NY Times Dying a Slow Death

The New York Times reported worse-than-expected results on Thursday as advertisers cut spending on both print and digital outlets, sending shares down 12 percent. The newspaper company said that revenue was up almost 1 percent to $449 million. Still, the result missed the analysts' consensus estimate of $479.23 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Adjusting for severance costs and other special items, the company reported a quarterly loss of 1 cent per share, well below expectations of earnings of 8 cents per share. The slight uptick in revenue was due to a 7.4 percent rise in circulation revenue helped by the company's digital subscription plans.

But as the company tries to rely more on circulation for its revenue, advertising sales are in a persistent slump. "It wasn't a nice quarter on revenue," said Edward Atorino, an analyst with Benchmark Co. "The advertising numbers look terrible. I thought they might do a little better. They are caught up in the downslide like everybody else." Read more >>

NEWSPAPER AD REVENUES COLLAPSE TO 1950 LEVELS

 

There are three important things to keep in mind when looking at this gorgeous graph:

1. The graph is adjusted for inflation.

2. The red line accounts for online ad revenue.

3. The end began with the rise of the online blog.

Read more >>

Financially-strapped cities cut jobs, services

Image via WikipediaBelt-tightening continued in cities across the United States in 2011, as fiscal crunches forced local governments to cut back.

City revenues are projected to decline 2.3% by the end of 2011, according to a new report from the National League of Cities released Tuesday, marking the fifth straight year of declines.

One of the main factors contributing to the decline in revenue is a drop in property tax collections, which are projected to fall by 3.7% in 2011, the second straight year of declines. Last year's drop of 2.0% was the first year-over-year decline in city property tax revenues in 15 years.

To make up for the shortfalls, cities reported numerous job cuts, canceled infrastructure projects, cuts in services like libraries and parks and recreation programs, and modified health care benefits for employees. More...

Record Pay on Wall Street

In 2010, total compensation and benefits at publicly traded Wall Street banks and securities firms hit a record of $135 billion, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal. The total is up 5.7% from $128 billion in combined compensation and benefits by the same companies in 2009.

At 25 large financial firms that have reported full-year results, revenue rose to $417 billion, another all-time high, even though last year's 1% increase was just a fraction of the industry's revenue jolt from 2008 to 2009 as trading and investment banking sprang back to life. Read more...