Revenue for Journal Broadcast Group was $65.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2013, a 13.1% drop compared to the year-ago quarter. The drop was attributed to a lack of political ad revenue and Olympic revenue: political advertising was $0.4 million and Olympic advertising was $1.6 million for the full year of 2013, compared to $19.9 million and $38 million, respectively, in 2012.
On a same-station basis excluding the extra week of 2012 and political revenue, total revenue was up 10.6%, local revenue was up 2.1% and national revenue was up 11.4%. Retransmission revenue was also up: Journal Broadcast Group reported $5.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2013 compared to $2.9 million in the year-ago quarter.
“Journal Communications delivered a solid fourth quarter in a non-political year, driven by gains in core revenue in our broadcast group and improving advertising revenue trends in publishing,” Steven J. Smith, chairman and CEO of Journal Communications, said in a statement.