If print advertising revenue had been down and Internet revenue up, there would have been some hope that The New York Times (NYT) was making a modestly successful transition online.
But, total Internet revenue decreased 5.6%to $78.2 million from $82.9 million and Internet advertising revenues declined 6.1% to $67.6 million from $72.0 million.
The company’s overall results were even worse because of a 27% decline in advertising revenue for the quarter. The entire NYT reported a first-quarter 2009 operating loss of $61.6 million compared with operating profit of $6.2 million in the first quarter of 2008.
Total revenues decreased 18.6%to $609.0 million from $747.9 million. The only saving grace was that the firm is still cutting costs. For the first quarter, operating costs decreased 9.5% to $654.3 million from $723.3 million.
In terms of the major properties in the company’s newspaper group, revenue at the New England group, which includes The Boston Global, fell 21% to $104 million on a 32% plunge in advertising revenue.
No wonder NYT wants to cut costs at The Globe, or fold it.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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