The two parties faced a November 30 deadline to renegotiate their carriage contract. Gannett began warning viewers of a possible service interruption on its 23 stations last week.

Financial terms of the deal, which was agreed on in the early hours of Saturday morning, were not disclosed.

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Revenue growth was driven by $42 million in political ads and $37 million in ads related to the Summer Olympics, according to Gannett. The company also reported retransmission revenues of $22.3 million, an increase of +11.5% this quarter.

“Our TV stations leveraged top 10 ratings positions and a more locally focused sales effort to generate substantially higher Olympic spending,” Gannett president and CEO Gracia Martore said in a statement. “Through strong ratings and a great footprint, they also maximized the opportunity to attract political spending.”

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The Plain Dealer reports that Andolsen got married earlier this year and, returning from a delayed honeymoon on Monday, she informed WKYC president and general manager Brooke Spectorasky that she wanted the new job.

“This was completely Rita’s decision,” Spectorasky told The Plain Dealer.  “This is a job that that fits her like a glove. She is so wired into the community and highly respected. She sees a real opportunity here for the station and herself. I created this position about five weeks ago, and Rita hinted then that she thought it was really cool job.” continued…

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The increase was attributed to advertising associated with the Super Bowl, as well as increased political advertising. Gannett also said retransmission revenues were 17% higher and television station digital revenues were 6.4% higher than Q1 2011.

“Our first quarter results were impacted by spending on strategic investments and advertising softness, particularly during January’s industry-wide slowdown,” Gracia Martore, Gannett’s president and CEO, said in a statement.  continued…

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Stations are forecasted to blow past the $2 billion threshold this year. Borrell Associates forecasts $2.7 billion in local TV online revenue, a 35% increase over 2011. Borrell revealed the numbers in its new Benchmarking Local Online Media survey.

“Local TV broadcasters continue to grow online ad revenue at an impressive clip,” said the study, which singled out Gray Television and Meredith for growing revenue at a 50% rate in the last half of 2011, along with LIN, Nexstar and Gannett for their digital gains as well.

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Michaelsen replaces longtime WCPO news director Bob Morford, who announced his plans to leave the station at the beginning of the year.

“Lane is exactly the news director this market needs right now, and we’re very pleased to have his talent and experience in our newsroom,” WCPO vice president and general manager Steve Thaxton said, announcing the hiring. “His deep understanding of journalism and the tenets of serving communities will make a major impact on our team and the Tri-State.” continued…

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Gannett’s television revenues for the fourth quarter were $192.4 million, $27.9 million less than the $220.2 million brought in during the same period last year.

The company attributes its increase in non-political revenues to significant growth in auto advertising for the quarter.

Gannett also saw a 30.3% increase in retrans revenues, which totaled $21.4 million for the quarter. continued…

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NBCUniversal Domestic Television Distribution announced today that the show, which is set to debut next fall and has already been sold to NBC, Fox, CBS, Hearst and others, was recently purchased by a handful of station groups including Gannett, Gray, and Post Newsweek.

“‘Steve Harvey’ is the most versatile show to come to daytime syndication in a long time and the response that we have received in the marketplace in the past several weeks has been phenomenal,” NBCUniversal Domestic Television Distribution president Barry Wallach said in a statement.  “This new talk show has a unique appeal in daytime as Steve’s comedic approach to a wide array of relatable topics attracts a broad audience and allows all affiliates to benefit from his popularity.”

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Gannett brought in $168.8 million in TV revenues for the quarter–$10.8 million less than last year’s Q3.  Excluding an $18.4 million decrease in political advertising, though, revenues were 4.7% higher.

“The increase was due, in part, to strengthening demand for auto advertising in September,” the company stated in its press announcement this morning.

In addition to a higher demand for auto advertising in the quarter, Gannett experienced a 26.7% increase in retrans revenue and a 27.5% gain in online revenues for its stations.

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“For me, the decision to step down was difficult, but I must now focus on my health and my family,” Dubow said in a statement. “I will miss working with the talented team at Gannett and firmly believe the company’s best days lie ahead.”

Dubow will be replaced as CEO by Gracia Martore, who has been acting as principal executive officer since in Dubow’s absence. Marjorie Magner has been named chairman of the board.

“I have great admiration for what Craig has achieved in building our business to meet the changing needs of consumers and businesses today,” Martore said in a statement. “We will miss him and wish him and his family the very best.”

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The newscasts, which will be shot at the KUSA studios, will air weekdays at 5:30 and 10 p.m. beginning October 3rd. Anchors have not yet been named.

“We’ve been working on this for several months,” KUSA news director Patti Dennis said during KUSA’s noon newscast today (video inside). “Knowing that the Spanish language community has only one choice for Spanish language news in Denver, this will give us an opportunity to take 9News and the Telemundo brand and put it together in a weekly evening and late newscast for the Spanish-speaking audience.”

Univision-affiliate KCEC currently airs a local newscast at 5 and 10. continued…

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Gannett TV stations brought in $177.7 million in Q2, a slight improvement over the $177.5 million garnered last year, but a significant boost if you consider that the division saw a net decrease of $8.8 million in political spending.

Adjusted to exclude the impact of the cyclical demand related to political spending, Gannett television revenues were up 5.4% for the quarter.

Gannett also brought in $19.4 million in retrans revenue, up 23.7% from Q2 2010.

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Media General

In its earnings report, Media General pointed to the same factors that Gannett mentioned in its first quarter announcement earlier this week: the absence of the Olympics on NBC-affiliates and the Super Bowl on CBS-affiliates caused a dip in revenue compared to 2010.

“We were pleased that our Broadcast television stations continued their strong performance,” said Marshall Morton, Media General’s president in CEO, putting a positive spin on things. “Total Broadcast revenues decreased $1.8 million, or 2.6 percent, from last year, despite the absence of $7.6 million in Olympics revenues and nearly $1 million in Super Bowl revenues.”

The company also reported that its local media websites experienced a strong gain in revenue, pulling in 20% more than the previous year.

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Gannett

In a news release, Gannett’s chairman and CEO Craig Dubow blamed the dip on the fact that the company’s NBC-affiliates had the Olympics last year and its CBS-affiliates saw a boost when the network aired the 2010 Super Bowl, which moved to Fox this year.

Overall, Gannett’s TV revenues were $158.3 million for the quarter, compared to $161.3 million last year.  The company points out that it took in $18.6 million in Olympic spending and $2.2 million for ads related to the Super Bowl.

Gannett predicts second quarter revenues to be flat compared to last year.

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Earlier this month, Raycom Media-owned WTNZ announced that WBIR, which is owned by Gannett, would begin producing its newscasts as part of the station’s strategy to cost-effectively expand its local news programming and eventually begin broadcasting in HD.

WTNZ is debuting its new, WBIR-produced 10 p.m. newscast today anchored by Robin Wilhoit and John Becker (right), who will continue helming WBIR’s 11 p.m. newscast as well.

WTNZ’s 10 p.m. newscast will expand to an hour in “late May or early June,” WBIR news director Bill Shory told the Knoxville News Sentinel. At that point, Beth Haynes, who currently hosts WBIR’s 4 p.m. news and lifestyle show, will rotate in with Wilhoit and Becker at 10 p.m.

The other elements of the partnership–HD broadcasting and a new, two-hour morning newscast–are set to launch by the end of June.

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