Advertising down, subscriptions up at WSJ

Dow Jones & Co., the parent of The Wall Street Journal, reported third-quarter earnings Thursday in which it disclosed that advertising at the paper was down during the third quarter, but subscriptions rose.

The company’s release stated, “Advertising revenue at the Wall Street Journal U.S. print edition declined 2.9% (on a 13.6% decline in volume) primarily due to a sharp decline in technology advertising revenue which more than offset increases in financial and general (both B2B and consumer) advertising. This decline was partially offset by a 7.8% increase in advertising revenue at The Wall Street Journal Digital Network.

“Consumer Media had an operating loss of $4.2 million in the third quarter, seasonally its weakest quarter, which was a significant improvement over its loss of $18.0 million in the third quarter of 2006, due to cost-saving initiatives and strong profit leverage on increased revenues. Adjusted for acquisitions, Consumer Media revenue increased 0.9%, while the segment had an operating loss of $3.2 million, which was a significant improvement from the prior year’s loss of $18.7 million.

“Paid subscribers to The Wall Street Journal Online grew 25.5% in the third quarter to 989,000 driven in part by the success of an offer for new subscribers to receive both the print and Online Journal.”

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