Media General posts 3rd-quarter loss on one-time charge, falling revenue

Media General posts 3Q loss

RICHMOND, Va. — Falling ad revenue and a big one-time charge pushed newspaper and TV station owner Media General Inc. to a third-quarter loss, the company said Wednesday.

The publisher of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Tampa Tribune in Florida and other newspapers attributed a big chunk of the ad revenue decline to the absence of Olympic and political ads that fattened results a year ago.

But CEO Marshall Morton conceded that the “advertising environment in the third quarter remained challenging.”

Newspapers have been losing ad dollars as readers turn to free news on the Web and advertisers follow. Internet advertising is still far cheaper than the print kind and makes up just a small portion of most newspapers’ revenue. The recession has exacerbated that advertising decline as consumers and marketers alike pull back spending.

The Richmond, Va.-based company lost $62.5 million, or $2.80 per share, in the three months ended Sept. 27. That compares with a profit of $6.1 million, or 27 cents per share, a year ago.

Revenue fell 18 percent to $158 million from $192.9 million a year ago, when Olympic and political ad revenues contributed accounted for about $18.5 million in sales.

Media General said a hefty write-down in the value of its newspapers and stations took profits down by $84 million. Excluding special items, it said earnings would have come to $4.4 million, or 20 cents per share.

Its shares rose 46 cents, or 4.2 percent, to close at $10.54 after rising to a 52-week high of $11.65 earlier in the session.