[Previous entry: "PROX close to collapse"] [Next entry: "Shoddy journalism at the Spokesman Review?"]

05/13/2005: "Spokane's other media empire in trouble"

Belo Corporation, which owns two Spokane television stations, KREM (Channel 2) and Spokane's WB affiliate KSKN (Channel 22), as well as Northwest Cable News, is under fire from its own shareholders, who have filed a massive shareholder suit.

The Belo Corp., which owns the (Dallas) Morning News, announced last August that its circulation figures were overstated--by how much and for how long remains unclear, because the paper's records are unreliable. Belo's chairman and CEO, Robert W. Decherd, said in a news release that he had discovered in late July 2004 that a problem existed and that he "immediately ordered a stepped-up investigation."

Some Belo stockholders are challenging that version of events. They say, in a class-action suit, that top officials at Belo knew about the problem much earlier, kept it quiet and only came clean when they felt in danger of being found out.

The stock (NYSE:BLC) isn't doing that well. The Belo 10-Q from May 9 didn't have much good news:
Television Group revenues were $156,081 in the first quarter of 2005, a decrease of $2,816, or 1.8 percent, over first quarter 2004 revenues of $158,897. Total spot revenues, including political advertising revenues, were 1.5 percent lower in the first three months of 2005 compared to the year-earlier period, with the most significant decreases reported in the political and automotive categories, partially offset by increases in pharmaceutical and insurance. Local spot revenues, excluding political revenues, increased approximately 1 percent in the first quarter of 2005 compared to the prior year period, with increases in the Austin, Portland, Hampton/Norfolk, and Charlotte markets, partially offset by decreases in the Dallas/Fort Worth and Seattle/Tacoma markets. National spot revenues, excluding political revenues, increased 2 percent in the first quarter of 2005 compared to the first quarter of 2004. National spot revenue increases in the Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston markets were partially offset by decreases in the Phoenix, Portland, and St. Louis markets. Political advertising revenues decreased $3,976, from $4,525 in the first quarter of 2004 to $549 in the same period of 2005.