• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, August 11, 2015

While digital advertising and circulation are both bright spots, newspaper publishers continue to suffer from the long-term decline in legacy print advertising revenues, which still make up the bulk of their business.

The latest results from Tribune Publishing Co. and McClatchy Co. confirm that the second quarter brought no relief for the industry, although their growing digital business holds out the prospect of a turnaround in the not-too-distant future.

Tribune announced that total revenues fell 4.7% from $430 million in the second quarter of 2014 to $410 million in the second quarter of 2015, as advertising revenues fell 6.9% from $242.1 million to $225.5 million over the same period. These declines were partially offset by a 5.5% increase in circulation revenues, from $109 million to $115 million.

Revenues from other sources decreased 11.3% from $78.8 million to $69.9 million.

Within the advertising figures, Tribune’s retail advertising slipped 6.6% from $125.9 million to $117.6 million, national was down 10.5% from $44.9 million to $40.2 million, and classifieds fell 5% from $71.4 million to $67.8 million.

The McClatchy Co. reported that total revenues fell 8.7% from $287.4 million in the second quarter of 2014 to $262.4 million in the second quarter of 2015. Over the same period, advertising revenues fell 14% from $184.6 million to $158.5 million, while “audience” revenues, including circulation, held steady at $90.8 million.

The company also reported impairment charges related to goodwill (meaning, wrote down goodwill) to the tune of $296.6 million, although CFO Elaine Lintecum emphasized that “these non-cash charges do not reflect our view of the long-term health or the value of McClatchy…”

Previously, Gannett, which recently completed its spinoff as a standalone newspaper publisher, announced that total revenues fell 8.7% from $796.5 million in the second quarter of 2014 to $727.1 million in the second quarter of 2015. Gannett’s total ad revenues fell 12% from $464 million to $410.5 million over this period, while circ revenues slipped 3.5% from $275.5 million to $265.9 million.