The Washington Post Company’s profits are up 13.6 percent this quarter, according to a new SEC filing, but it’s not because people are clamoring to buy papers. Increased political ad buys on the company’s TV station buoyed the company’s profits, but the second quarter was nearly all bad news for the Washington Post part of the Washington Post:
- Publishing revenue declined 7 percent.
- Print advertising declined 15 percent.
- Daily circulation fell 9.3 percent.
- Sunday circulation fell 6.1 percent.
The paper also lost a whopping $15.9 million in the second quarter, compared to just $2.9 million in the second quarter of 2011. This would be fine if the company’s Kaplan education division could keep supporting the newspaper, but its own revenue is down by 9 percent.
It’s not all bad news, though. Digital advertising revenues at the Post‘s website and other properties like Slate increased by 8 percent. Plus, the whole circulation decline thing means they’re spending 10 percent less on newsprint.