Public media companies report Q4 earnings as ad revenue begins to rise

Public media companies including Gannett, IAC, News Corp, and The New York Times released their Q4 and full-year 2023 earnings reports this month, offering a glimpse into the state of the ad market and providing guidance for the years ahead.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

• AdvertisingDive into the reports and outlook from public media companies for the final quarter of 2023 and full year.
• Strength in subscriptionsAcross publishers, digital subscriptions helped to buoy earnings and provided a brighter spot in their financial reports.
• What's next?Looking ahead to 2024, the consensus seems to be that the ad market can't get worse than 2023, and most publishers are predicting growth, particularly in digital advertising.

In other media news:

• BuzzFeed begins another round of layoffsAfter announcing a cost-cutting "strategic restructuring" last week, BuzzFeed began laying off employees, with those let go learning the bad news on Wednesday.
• 3 stories, 5-figures monthly: Google wants to reward publishers using its AI toolsAccording to internal company documents obtained by Digiday, Google has offered to pay publishers with its upcoming suite of generative AI tools.
• After Axing Opinion Section, The L.A. Times is launching a reader-funded newsletterThe company is looking to compete with other subscription newsletters with its new editorial product.

We'll be tracking how publishers are approaching these new revenue streams.

Stay tuned for more coverage on Digiday+.