics last year and its CBS-affiliates saw a boost when the network aired the 2010 Super Bowl, which moved to Fox this year.
Overall, Gannett’s TV revenues were $158.3 million for the quarter, compared to $161.3 million last year. The company points out that it took in $18.6 million in Olympic spending and $2.2 million for ads related to the Super Bowl.
Gannett predicts second quarter revenues to be flat compared to last year.