EX-99.2 4 ex99_2.txt EX-99.2 EXHIBIT 99.2 [GRAPHIC LOGO OMITTED] >KNIGHT RIDDER> NEWS RELEASE KNIGHT RIDDER 50 WEST SAN FERNANDO ST. SAN JOSE, CA 95113 Knight Ridder Releases December Statistical Report -------------------------------------------------- San Jose, Jan. 21, 2004 - (KRI:NYSE) - Total advertising revenue was up 1.4% for December and up 0.1% for the year. For the month, retail was up 0.9%, national was up 8.7% and classified was down 1.3%. For the year, retail was up 0.5%, national was up 9.6% and classified was down 4.0%. Within classified, recruitment was down 5.2% for the month - although about a third of the markets, including Fort Worth, Lexington, Aberdeen, Biloxi, Bradenton, Duluth, Fort Wayne, Myrtle Beach, State College, Tallahassee, Wichita and Wilkes-Barre - were in positive territory. Real estate was up 7.2%. Auto was down 6.8%. For the year, recruitment was down 17.5%, real estate was up 7.3%, auto was down 1.2%. Total operating revenue was up 4.3% for the month and up 0.5% for the year. Senior Vice President/Finance and Chief Financial Officer Gary Effren commented, "Beginning in January 2004, we will report our print and online advertising revenue on a combined basis. Increasingly, our sales strategy maximizes the advantages of selling print and online together, as the vast majority of our online recruitment sales are bundled with print. The reporting change will more fully reflect this synergy. In addition, it will make our results more comparable with those reported by others in our industry." "Had we reported the numbers that way in December, as some other companies already do, total advertising would have been up 2.6% for the month and 1.1% for the year. The corresponding numbers for retail would have been up 1.3% and up 0.8%; for national they would have been up 9.3% and up 10.3%; for classified they would have been up 2.1% and down 1.9%. And significantly, had we included online, the recruitment number for December would have been up 1.1% and, for the year, down 14.0%." For the month (reporting on a print-only basis from here on), total ad revenue was up 4.1% in Ft. Worth, 2.9% in St. Paul, 1.5% in Charlotte, 1.4% in Kansas City and 0.5% in Miami, Philadelphia and San Jose were soft. Retail for the month was up 6.9% in Columbia, 6.4% in Kansas City, 2.9% in St. Paul, 2.6% in Fort Worth, 2.5% in San Jose and 1.6% in Charlotte. Philadelphia and Miami were soft. National advertising was up 71.8% in Akron, 40.4% in Columbia, 38.6% in Fort Worth, 17.4% in Charlotte, 15.4% in St. Paul, 10.5% in Philadelphia, 1.3% in Kansas City and 0.9% in Miami, San Jose and Contra Costa were soft. Telecommunications, automotive, finance, pharmaceuticals and travel, including airlines and cruise lines, were up in most major markets. Classified was soft in most large markets, with these exceptions: Miami, up 2.9%, Philadelphia, up 0.8%, and Contra Costa, up 0.5%. Recruitment's year-over-year decline continued to improve in December. Circulation revenue was down 1.1% for December and down 3.5% for the year. Other revenue was up 61.7% for the month, primarily reflecting strength in online and an increase in earnings from Detroit. It was up 21.1% for the year. Knight Ridder (NYSE: KRI) is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, with products in print and online. The company publishes 31 daily newspapers in 28 U.S. markets, with a readership of 8.3 million daily and 12.1 million Sunday. Knight Ridder also has investments in a variety of Internet and technology companies and two newsprint companies. The company's Internet operation, Knight Ridder Digital, develops and manages the company's online properties. It is the founder and operator of Real Cities (www.RealCities.com), the largest national network of city and regional Web sites in more than 85 U.S. markets. Knight Ridder and Knight Ridder Digital are located in San Jose, Calif. # # # For more information, call Vice President/Corporate Relations Polk Laffoon at 408-938-7838 (e-mail: plaffoon@knightridder.com), or Director/Corporate Communications Lee Ann Schlatter at 408-938-7839 (e-mail: lschlatter@knightridder.com), or visit Knight Ridder's Web site at www.knightridder.com.
STATISTICAL REPORT For the period of 12/01/03 - 12/28/03 December Year-to-Date ----------------------- ----------------------- Percent Percent 2003 2002 Change 2003 2002 Change ---------- ---------- ------- ---------- ---------- ------- REVENUE ($000) - See Notes 1 & 2 Advertising Retail 108,644 107,716 0.9% 1,102,841 1,097,445 0.5% National 28,145 25,892 8.7% 329,611 300,622 9.6% Classified 48,621 49,243 -1.3% 776,408 808,875 -4.0% ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- Total 185,410 182,851 1.4% 2,208,860 2,206,942 0.1% Circulation 35,587 35,973 -1.1% 470,445 487,732 -3.5% Other Revenue 20,095 12,428 61.7% 177,895 146,920 21.1% ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- Total Operating Revenue 241,092 231,252 4.3% 2,857,200 2,841,594 0.5% ========== ========== ========== ========== AVERAGE CIRCULATION (000's of copies including Detroit) - Notes 1 & 2 Morning 3,559 3,560 0.0% 3,599 3,603 -0.1% Evening 173 185 -6.5% 185 198 -6.2% Daily 3,732 3,745 -0.4% 3,784 3,800 -0.4% Sunday 5,113 5,116 -0.1% 5,144 5,148 -0.1% ADVERTISING LINAGE (000's of six-column inches) - Notes 1 & 2 Full-Run ROP Retail 1,421.2 1,503.1 -5.4% 14,898.1 15,882.8 -6.2% National 228.0 208.9 9.2% 2,704.2 2,508.3 7.8% Classified 1,281.4 1,265.2 1.3% 18,424.3 18,192.2 1.3% ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- Total 2,930.6 2,977.2 -1.6% 36,026.6 36,583.3 -1.5% ========== ========== ========== ========== Factored Part-Run ROP 186.3 177.9 4.7% 2,397.4 2,276.2 5.3% ========== ========== ========== ========== TOTAL PREPRINTS INSERTED 768,441 720,529 6.6% 7,954,048 7,253,720 9.7% ========== ========== ========== ==========
Statistical Report For the period of 12/01/03 - 12/28/03 December Year-to-Date --------------------------------- --------------------------------- Percent Percent 2003 2002 Change 2003 2002 Change ---------- ---------- ------- ---------- ---------- ------- FULL-RUN ROP ADVERTISING LINAGE DATA By Markets (000's of six-column inches) - Notes 1 & 2 Akron Beacon Journal 115.4 121.6 -5.1% 1,540.8 1,449.9 6.2% Charlotte Observer 129.6 133.6 -3.0% 1,684.3 1,778.5 -5.3% Columbia State 97.0 101.5 -4.4% 1,222.5 1,202.0 1.7% Contra Costa (Note 3) 130.4 128.1 1.8% 1,595.4 1,496.3 6.6% Fort Wayne News-Sentinel, Journal Gazette 98.8 112.3 -12.0% 1,363.5 1,450.5 -6.0% Fort Worth Star Telegram 186.8 188.6 -1.0% 2,266.7 2,309.4 -1.8% Kansas City Star 157.2 152.8 2.9% 1,985.4 1,996.3 -0.6% Lexington Herald-Leader 100.7 104.6 -3.7% 1,196.7 1,191.0 0.5% Miami Herald & el Nuevo Herald 176.0 175.9 0.1% 2,067.6 1,987.8 4.0% Philadelphia Newspapers 195.7 235.2 -16.8% 2,312.3 2,489.2 -7.1% St. Paul Pioneer Press 106.3 96.9 9.7% 1,300.0 1,189.5 9.3% San Jose Mercury News 189.7 206.1 -8.0% 2,429.5 2,557.7 -5.0% Wichita Eagle 79.9 74.4 7.4% 902.4 900.5 0.2% All Other Dailies 1,167.1 1,145.6 1.9% 14,159.5 14,584.7 -2.9% ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- Total - Full-Run ROP 2,930.6 2,977.2 -1.6% 36,026.6 36,583.3 -1.5% ========== ========== ========== ==========
Note 1 - The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press operate under a joint operating agreement as Detroit Newspapers (DN). Revenue and linage are excluded for 2003 and 2002. Note 2 - Measured by individual Knight Ridder newspapers. Where necessary, certain previously reported linage has been restated to be consistent with measurement guidelines currently in use. Note 3 - Full-run ROP advertising linage represents the sum of full-run ROP linage for each of Contra Costa's three newspapers. # # # # # # # # # # # For further information, call Polk Laffoon IV at 408-938-7838