Goodbye, daily newspapers in Detroit

[classicman]

NYT Co. 1Q losses worsen as ad sales plunge 27%

The New York Times Co. fell into a deeper financial hole during the first quarter as the newspaper publisher's advertising revenue plunged 27 percent in an industrywide slump that is reshaping the print media. Its shares dived after the results were released Tuesday.
The owner of The New York Times, The Boston Globe, the International Herald Tribune and 15 other daily newspapers lost $74.5 million, or 52 cents per share, in the opening three months of the year. That compared with a loss of $335,000 at the same time last year, which was break-even on a per-share basis.

The results in the most recent quarter included charges totaling 18 cents per share to cover the costs of jettisoning employees and other one-time accounting measures.

Even with those charges stripped out, the loss was much worse than analysts expected. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had predicted the New York-based company would lose 4 cents per share.

Revenue for the period dropped 19 percent to $609 million -- about $22 million below the average analyst estimate.

Chief Executive Janet Robinson painted a bleak picture for the spring too, predicting ad revenue will fall in the 20 percent to 30 percent range in the current quarter. The company is being hurt most by lower spending on real estate, automotive, help-wanted and movie ads.

How long before they start begging for money?