Gannett Co., Inc. Releases April Statistical Report

Business Wire, May 19, 2008

MCLEAN, Va. -- Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI) reported today that total operating revenues for the fourth period ended May 4, 2008 declined 7.7 percent compared with the same period in 2007. The exchange rate of the British pound was unchanged compared to last year and therefore did not have a meaningful impact on results.

Publishing advertising revenues in April were down 10.4 percent compared with April a year ago. The results were impacted by the switch of Easter to March this year from April last year. As in the past, we recommend combining March and April results for comparison purposes.

Retail advertising revenues were 6.1 percent lower in the fourth period. In the U.S., across all products, the decline was led by softness in the furniture, entertainment and telecommunications categories. The home improvement category was slightly positive in the period.

Classified revenues were 15.8 percent lower in the fourth period. Real estate revenues declined 23.8 percent, employment revenues were down 20.0 percent and automotive revenues were 13.2 percent lower. Classified results at Newsquest in the UK were stronger than in U.S. community publishing. For U.S. community publishing, classified revenues were 20.0 percent lower in April reflecting declines of 27.3 percent in real estate revenues, 28.0 percent in employment revenues and 11.3 percent in automotive revenues. Classified revenues at our operations in the UK were 5.7 percent lower, in pounds. Increases of 2.3 percent in employment revenues and 4.4 percent in other revenues were offset by declines of 20.1 percent in automotive revenues and 16.3 percent in real estate revenues.

National advertising revenues for the fourth period were 8.2 percent lower. At USA TODAY, advertising revenues were down 6.4 percent on paid ad pages of 335 versus 381 last year. In the fourth period at USA TODAY, strength in the travel, financial, automotive, restaurants and advocacy categories was offset by softness in the entertainment, technology, retail and telecommunications categories.

Broadcasting revenues, which include Captivate, were 4.3 percent lower. Television revenues were down 5.3 percent in the period as local and national revenues declined 3.2 percent and 13.7 percent, respectively. Based on results to date and current pacings, television revenues for the second quarter of 2008 would lag last year's second quarter in the mid to high single digits.

In addition to the revenue and statistical summary, attached is a chart which shows the consolidated Gannett Online audience share for April from Nielsen//Net Ratings. In April, Gannett's domestic Web sites had 25.5 million unique visitors reaching approximately 15.5 percent of the Internet audience.

On May 7, 2007, the company completed its sale of the Norwich (CT) Bulletin, the Rockford (IL) Register Star, the Observer-Dispatch in Utica, NY, and The Herald-Dispatch in Huntington, WV. In addition, the Chronicle-Tribune in Marion, IN, was contributed to the Gannett Foundation on May 21, 2007. The revenue and statistical data related to these properties has been excluded from all periods presented.

To conform with current year presentation, the company's equity share of operating results for 2007 from its newspaper partnerships, including Tucson, which participates in a joint operating agency, the California Newspapers Partnership and the Texas-New Mexico Newspapers Partnership have been reclassified from "Other revenue" and are reflected in a separate line in the Non-Operating section of the Statement of Income titled "Equity income (losses) in unconsolidated investees, net." Other revenue is now comprised principally of commercial printing revenues and revenue from PointRoll.

Circulation volume numbers for Newsquest's paid daily newspapers are included in the enclosed statistics, but volume from unpaid daily and non-daily publications is not included in the circulation volume statistics.

Gannett Co., Inc. is a leading international news and information company that publishes 85 daily newspapers in the USA, including USA TODAY, the nation's largest-selling daily newspaper. The company also owns nearly 900 non-daily publications in the USA and USA WEEKEND, a weekly newspaper magazine. Gannett subsidiary Newsquest is the United Kingdom's second largest regional newspaper company. Newsquest publishes nearly 300 titles, including 17 daily newspapers, and a network of prize-winning Web sites. Gannett also operates 23 television stations in the United States and is an Internet leader with sites sponsored by its TV stations and newspapers including USATODAY.com, one of the most popular news sites on the Web.

Certain statements in this press release may be forward looking in nature or "forward looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward looking statements contained in this press release are subject to a number of risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual performance to differ materially from these forward looking statements. A number of those risks, trends and uncertainties are discussed in the company's SEC reports, including the company's annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Any forward looking statements in this press release should be evaluated in light of these important risk factors.