Belo Corp. today presented its half-a-year-in-review in New York City, and bossman Robert Decherd wisely played up the company's television properties -- you know, the ones investors and financial analysts seem to love a whole bunch. Said the chairman and chief executive officer, even with the recent upswing in Belo stock price, "a rational market will, over time, recognize the value of our television assets and their contribution to the whole of Belo." In short: Belo stock, he wants to take you higher.
But how about them newspapers? Decherd said he expect circulation numbers to keep declining, as the paper further shrinks its area of distribution (to save $9 mil) and stops letting third parties throw the paper. And, yes, while they're still thinking nothing but Interwebs over at Belo, that isn't stopping the company from "creating new print products to reach targeted audiences and leveraging our newspaper franchises to build sustainable Internet businesses." If you gots nothing better to do for lunch, you can hear a Webcast of the conference right here. --Robert Wilonsky