Torstar print ad revenue down 13.5%

Revenue is still falling at Torstar Corp., despite the company’s new investments in digital media, as attention turns to the Toronto Star’s new tablet product for signs it can help turn the tide.
Weakening advertising returns battered Torstar’s results once again, with print ad revenue at the Star down 13.5 per cent for the third quarter – which, as Torstar noted, is a more moderate rate of decline than in some prior quarters.
Revenue from print ads at Metroland Media Group, which publishes newspapers such as The Hamilton Spectator and Guelph Mercury, was down 8.8 per cent.
“We continue to battle the print advertising pressures,” said David Holland, Torstar’s chief executive officer, in a conference call with analysts on Wednesday morning. But “we’ve taken some big steps in the past few months, and those steps are intended to enable a meaningful transformation at Torstar.”
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