• by Erik Sass , January 28, 2009

Total ad revenues at the New York Times Company dropped 17.6% in the fourth quarter of 2008 to $469 million, compared to the same period in 2007. This capped off an abysmal year for NYTCO, with declines accelerating as the year went on.

In year-over-year comparisons, ad revenues fell 9.2% in the first quarter, 10.6% in the second and 14.4% in the third. For the full year 2008, ad revenues fell 13.1% to $1.78 billion.

Nor is there much hope of a turnaround in the near future--in fact, things are getting worse.

NYTCO CEO Janet Robinson remarked: "As we look ahead, we believe advertisers will continue to be cautious with their budgets, particularly in the early part of this year. To date in January, the rate of decline in print advertising revenue has accelerated from what we saw in December."

NYTCO also said Wednesday that it will no longer release monthly revenue figures.

As with other newspaper publishers, the new bad news at NYTCO is the decline in online ad revenues--at one time the sole bright spot on newspaper balance sheets. NYTCO's online revenues decreased 3.5% in the fourth quarter, following a trend established by other big newspapers earlier this year.

The slowdown and reversal of online growth is due largely to the continuing collapse of print classifieds. For a while, newspapers were able to sustained double-digit growth online by offering classified advertisers Web listings bundled with the print product in an "up-sell." As the overall volume of print classifieds tumbles, however, there are fewer opportunities for up-sells.

Reassuring investors, Robinson pointed to NYTCO's continuing cost-cutting measures, which include the closing of its New York newsstand distribution operation and the consolidation of its New England printing operation.

In recent weeks, the company has also borrowed $225 million against its new corporate headquarters in Manhattan, solicited an investment of $250 million from Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, and put its stake in the Boston Red Sox franchise up for sale.

The company is scrambling to shore up its finances as it faces a $400 million debt payment in May and the likely cancellation of another $400 million line of credit at the same time.