• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, April 25, 2008

The Scripps cable networks continued to deliver impressive growth, with ad revenue up 15% in the recently completed first quarter.

The increase--helped by a strong scatter market--drove ad revenue for the group (led by Food Network and HGTV) to $236 million. Profit at the group also was up 15% compared to a year ago, to $147 million. The networks will be part of a new company, Scripps Networks Interactive--formed as they and other assets split off from the E.W. Scripps Co. by July 1, leaving two publicly traded entities.

E.W. Scripps will include newspapers and local TV stations. In the first quarter, the newspaper group--which includes the Rocky Mountain News in Denver and the main daily in Memphis, took a significant hit, as has much of that industry. First-quarter revenue at Scripps newspapers was down 8.3% year-over-year to $156 million. Newspaper online revenue was $10 million, which was flat relative to 2007.

Ad revenue dropped 10% to $120 million. The new E.W. Scripps will try to brand itself as offering local-market solutions to advertisers with its newspapers and 10 TV stations, but results for the papers in that vein were inauspicious. Local ads were down 8.4%, and classified was down 19% (national ads fell 10%).

The station group--which includes six ABC and three NBC affiliates--fared better, with political advertising helping to keep revenue about flat at $76 million. Profit was down 13% to $14.2 million.

"At our newspapers and TV stations, first-quarter segment results reflect the continued weakness in local advertising that has affected the entire industry," said CEO Ken Lowe.

Overall, the Scripps company saw first-quarter revenue increase 6.8% to $642 million.