• by Erik Sass , February 11, 2015

While it’s been harder to judge the health of the newspaper industry overall since the Newspaper Association of America stopped reporting quarterly revenue figures, newspaper publishers that are public companies can still serve as a bellwether for the rest of the business. And it’s not looking any brighter, judging by the latest quarterly results from the McClatchy Co.

McClatchy, which publishes the Miami Herald, along with a number of other newspapers, reported that total revenues fell 5.9% from $337.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2013 to $317.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2014. That was due mostly to declines in print retail and national advertising.

Over the same period, advertising revenues tumbled 10.8% to $209.2 million, while direct marketing advertising revenues fell 9.3%.

On the positive side, circulation revenues increased 5.2% to $95.5 million, and digital-only ad revenues rose 6.3% when revenues from Apartments.com are excluded. (McClatchy sold its stake in the online business last year.)

For the full year, McClatchy’s total revenues slipped 3.9% from $1.22 billion to $1.17 billion, as advertising revenues fell 8.4% to $753.1 million.

These declines were offset somewhat by a 5.9% increase in circulation revenues to $336.6 million. Digital-only ad revenues rose 10.6% in 2014 compared to 2013, again when revenues from Apartments.com are excluded.

McClatchy’s results come on the heels of relatively weak results from other big publishers. Earlier this month, The New York Times Co. announced that its total revenues in the fourth quarter were basically flat at $444.7 million, as total advertising revenues fell 2.1% from $212.1 million to $207.6 million, while circulation revenues edged up 1.4% from $207.7 million to $210.6 million.

Separately, Lee Enterprises reported that total revenues for the fourth quarter fell 0.7% to $176.2 million, as combined print and digital advertising and marketing services revenues fell 5.6% to $115.5 million.