• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, August 6, 2010

Despite a drop in print advertising revenue, total revenues at the Washington Post Co.'s newspaper publishing division increased in the second quarter, reflecting increased online ad revenues. WaPo is one of the few newspaper publishers to see total revenues increase in the second quarter, although declines at other publishers have moderated.

WaPo's total newspaper publishing revenues rose 2% from $168.8 million in the second quarter of 2009 to $172.7 million this year, due in part to growth in online ad revenues, which climbed 14% from $23.5 million to $26.9 million.

Online ads grew thanks to a 20% increase in display ads and a 5% increase in online classifieds, helping to offset a 6% drop in print ad revenues from $80 million to $75.2 million. The company said its flagship Washington Post newspaper saw daily and Sunday circulation decline 10.7% and 9.5%, respectively, in the first six months of 2010.

The company's overall revenues increased 11% from just under $1.1 billion in the second quarter of 2009 to $1.2 billion this year, powered by strong results in its education division, which includes Kaplan. The education division's total revenues jumped 15% to $747.3 million.

WaPo's cable TV business experienced more modest growth, with revenues increasing 2% to $190.6 million, reflecting increased demand for high-speed data and telephone services.

Finally, WaPo's broadcast TV revenues jumped 24% to $82.6 million -- buoyed by increasing demand across all the company's markets and in all ad categories, especially automotive. Revenues were also boosted by increased political ad spending.

The company recently reached an agreement to sell Newsweek to Sidney Harman, an audio electronics mogul, and classified the magazine as "discontinued operations." The beleaguered newsweekly had suffered steep losses over the last few years, but may have stabilized in the second quarter, when ad pages increased 2.9% to 233, per the Publishers Information Bureau.