Meredith Corp. Revs Up Thanks To New TV Stations

Meredith Corp. announced that total revenues edged up 1% from $387 million in the second quarter of 2013 to $391 million in the second quarter of 2014, due mostly to the addition of several new TV stations to the company’s Local Media Group.

These gains helped offset drops at the company’s National Media Group, its magazine division, resulting from continuing declines in print advertising.

The company’s broadcast TV division saw total revenues jump 20% to $111 million in the second quarter, reflecting the acquisition of new stations including KMOV in St. Louis and KTVK in Phoenix, as well as the strong performance of Meredith stations in Las Vegas and Greenville, SC.

The broadcast division also benefited from higher digital and mobile advertising revenues, with total digital advertising up 15%, and growth in retransmission revenues. Meredith is close to completing its purchase of WGGB, an ABC affiliate in Springfield, MA -- and looking ahead, the company said it expects to continue to expand its Local Media Group through more acquisitions.

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Separately, Meredith’s magazine publishing division saw total revenues drop 5% from $295 million in the second quarter of 2013 to $280 million in the second quarter of 2012. The group’s total advertising revenues fell 8.2% from $134 million to $123 million, while circulation revenues remained flat at $88 million.

On a positive note, the magazine division benefited from growth in brand licensing revenues, including strong sales of Better Homes and Gardens branded products at Walmart stores, along with expansion of the Better Homes and Gardens real estate network.

Finally, the company’s other revenues -- which include Meredith Xcelerated Marketing, its marketing services division -- increased 4.2% from $95 million to $99 million, due mostly to growth in core accounts.

The continuing declines in print advertising revenues are broadly in line with the rest of the magazine publishing industry, at least among publicly owned companies which publish financial results. Earlier this week, Martha Stewart Living announced that its publishing revenues fell 8.3% from $24.2 million to $22.2 million in the second quarter, reflecting lower print ad revenues.

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