Time Inc. Has Sluggish Quarter

Looks like readers weren’t so wild about that breast-feeding cover. Time Inc. reported on Wednesday that its publishing unit’s revenue was down 9 percent—and operating income was down 43 percent. CFO John Martin admitted the “environment around here remains challenging,” especially since subscription revenue was down 11 percent and ad revenue was down 7 percent. The numbers would have been even more dismal except Time had retaken control of SI.com and Golf.com from Turner during the quarter—and Martin admitted ads overall would have been 9 percent without those two sites. The only solace for Time Inc. is that digital ads stayed flat.