Gannett Communications’ television revenues totaled $185.5 million for the first quarter of 2013, an increase of 8.5% on the year-ago quarter.
The retransmission revenue at Gannett’s 23 stations increased 58.7% and core advertising revenues increased 2.3%, enough to “more than offset lower advertising associated
with the move of the Super Bowl broadcast to the company’s six CBS stations from its 12 NBC stations,” the company said in a release.
Broadcast segment operating expenses totaled $107.9 million for the quarter, up 4.2%. Reported operating income was $87.3 million, up 15.2%.
“Core advertising growth and a substantial increase in retransmission revenue contributed to improving results in Broadcasting while Digital segment results continued to reflect CareerBuilder’s growing market position,” Gannett president and CEO Gracia Martore said in a statement. “Our improved profitability and revenue growth are also clear signs that our strategy is working.”