Tribune Publishing had its best quarter of digital subscriber acquisition in the second quarter of 2020, according to Terry Jimenez, Tribune Publishing CEO-president.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly accelerated our transition to digital. We continue our efforts to expand our digital subscriptions business, which netted 49,000 additional subscribers in the second quarter,” he stated.

Digital-only subscribers increased 39% to 419,000 at the end of the second-quarter 2020, up from 300,000 at the end of Q2 2019, according to an earnings report released Wednesday. 

Digital subscription revenue was up nearly 50%, or $3.4 million.

However, advertising revenues decreased 48%, or $49.8 million, in the three months ended June 28, 2020, compared to the same period for 2019, “due to declines in all advertising categories,” according to the report.

Total revenues for Tribune Publishing in the second quarter of 2020 were $183.1 million, down from $250.3 million in the second quarter of 2019.

Adjusted EBITDA was $18.8 million, a decrease of $5.6 million compared to Q2 2019.

The company “continued to aggressively manage our cost structure to substantially offset both secular revenue declines and incremental advertising and other revenue losses brought about by the pandemic,” Jimenez stated.