US media company EW Scripps Co announced on November 7 it would cut 400 jobs as the weak advertising market inflicted another blow on the struggling US newspaper industry. Scripps, which owns newspapers in 15 US markets and 10 television stations, also said it was suspending its quarterly dividend as it reported steep losses in the third quarter of the year.
The Cincinnati, Ohio-based media company reported a loss from continuing operations of 21 million dollars compared with a profit of 16.6 million dollars during the same quarter the previous year.
Scripps, whose newspaper properties include the Rocky Mountain News in Denver and the Commercial Appeal in Memphis, said revenue declined by nine percent in the quarter to 230 million dollars from 253 million dollars.
It said advertising revenue declined by 20 percent during the quarter to 101 million dollars and was down across the board. That included online ad revenue, which was down 12 percent to 9.1 million dollars in the quarter. Print advertising revenue has been declining at newspapers across the country as circulation drops and more readers go online for their news.
Many advertisers have been shifting their dollars to the Internet, but gains in online advertising revenue have failed to keep pace with losses on the print side. Scripps said its results were affected by costs of 22 million dollars from the separation of Scripps Networks and interactive media businesses and 25 million dollars to write down its investment in a Denver newspaper partnership.
"These are unusual times, not without difficulty and peril," Scripps president and chief executive Rich Boehne said in a statement.
"Even through these challenging economic times, Scripps is fortunate to be able to focus on the opportunities ahead as local media markets adjust to the full impact of the Internet and other digital media platforms," he said.
Scripps said the "approximately 400" job cuts would yield annual savings of 15 million dollars and its newspaper division would employ less than 4,000 people at the end of 2008. Including the latest job cuts, Scripps has reduced its newspaper workforce by more than 1,000 employees since 2006.
Scripps was trading at 3.81 dollars on the New York Stock Exchange, a loss of 7.75 percent on the day.
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