U.S. Ad Market Up 7% in October, Boosted By Digital

On Wednesday, Senator Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and others filed a motion to reinstate the rules. The effort, spearheaded by Markey, has garnered support from all 49 Senate Democrats as well as Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine. If Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) -- currently on a medical leave of absence -- doesn't vote, the measure is poised to pass the Senate by one vote. But passage is considered unlikely, given that only 160 House members have so far said they support the bill -- leaving it far short of the 218 votes needed to pass. The latest effort to enshrine net neutrality protections comes five months after the Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal Obama-era regulations that classified broadband as a utility service and imposed some common carrier rules on providers. Among other restrictions, the regulations prohibited broadband carriers from blocking or throttling online traffic and from charging companies higher fees for prioritized delivery. Click Read More below for additional information.

Hearst UK recently announced that women’s lifestyle magazine Prima would increase its print edition from 12 to 13 issues a year, following a 68% surge in subscriptions this year. This week, we talk to Prima’s Editor Jo Checkley about what factors led to the decision to increase the frequency of the magazine, how their content has encouraged a community feel among their readers, and what lessons they’ll be taking from producing magazines in lockdown. Jo also outlines what she’s done to keep her magazines thriving during her career despite tough market conditions for women’s titles. In the news roundup the team discusses Future Plc’s resurgent fortunes and purchase of GoCompare, the UK government’s attempts to create a competition regime to tackle the ‘fundamental imbalance of power’ between platforms and publishers, and Spotify launching a Stories copy. Esther is a meerkat.

The New York Times Company announced first-quarter 2022 diluted earnings per share from continuing operations of $.03 compared with $.24 in the same period of 2021. Adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations (defined below) was $.19 in the first quarter of 2022 compared with $.26 in the first quarter of 2021. Operating profit decreased to $6.3 million in the first quarter of 2022 from $51.7 million in the same period of 2021 largely as a result of one-time costs related to the acquisition of The Athletic Media Company (“The Athletic”), which occurred in the first quarter of 2022, as well as a result of operating losses at The Athletic. Adjusted operating profit (defined below) decreased to $60.9 million from $68.1 million in the prior year, as a result of operating losses at The Athletic. Adjusted operating profit at The New York Times Group was largely unchanged at $67.7 million as digital subscription and advertising revenue growth was offset by higher costs.