• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, February 22, 2024

Gannett suffered an 8.4% decline in total revenue in Q4 2023 YoY to $669.4 million. And it reported a net loss of $22.9 million, versus net income of $32.8 million in Q4 2022.

But the publisher achieved a 2.9% increase in total digital revenues to $277.1 million.

"In 2023, we made excellent progress executing on our strategy to drive our digital transformation, resulting in total digital revenues exceeding 41% of total revenues in the fourth quarter, and amounting to nearly $1.1 billion for the year,” says CEO Mike Reed. 

Reed continues, “Our digital-only subscription revenues surpassed $150 million in 2023, with total digital-only average revenue per user reaching a new high. Also, our partnership strategy increased our overall digital monetization, and importantly, we expect to generate $20 million in high margin revenue from our partnerships in 2024."

Digital-only subscription revenues grew by 18.1% YoY to $41.9. And digital-only revenue per user averaged $7.05, a 19.5% increase over Q4 2022. 

At the same time, digital media revenues grew by 3.9% YoY to $78.8 million. Digital marketing solutions core platform revenue decreased by 0.3% to $119.4 million. 

In addition, the company reports 2 million in digital-only paid subscriptions, reflecting 1.6% growth YoY. And it had 187 million visitors in Q4 2023, a jump of 4.3% over the prior year. 

Moreover, Gannett expects digital revenue to grow by 10% in 2024. But it also forecasts a decline in total revenues in the low to mid-single digits on a same-store basis. 

Looking forward to 2025 and 2026, Gannett digital revenue to grow by more than 10%. And digital will account for 50% of total revenue in 2025 and more than 55% in 2026. 

"As we look forward to 2024 and the next several years, we expect to capitalize on this progress and build to inflection in our revenue as we end 2024,” Reed says.

Reed adds, “Our business outlook reflects our investments in strategy and our prioritization of revenue and free cash flow growth while also maintaining ongoing profit improvements and further deleveraging.”