Q1 EARNINGS: PRETTY MUCH WHAT WE EXPECTED Heartland papers doing OK; metros, coast-siders, not do so OK.

Newspaper publishers and multimedia companies began reporting on first quarter 2005 results last week and the story is pretty much the same as we've been hearing for almost a year: those who publish newspapers in smaller markets -- and especially smaller markets that don't touch any kind of water -- are doing OK, while those who publish papers in larger markets -- and especially those on the coasts or lake shores -- well, they're not doing so OK.

By the numbers:

* Gannett Co. Inc.: Despite a respectable 5.3-percent gain in newspaper ad revenue when comparing the 13 weeks ending March 27, 2004 with the 13 weeks ending March 28, 2005, total net income at the Vienna, Va.-based multimedia company was down 3.2 percent, to $265.7 million, for the period.

Nonetheless, earnings were $1.05 per diluted share, up five percent over last year's first quarter.

Gains in newspaper ad revenue -- the aforementioned 5.3 percent, which hit $1.2 billion -- were offset both by lower broadcasting revenue (down 2.9 percent, to $164.6 million for the quarter) as well as increased expenses in the newspaper segment and increased cost of depreciation in broadcasting.

The company said that total operating revenue was up 3.6 percent, to $1.8 billion, when compared to the same period last year.

Newspaper operating revenue in the period was $1.6 billion, up 4.3 percent over last year, with local ad revenue up 6.1 percent and both classified and national up 4.1 percent. Newsprint costs increased 4.3 percent in the quarter.

For the four-week period ending March 27, 2005, newspaper ad revenue was up 4.2 percent, to almost $435 million when compared year-over-year. Local led the way, gaining 6.4 percent, to $180.3 million, followed by a 2.9-percent gain for national, at $66.8 million, and a 2.7-percent gain for classified, to $187.9 million.

Newspaper volume was down 2.8 percent for the month.

* Journal Communications Inc.: Modest growth in both revenue and expenses took a backseat to a one-time gain from the sale of a printing operation at the Milwaukee-based multimedia publisher for the four weeks ending March 27, 2005.

On Jan. 25, the company sold its NorthStar Print Group ("to tighten [the company's] management focus," read the release), which brought $4.8 million to the quarter's income statement.

Net earnings for the quarter increased 10.9 percent, to $17.4 million, when compared to the same period last year, with earnings per diluted share coming in at 23 cents, versus last year's 20 cents, a gain of 15 percent.

Publishing ad revenue was up two percent, to $57.4 million, when comparing the first quarter of 2004 to the first quarter of 2005. The biggest gain was in the ever-popular "other" category, which was up 25.6 percent at the company's flagship Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, to $5.3 million, for the quarter.

Newspaper retail revenue was flat at $31.2 million, while classified was only up 2.3 percent, to $17.4 million. The general category was down 12.4 percent to $2.9 million and the "other" category was up 21.4 percent, to $5.3 million.

March newspaper ad revenue was flat at $23.8 million, with small gains in some categories offset by small losses in others.

Total March ad linage was up 2.1 percent, while total pre-print pieces distributed were up 9.7 percent, to 84.5 million pieces.

* Knight Ridder: Net income at the San Jose-based newspaper publisher was up a respectable 8.2 percent when compared to the first quarter last year, to $60.5 million, with net earnings per diluted share up almost 13 percent, to 79 cents.

Ad revenue was up 3.3 percent, to $566.1 million, with classified up 4.3 percent, to $221 million, retail up 3.1 percent, to $249.2 million and national up 1.9 percent, to almost $96 million.

The company said that it had kept cost discipline "very tight," with costs for the quarter up only 2.1 percent. Though the average price of newsprint was up 8.1 percent, the company said, consumption was down 4.1 percent.

In the four-week period ending March 27, 2005, total ad revenue was flat at $181.5 million. The meager gains in retail (up 2.7 percent, to $82.8 million) and classified (up 1.6 percent, to $70.1 million), were neutralized by the losses in national, which were down 6.7 percent, to $28.6 million.

* Media General Inc.: The good news is that when one-time tax charges are shielded from view, the Richmond, Va.-based multimedia company saw net income go up 2.2 percent, to $9.3 million, for the 13 weeks ending March 27, 2005, when compared to the same 13 weeks last year, which would have been 40 cents per diluted share.

The bad news is that by making a change in the way the company values its broadcast licenses, it had to take a $325.5 million charge in the quarter, which meant that in reality, the net loss for the quarter was $316.2 million, or $13.25 per diluted share.

Despite this bad news, the company said that newspaper ad revenue was up 7.4 percent in the quarter, "driven primarily by increased classified advertising." The company typified its national ad revenue as "solid growth" and its retail ad revenue as a "solid increase."

Overall revenue in March was up 5.3 percent, with publishing revenue up 5.3 percent, to $72.1 million.

Publishing ad revenue was up six percent, with the "other" category up 37.9 percent, to $691,000, national up 18.9 percent, to $3.6 million, classified up 4.8 percent, to $16.5 million and retail up 3.9 percent, to $17.6 million.

* The McClatchy Co.: Respectable ad revenue gains at all its newspapers -- save the Star Tribune of Minneapolis, which was flat -- coupled with a sharp reduction in the cost of borrowing gave the Sacramento-based newspaper publisher an 11.8-percent increase in net income, to $32.3 million, when comparing the three months ending March 27, with the same period in 2004.

Net income per share was 69 cents this year, compared to 62 cents last year, a gain of 11.3 percent.

Relatively good January and February ad revenue in Minneapolis was offset by a 2.4 percent reduction -- down to $23.4 million -- in March; for the whole three months, the paper's ad revenue was $72.4 million.

In the first three months of the year, McClatchy's Northwestern papers saw ad revenue go up 6.9 percent, to $10.8 million, its Carolina papers go up 6.7 percent, to $38.1 million and its California papers go up 5.8 percent, to $90.8 million.

Ad volume for the quarter was flat, with only decimal declines in retail and classified, though national (a small category) was off 2.4 percent.

For the four weeks ending March 27, ad volume wasn't much better: while retail was up two percent, classified was flat (auto's 8.2 percent decline was neutralized by real estate's 6.7 percent increase and employment's 5.6 percent increase) and national was off 8.6 percent.

* The New York Times Co.: Despite revenue being flat, a combination of sales of real estate and a stemming of joint venture losses allowed this multimedia company to say that net income was up 90 percent, to $111.1 million, for the first quarter of 2005 when compared to the first quarter of 2004. Diluted earnings per share was 76 cents, up 100 percent over last year's first quarter.

A complex sale-and-lease-back of its corporate headquarters in midtown Manhattan, coupled with the sale of some real estate in Sarasota, Fla., brought an addition $122.9 million to the income column, while joint-venture losses dropped 92.5 percent, to $248,000, from last year's $3.3 million.

The only real revenue bright spot was ad income at the company's 13 regional newspapers; it was up 7.2 percent, to $91.3 million. The New York Times Media Group's ad revenue for the quarter came in flat at $301.5 million and the New England Media Group's ad revenue was down 4.2 percent, to $109.4 million.

When comparing March 2004 to March 2005, total news media ad revenue was down 2.3 percent, to $158.9 million, with the company's regional media group's magazines bringing in an additional $800,000 -- or a growth of 19.5 percent, to almost $5 million and retail growing by 6.1 percent, to $37.9 million. National was off 5.9 percent, to $70.9 million.

* The E.W. Scripps Co.: Net income for the three months ending March 31, 2005, remained essentially flat, at $70 million, when compared to the same three months in 2004, though earnings per diluted share was down a penny -- 2.3 percent -- to 43 cents.

The Scripps Networks (HGTV, Food Network, et al.) saw revenue go up 27.6 percent, to $202.6 million, in the quarter, while the Shop At Home division (which is both a cable network and a network of broadcast stations) saw revenue go up 38.1 percent, to $102.1 million.

And though broadcast TV lost revenue (it was down 4.5 percent, to $72.3 million), as did licensing and other media (down 3.4 percent, to $25.8 million), contributions from the newspaper division -- up 2.1 percent, to $182.2 million -- still seemed paltry.

Newspaper advertising revenue was up 3.7 percent, to $144.3 million when compared to the first three months of 2004, with pre-prints and other being the leading category, coming in 8.2 percent higher than last year, at $33.8 million. The second-biggest percentage gainer was national, up 5.9 percent, to $10.5 million, followed by classified, up 3.3 percent, to $57.5 million and local, flat at $42.5 million.

For March, newspaper ad revenue was up 4.2 percent, to $50.5 million when compared to March 2004, with pre-prints and other being the leading category, coming in 6.9 percent higher than last year, at $12.1 million. The second-biggest percentage gainer was national, up 6.7 percent, to $3.6 million, followed by local, up 3.7 percent, to $15.1 million, and classified up 2.6 percent, to $19.6 million.

* Tribune Co.: Results were lackadaisical across the board for the Chicago-based multimedia giant, though a reversal in both passive and equity investments and a drop in the cost of credit allowed the company to show a net income gain of $142.8 million for the first quarter, up 18.4 percent. Diluted earnings per share were up 25.7 percent, to 44 cents.

TV, radio and entertainment revenue was down 5.6 percent, to $310.2 million and the entertainment group took a $13.5 million hit when the company's National League Baseball club, the Chicago Cubs, traded star Sammy Sosa.

Publishing ad revenue was up almost two percent (and, as the company pointed out, if the scandal-plagued Newsday were taken out of the equation, publishing ad revenue would have been up three percent for the period), to almost $788 million.

Though national in the quarter was flat at $206.5 million, classified was up 2.8 percent, to $279.7 million, and retail was up 2.3 percent, to $301.8 million.

Newspaper ad volume was down 2.3 percent for the quarter, though pre-print pieces distributed were up 10.2 percent.

Total ad volume for March was down five percent, offset somewhat by pre-print distribution, which was up 5.5 percent.

The sore spots continue to be not only geographic, but also in terms of categories: though classified is fairing well pretty much throughout the country, many gains in employment and real estate are negated by weak auto advertising. "Non-core print products" -- aka weeklies, shoppers, magazines, free tabloids, youth tabloids -- continue to do well. Stay tuned: next week, if there isn't too much breaking news, I'll try to peer at tea leaves and give you a guesstimate on newspaper new media ad revenue for the quarter.