Buzzfeed, News Corp and New York Times push back on tariff fears in earnings calls
By Sara Guaglione • Can also simply 9, 2025 •
Publishing execs didn’t fearful far flung from the elephant in the room for the duration of their first quarter earnings calls: What impact would President Donald Trump’s tariff coverage and the hazardous economic climate have on their companies?
CEOs and CFOs at BuzzFeed, Dotdash Meredith, Gannett, News Corp and The Unusual York Conditions labored to ease shareholder and market concerns about this one year’s economic outlook.
Most said they were confident that their companies may perchance well most doubtless continue to grow amid the hazardous macroeconomic climate. All four companies reaffirmed their quarterly and complete-one year guidance.
Of their firm earnings calls this week, publishers celebrated they had now not viewed any measurable impact from the tariffs coverage on their companies but. On the opposite hand, digital advertising revenues were largely flat one year-over-one year in Q1 2025 for BuzzFeed, Dotdash Meredith and Gannett, up 2.3%, up 1%, down 1.3%, respectively. Promoting revenue at News Corp’s Dow Jones industry, which contains The Wall Aspect highway Journal, had no change one year over one year.
The Unusual York Conditions’ digital advertising industry grew 12% one year-over-one year in the quarter.
Conditions CEO Meredith Kopit Levien attributed that increase to the publisher’s “diverse” range of products and classes, original advertising offer and clear viewers.
“We’ve had a solid delivery as a lot as the one year, our technique is working and our industry is rising and demonstrating resilience amidst the present economic and geopolitical uncertainty,” Kopit Levien said.
News Corp execs were additionally confident that the Dow Jones industry may perchance well most doubtless climate the industrial instability. “Promoting is more likely to be unstable, given the macro uncertainty,” said CFO Lavanya Chandrashekar, with CEO Robert Thomson later adding in the earnings name that Dow Jones is “consistently reporting double digit revenue will increase in potentially the most critical segments, and there’s no cause to presume that those double digit will increase won’t continue.”
On the opposite hand, revenue in the News Media community, which contains the Unusual York Submit and U.Okay. newspapers, fell 8%, in section on story of of “more difficult advertising conditions,” which were in part offset by elevated duvet costs and subscription costs, Chandrashekar said.
If the economy does seize a flip, BuzzFeed will capitalize on its programmatic advertising industry, a “extra resilient produce of revenue,” claimed BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti. The programmatic market has benefited from recessions in the previous, given advertisers’ tendency to accommodate extra efficiency-driven and scalable kinds of media shopping for the duration of economic downturns.
“I’d search data from [programmatic] to be the next share if we ended up in an surprising macro roughly downturn. Nonetheless this may perchance be critical no topic what happens in the economy,” Peretti said. The first quarter used to be BuzzFeed’s fourth consecutive quarter of programmatic advertising increase, increasing by $2.5 million one year over one year. (On the opposite hand, BuzzFeed had a $2.1 million decline in verbalize-bought advertising, despite the proven truth that per chance that’s to be expected given BuzzFeed’s strategic shift far flung from its verbalize ads industry.)
Nonetheless the reliance on programmatic may perchance well most doubtless now not work for every person. Dotdash Meredith is seeing programmatic pricing soften due to the the “most modern concerns about tariffs,” and are now flat one year over one year, constant with Joey Levin, CEO of IAC, DDM’s guardian firm.
Publishers may perchance well even be preserving a frigid head on story of they’re so acquainted with having contingency plans amid market volatility. Plus, it’s silent early days in phrases of having the ability to seem ahead to the build any tariffs can also have on advertiser spending. On the opposite hand, they’re going to be watching closely for the formula advertisers answer to the tariff-precipitated pressures in the approaching months.
“I suspect that there’s without a doubt a runt little bit of uncertainty in the traders, and [they are] a runt slower to drag the trigger,” said Dotdash Meredith CEO Neil Vogel.
Nonetheless Christopher Halpin, CFO at IAC, Dotdash Meredith’s guardian firm, remained confident that there would now not be a “principal recession.” Dotdash Meredith experienced “stable” top rate advert revenue, due basically to strengths in the know-how, retail and elegance & vogue classes, offsetting weaknesses in meals and beverage, constant with the firm.
“That assumption derives from what we’re seeing in our companies, however we know we dwell in unpredictable times, all we are able to retain watch over is our focus and execution,” Halpin said.
Despite their optimism, however, it’s silent very early days for the capability knock-on build of tariffs on advertiser budgets, that formula subsequent quarter’s earnings calls may perchance well most doubtless paint a really diverse picture.
“I suspect anyone who doesn’t think the mood of the traders is altering is now not paying attention. Nonetheless we haven’t viewed any principal, huge atomize in that but. I assume it all remains to be viewed,” Vogel said.
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