The Washington Post Co. | The Washington Post
The Washington Post’s website and Slate saw gains in revenue from display (16 percent) and classified advertising (8 percent) in the first quarter of 2013. The rises are a rare bright spot in the newspaper publishing section of the Washington Post Co.’s earnings report.
Print ad revenue was down 8 percent. Both daily and Sunday circulation were down, by 7.2 percent and 7.7 percent respectively. Overall the company’s newspaper division lost $34.5 million in the first quarter of 2013, compared with $20.6 million in the first quarter of 2012. The company chalks that decline up to an increase in early retirement and severance expenses. “[O]n a cash flow basis,” Steven Mufson writes, newspaper publishing “lost only $5.4 million.”
Revenue from the company’s cable-television division was up 5 percent. Television broadcasting revenue was up 5 percent.
The Post has said it will likely install a paywall this year. It plans to sell its downtown D.C. office building as well.
Other roundups of first quarter earnings reports: McClatchy reports 22,000 digital-only subscribers | New York Times company announces ‘new strategy for growth’ | Circulation revenue gains offset advertising losses at Gannett in first quarter
