Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NASDAQ:LEE) Q1 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Timothy Millage: So it’s very consistent with what we saw in the first quarter. Our total digital revenue was up 17%, and we’re pacing around there as well in the second quarter.

Michael Kupinski: Got you. And then on digital subscription, were there any specific changes in marketing in the quarter, changes in paywalls that might kind of account for some of the growth that we’re seeing there?

Timothy Millage: No, nothing specific. It’s just all part of the strategy. And the foundation of that is local content that our users enjoy, one, and that’s kind of the foundation of our digital subscription platform. At the same time, we’re mining data that’s informing our marketing decisions. And that’s just part of the grind that we’re going through and part of the tactics that we are deploying to drive digital subscription growth. And as you saw in the quarter, great growth from a unit perspective, 25% growth year-over-year, which is 13 consecutive quarters of industry-leading growth. And at the same time, we’re growing average rates. So having revenue grow 56% year-over-year with units up 25%, we’re starting to see that increase in average rate. So we’re really happy with what we’re seeing on the digital subs side.

Michael Kupinski: That’s terrific. And I would assume the margins are starting to show some improvement there as well on the digital side. Yeah. What was the reason why TownNews was rebranded? I was just wondering if you can kind of give me a sense of what led you to change the rebrand.

Kevin Mowbray: We’ve been really pleased with the performance of TownNews, and it’s been primarily focused in the media sector in terms of its BLOX CMS services. And I really believe we’ve got a great opportunity to go above and beyond providing those services outside of the media landscape, hence the name from TownNews to BLOX Digital.

Michael Kupinski: Got you. Okay. All right. Thanks. That’s all I have. Thank you.

Josh Rinehults: That is all we have for questions. I will turn it back to Kevin for closing remarks.

Kevin Mowbray: Great. Well, thank you. As I mentioned earlier, we remain keenly focused on transforming our business model from the long-term benefits for our shareholders, our employers, our employees, our readers and advertisers. We appreciate your time and your interest in Lee. Thank you again for joining the call.

Operator: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, we have reached the end of our question-and-answer session. This concludes our call. Everyone, have a great day.