Tribune Reports January Revenues Down
7%
CHICAGO, February 22, 2002 --
Tribune Company (NYSE:
TRB), one of the country's premier media companies, operating
businesses in broadcasting, publishing and on the Internet,
today reported its summary of revenues and newspaper advertising
volume for period 1, ended Feb. 3, 2002. Consolidated revenues
for the period were $446 million, down 7 percent from last
year's $480 million.
Publishing revenues decreased 8 percent in
January to $342 million, down from last year's $373 million.
Total advertising revenue decreased 12 percent to $256 million,
down from last year's $290 million. Total advertising inches
decreased 3 percent in January.
For January, retail advertising revenue decreased
5 percent due to declines in the electronics and department
store categories. These were partially offset by gains in
the food store category. Full run retail volume was down 7
percent. National advertising revenue was down 6 percent due
to weakness in the financial and travel categories, partially
offset by movies/entertainment; full run national volume declined
6 percent. Classified advertising revenue was down 21 percent
due to continued softness in help wanted. Higher auto and
real estate partially offset the decline. Full run classified
volume was down 9 percent for the period.
Broadcasting and Entertainment group revenues
decreased 5 percent to $97 million, down from $103 million
in January 2001. Television revenue decreased 7 percent in
January due to the continued soft television advertising economy.
January 2001 results also included $5.8 million of copyright
royalty revenue compared with $0.3 million in January 2002.
Excluding the effect of copyright royalties, Broadcasting
and Entertainment revenues were flat and television revenues
decreased 1 percent from last year.
Tribune Interactive revenues grew 42 percent
to $7 million in January, up from $5 million last year due
to the continued strength of online classifieds.
Tribune's 2001 full year and quarterly pro
forma results are now available in the Financials
section of our Web site, tribune.com.
These pro forma results assume the provisions of Financial
Accounting Standard ("FAS") No. 142 were effective
Jan. 1, 2001.
:: :: ::
TRIBUNE (NYSE:
TRB) is one of the country's premier media companies,
operating businesses in broadcasting, publishing and on the
Internet. It reaches more than 80 percent of U.S. households,
and is the only media company with television stations, newspapers
and Web sites in the nation's top three markets. Tribune media
span 23 major-market television stations, including national
superstation WGN-TV; 12 market-leading daily newspapers, including
the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Newsday; and news
and information Web sites in 18 of the nation's top 30 markets.
This press release contains certain comments
or forward-looking statements that are based largely on the
company's current expectations and are subject to certain
risks, trends and uncertainties. Such comments and statements
should be understood in the context of Tribune's publicly
available reports filed with the SEC, including the most current
annual report, 10-K and 10-Q, which contain a discussion of
various factors that may affect the company's business. These
factors could cause actual future performance to differ materially
from current expectations. Tribune Company is not responsible
for updating the information contained in this press release
beyond the published date, or for changes made to this document
by wire services or Internet service providers.
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