The New York Times Group yesterday issued a profits warning, fearing that last week’s terrorist attacks could lead to a further decline in advertising revenues.
The company, which also publishes the Boston Globe, reported that ad revenues fell in August by 17.8% below July’s level – compared with the same period last year when they rose by 7.8%. Furthermore, it expects that results for September and the third quarter as a whole will be “adversely affected by the tragic events of last week”.
A spokesperson declined to predict the numbers: “Right now it's very difficult to assess in the short term the impact on the advertising environment,” said the NYT's Catherine Mathis.
The catastrophic attacks have already triggered profits warnings from other major newspaper publishers, including Gannet, E W Scripps and Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal.
News source: MediaWeek.com (USA)
