RI Media - LIN Up, Belo Down, Phoenix Laysoffs Five, GoLocal Up 500%
Friday, August 03, 2012
This week Rhode Island saw several interesting developments in the media industry. The local TV groups, the alternative newspapers' parent company, the Providence Journal's Dallas-based parent company A.H. Belo, and Providence's GoLocal24 - each reported new numbers.
Here is the round up:
The parent company of WPRI-12 and the local Fox affliate, LIN Media reported big number for Q2.
Net revenues increased 20% to $121 million, compared to $101 million in the second quarter of 2011. Local revenues, which include net local advertising revenues, retransmission consent fees and TV station web site revenues, increased 14% to $74.3 million, compared to $65 million in the second quarter of 2011. Net political revenues were $7.6 million, compared to $1.8 million in the second quarter of 2011.
Lin Media's President and Chief Executive Officer Vincent L. Sadusky said: "A healthy rebound in automotive advertising, our unique multiplatform advertising solutions and strong political demand were the major drivers for our 20% increase in net revenues, which exceeded the high-end of our revenue guidance."
LIN is headqartered in Providence and owns 50 TV stations across the country.
The Virginia-based TV group who recently sold off their newspapers this week announced the layoff of 75 employees across their corporate structure. It is unclear if the layoffs will affect staffing at WJAR.
The news from Dallas is not good as the newspaper group and owner and operator of the Providence Journal continued to struggle in advertising and circulation in Providence. For the Providence Journal circulation revenue was down 6%. Across the company, "Display advertising revenue decreased 15 percent to $21.5 million, and preprint revenue decreased 1 percent to $20.3 million. Classified revenue decreased 13 percent to $13.6 million. Digital revenue increased 1 percent to $8.8 million."
The good news was the their revenue increased for contract printing.
Phoenix
Good news and bad news hit the parent company of the Providence Phoenix. The company announced that the Boston Phoenix was being transformed into a glossy publication, but the bad news was the layoffs of five employees. Previously, the group sold of their loved WFNX radio station. The media group announced that the Providence Phoenix (as well as the Portland, Maine) would continue to be published.
The Providence-based start up media company that has launched GoLocalProv.com and GoLocalWorcester.com announced significant growth in pageviews in both markets. GoLocalProv.com has grown by more than 500% in the past 12 months. The recently launched GoLocalWorcester.com exceeded 1 million pageviews in July.
GoLocalProv.com in July of 2011 delivered over 447,000 pageviews. In July of 2012, the combined sites delivered more than 2.3 million pageviews.
Moreover, GoLocalWorcester.com, which launched in mid-February, exceeded 1.059 million pageviews in the month of July – a 100% increase in pageviews since the site’s initial launch month.
Related Articles
- Meet the GoLocalTV Team
- LIN Media: Channel 12 Owners OK Stock Deal
- Man of the Year - GoLocal
- WJAR Partners On GoLocal DEM Investigation
- Woman of the Year - GoLocal
- NEW: GoLocalProv News Editor to Appear on Media Panel at RIC
- Comcast in Boston Will Feature WJAR 10
- Channel 10 First to Flip to HD with a new set
- Channel 10 Employees Face Furloughs
- Channel 10 SUNRISE Show #1 for 25-years
- Channel 10 and 12 in a Ratings War
- Channel 10, Matt & Ann Rest Easy – New CBS Morning Show A Dog
- Projo Goes PayWall - Are You Ready to Pay More than $200 Per Year?
- ProJo Loses Sales and Circulation
- Projo Parent Company Loses $6.7M in First Quarter
- Projo Going to Paywall - Here is a Peek
- Projo Schools Writer Paid by State Education Funds
- Media Buzz: Cumulus Shake-Up Begins, New Sunrise Show Shines, Where’s The New ProJo?
Comments:
paul zecchino
10:48pm on Friday, August 03, 2012
GolocalProv up five-hundred percent? No surprises there, eh? Golocal is the first site we hit for news of RI. Why? Because you tell it straight, on the level, that's why. No mystery about it, is there?
Yeah, ProJo's fun especially for the latest 'ID the old photo' interactive column, yet for the most part, when my family and I read ProJo we read the bloggers' comments beneath articles first, as they tell the tale.
Too much of the Journal reporting - and this is a typical complaint across the board with many legacy papers - is superficial, incomplete, and skewed in favor of Elites, Swells, wankers and tossers 'too big to fail'.
An example is the obsolete 'learning center', the fusion of the money laundries known as Brown University and Lifescam, during an era when physical campuses, particularly those of marxist leaning 'little red schoolhouses' of the Poison Ivy Leagues, are quickly becoming obsolete.
A pleasure to read straight up real reporting, the way they used to do it: who, what, when, where, why, how many, so on so forth.
Paul Vincent Zecchino
Manasovietskiya Ortova, Florida
03 August, 2012