Operating profits at Post-Newsweek Stations Inc. fell 21 percent to $$26.3
million on a 6 percent revenue decline in the first quarter to $70.8 million.
The company blamed the decreases on the tough comparison to last year, when
its NBC stations had the Olympic Games and on the war in Iraq, which started in
mid-March and resulted in "several days of commercial-free coverage" of the
conflict.
The company also mentioned the switch last July of its Jacksonville, Fla., station,
WJXT(TV), to independent status after its CBS affiliation expired, although it
did not characterize the station's financial performance.
