• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, May 2, 2024

Gannett released its Q1 2024 financials on Thursday. As usual, the firm experienced growing digital revenue and flatness overall. 

Total revenues hit $635.8 million, a 5% decrease YoY. Still, that was an improvement over the 8.4% revenue decline seen in Q4 2023, and it enabled CEO Mike Reed to say, “Year-over-year revenue trends were a bright spot in the quarter, reflecting the most pronounced sequential improvement in nearly three years.”

There was an operating loss of $84.8 million, including an impairment charge of roughly $46 million related to Gannett’s exit from its leased facility in McLean, Virginia.

The sweet spot was digital - total digital revenues hit $267.5 million, an 8.1% increase YoY.  

Specifically, Gannett enjoyed a 21.3% increase in digital subscription revenues, to $43.5 million, and a 5.3% rise in digital advertising sales, to $84.5 million. The firm now has over 2 million digital-only paid subscribers, with revenue per using increasing by 22.4% to $7.22. 

Digital now accounts for 42.1% of total revenues and is expected to comprise at least 50% in 2025 and 55% in 2026. Gannett foresees a 10% hike in digital revenue this year. 

“Digital advertising continued to grow year-over-year, and as expected, our digital marketing solutions business returned to growth versus the prior year period,” Reed says,” Finally, our partnership revenue continues to scale, nearly doubling over the prior year period." 

Print and commercial revenues fell to $368,262 in Q1 -- down from 421,439 in the same period in 2023.  

Meanwhile, Gannett reportedly has backed off a pledge to add reporters to restaff its smallest newsrooms. In an earnings call with analysts, chief content officer Kristin Roberts said, “Last year, we launched an initiative with the conviction that putting reporters into our smallest newsrooms was critical, but not enough on its own to be sustainable,” according to Poynter.