Earnings roundup: Digital a bright spot for NYT, McClatchy, Gannett

There’s no question that digital matters, but the message was made loud and clear in the most recent round of earnings among media entities. Gannett posted a 33 percent drop in fourth-quarter net income and pointed to reorganization costs as one reason for the decrease. But while its paper empire continues to lag, its digital business is up 11 percent for the year. McClatchy fared better, and touted its digital investments in an upbeat earnings report. The company beat forecasts due to heavy cost-cutting and debt reduction and dividends from online investments such as CareerBuilder.com. “Despite this good news,” noted PaidContent’s Jeff Roberts, “McClatchy faces the same race against time as other newspaper chains which are losing print revenues faster than they can grow digital ones.” The New York Times told a similar tale on the digital side of its business, announcing it’s reached 390,000 digital subscribers, a 20 percent increase from the third quarter. But that didn’t completely offset its declines in its print advertising revenue—or the fact that its About.com network of sites was hit hard by changes to Google’s algorithm.

Meanwhile, investigations into News Corp.‘s phone-hacking scandal cost it $87 million in the last quarter. The company’s net income rose 65% in the quarter, boosted by growth at its broadcast TV stations and cable networks, which helped offset a whopping 43 percent decline in its publishing business. The Walt Disney Co. also made out well with its cable business, particularly ESPN, proving it’s still staying immune to cord-cutting. The company reported a 12% increase in its first-quarter net income compared with a year earlier, company’s media networks group, which includes its cable channels, ESPN, ABC and locally owned stations. As PaidContent’s Daniel Frankel wrote, “No programming asset in the cable business has proven as resistant to cord-cutting as live sports.” Disney’s interactive revenues were actually down 20%, gaining in social gaming but losing revenues in console games.

• Revamping Cuts Profit at Gannett (NY Times)
  
• Gannett Misses Earnings Targets On Special Charges, Digital Revenue Up (paidContent)
  
• McClatchy Profit Rises on Cost-Cutting (Wall Street Journal)
  
• McClatchy Digital-Only Sales Rise (MediaPost)
  
• McClatchy Beats Earnings Forecasts, Touts Digital Investments (paidContent)
  
• New York Times Digital Subscription Numbers Grow 20 Percent (AllThingsD)
  
• The NYT needs a lot more than just a paywall (GigaOm)
  
• The New York Times’ About.com: From All-Star To Albatross (paidContent)
  
• Film, Cable-TV Boost News Corp. Earnings (Wall Street Journal)
  
• News Corp.’s PhoneGate Tab Keeps Rising (AllThingsD)
  
• What Cord-Cutters? Surging ESPN Drives Disney’s Profitable Q1 (paidContent)