Revenue during the quarter went down marginally by 0.42 percent to $778.47 million from $781.73 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter contracted 633 basis points over the previous year period to 62 percent. Total expenses were 80.30 percent of quarterly revenues, up from 73.98 percent for the same period last year. That has resulted in a contraction of 631 basis points in operating margin to 19.70 percent.

Operating income for the quarter was $153.38 million, compared with $203.37 million in the previous year period.

However, the adjusted operating income for the quarter stood at $159.70 million compared to $213.77 million in the prior year period. At the same time, adjusted operating margin contracted 683 basis points in the quarter to 20.51 percent from 27.35 percent in the last year period.

Gracia Martore, president and chief executive officer, said, “TEGNA generated revenue in the first quarter of 2017 comparable to the first quarter last year, despite a significantly lower level of political and Super Bowl spending, a softer advertising environment and one less day in the quarter. At TEGNA Media, we benefited from strong growth in retransmission revenue and at TEGNA Digital, Cars.com benefited from an increase in advertising sold directly by the company and the acquisition of DealerRater, partially offset by a decline in fees from advertising sold by newspaper affiliates.”