• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, February 3, 2011

Amid broader declines, The New York Times Co. on Thursday said digital ad revenues rose 11.1% during the fourth quarter of 2010 -- partially offsetting a 7.2% decrease in print ad revenues.  

"Advertising revenues from our digital products have become a much more significant part of our mix and made up 26% of the company's total advertising revenues in the fourth quarter," Janet Robinson, president and CEO of Times Co., said Thursday.

Still, due to accelerating declines in print advertising, the company reported a 26% drop in profits during the quarter.

"The progress we made on the print advertising front in October and November was not sustained in December," Robinson said. As a result, "although digital advertising remained strong ... it could not fully offset the 7% decline in print advertising revenues."

Worse still, About Group revenues decreased 3% to $35.2 million during the quarter due to lower cost-per-click and display advertising.

As a result of higher marketing expenses, About Group operating costs increased 3.4% to $16.1 million, excluding depreciation and amortization.

In the fourth quarter, total digital revenues increased 11% to $113.2 million, while digital ad revenues increased 11.1% to $100.6 million. In addition, digital advertising revenues at the News Media Group increased 20.3% to $67.5 million -- which, oddly enough, the company attributed to strong growth in national display advertising.

In total, digital businesses accounted for 17.1% of the Times Co.'s revenues for the fourth quarter, compared to 15% for the fourth quarter of 2009. For 2010, Times Co.'s overall digital revenues increased 14.8% to $387.3 million, and digital ad revenues increased 15.9% to $341.4 million.

For the entire year, digital ad revenues at the News Media Group increased 18.3% to $212.2 million. In total, digital businesses accounted for 16.2% of the company's revenues for 2010 compared to 13.8% for 2009.

Year-over-year, total revenues decreased 2.9% in the fourth quarter -- to $661.7 million -- as advertising and circulation revenues declined 3.1% and 3.6%, respectively. On a GAAP basis, the company's quarterly operating costs decreased 5.3% year-over-year.

As a free site, NYTimes.com attracts more than 30 million monthly unique visitors. However, NYTimes.com readers will soon get free access to a certain number of pages per month before they are required to buy a subscription. The Times has said in the past that only about 15% of its online readers are "heavy users," meaning that most are not likely to trigger a payment requirement.