• by Wayne Friedman , November 28, 2007

Tribune's newspaper and TV revenues witnessed more declines in October--and the stock market didn't like the news. Overall, broadcasting and entertainment revenues went south by 13.3% to $96 million.

TV ad revenue was 7% lower, as a result of less political, entertainment and retail advertising. TV categories on the upswing included food and packaged goods, telecommunications and fast-food advertisers.

Publishing revenue also had problems--off 7.9% to $287 million. Tribune's newspaper advertising businesses slipped 10.6% to $222 million, in large part because of lower real-estate advertising. Lower circulation revenue, contributed to that decline--down 6.3%.

The company's revenues in October sank 9.3% to $383 million.

Many TV broadcast groups have seen lower advertising sales results recently, given higher political advertising revenue in 2006. In mid-day trading, Tribune's stock was down almost 5% to $27.30 a share.

Tribune is still looking for an exemption from the FCC to own a newspaper and a TV station in the same market. It has been reported that if Tribune does not receive it soon, Tribune's prospective buyer, Sam Zell, could opt out of the deal.