• by Wayne Friedman , February 3, 2015

Gannett Corp.’s TV operations saw a sizable jump in revenue in their fourth-quarter results due to its significant Belo Corp. and London Broadcasting acquisitions.

Revenues grew 117% to $495.3 million during the period without accounting for the TV stations' purchases (on a pro forma basis). Revenue was up 25%.

Core and national TV spot advertising were up 63% to $275.9 million over the same period a year ago, but down 7% on a pro forma basis.

Retransmission revenue improved 142% (and 56% pro forma) to $94.3 million. Political advertising during the fourth quarter was at $92.4 million, with no comparable 2013 fourth-quarter results.

Gannett expects first-quarter 2015 advertising to be higher in the low-to-mid single-digit percentages — all this against a $41.3 million gain from the Winter Olympics in the first-quarter 2014.

Publishing revenues sank 6.2% to $885.5 million, with advertising revenues down 7.8% to $543.8 million and circulation revenues were off 2.2% to $282.0 million.

Gannett’s overall digital revenues continue to climb, 76.6% to $345.4 million.

Overall, Gannett revenues were 24.3% higher to $1.7 billion with net income at $695.0 million, a nearly seven-fold increase from $105.2 million.