Tribune Co. reports $124 million loss for 3rd quarter

The Tribune Company, the publisher of The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, Newsday and others has reported a $124 milliion loss for the 3rd quarter, down from a profit of $84 million for the same quarter last year.

The bulk of the loss came from plunging ad revenue, which dropped 19% in the quarter. E&P reports that retail advertising revenue for the group dropped 10%, preprint 15%, national advertising 21% and classified advertising a whopping 30%.

Online revenue didn’t provide any relief, dropping 7% due to a decline in online classified revenue related to the offline drop.

The Tribune Company faces a difficult debt situation with interest expenses growing to $232 million in the quarter up from $175 million for the same period last year. Total debt for the group now totals $11.8 billion, up from $9.4 billion.