USA TODAY Co., the media company behind the USA TODAY Network and UK-based Newsquest, today reported first quarter 2026 financial results that show accelerating momentum across digital revenue lines - driven in part by active AI content licensing agreements with Meta and Microsoft and a return to year-over-year growth in digital-only subscriptions. The company, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker TDAY after rebranding from Gannett, filed its earnings release on April 30, 2026.

Total revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2026 came in at $548.5 million, a decrease of 4.0% year-over-year. However, on a same-store basis - a like-for-like measure that excludes sold or closed operations and currency movements, so the comparison reflects only businesses that operated in both periods - the decline narrowed to just 1.8%, representing a 590 basis point improvement compared to the same period a year ago. According to the company, that figure marks the best same-store revenue performance in four years.

Total digital revenues reached $261.9 million in the first quarter, accounting for 47.8% of total revenues. On a same-store basis, digital revenues grew 5.2% year-over-year. The share of digital revenue is up 400 basis points compared to the prior year period. The company described the 50% threshold as a "critical mark" it expects to surpass at some point during 2026 on an annual basis.

Adjusted EBITDA - a non-GAAP measure the company defines as segment earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, adjusted for items including integration costs, asset impairments and share-based compensation - rose to $73.1 million in Q1 2026. That represents a 44.7% increase over the $50.5 million reported in Q1 2025. Adjusted EBITDA margin expanded by 450 basis points to 13.3%, compared to 8.8% in the prior year period.

Net income attributable to USA TODAY Co. was $19.9 million, an improvement of $27.2 million compared to a net loss of $7.3 million in Q1 2025. On a diluted per-share basis, the company reported earnings of $0.12 in Q1 2026 versus a loss of $0.05 in Q1 2025.

AI licensing as a revenue driver

The clearest inflection point in the quarter came from a line item called digital other revenues, which includes digital content syndication, affiliate content, and AI partnerships and licensing. That category grew 125.6% year-over-year, adding $18.8 million in incremental revenue in the quarter.

In the earnings call held on April 30, 2026, CEO Michael Reed addressed the AI licensing trajectory directly. According to Reed, "Our existing AI agreements, such as with Meta and Microsoft, had a notable impact on our Q1 results." He framed the company's position as forward-looking: "We're taking a long-term approach rather than near term because in the very near term, it's a little bit lumpy or unpredictable."

Reed described a three-part approach to positioning for AI licensing growth: creating unique content at scale on a daily basis, digitizing the company's large archive of historical content, and deploying blocking technology to prevent unauthorized use of content. According to the earnings release, the company views AI licensing as "a continued significant future growth opportunity" and said it maintains an active pipeline including foundational model providers, start-ups, and emerging licensing platforms.

The company had announced its Microsoft partnership in October 2025, when it was still operating under the Gannett name. At that time, the company disclosed it was joining Microsoft's Publisher Content Marketplace. The Q1 2026 results now offer the first full quarter of data showing the combined contribution of that deal, alongside the existing Meta agreement, to reported revenue.

The timing of these contributions is expected to vary. CFO Trisha Gosser, speaking on the April 30 call, projected that total adjusted EBITDA would continue to grow year-over-year in Q2 2026, but "at a notably more moderate pace" than the 45% seen in Q1, with licensing revenue expected to contribute less in the second quarter.

Digital subscriptions stabilise

The digital-only subscription business, which had been experiencing volume declines, showed renewed strength in Q1 2026. Revenues from digital-only subscriptions totaled $45.9 million in the quarter, up 6.2% year-over-year - and marking the third consecutive quarter of sequential growth.

More precisely, digital-only ARPU (average revenue per user) reached a record $10.30 in Q1 2026, up 42.7% year-over-year and 5% sequentially. The USA TODAY Media segment alone recorded ARPU of $10.80, up from $7.31 a year earlier - a 48% increase. The UK-based Newsquest segment showed more modest ARPU movement, rising fractionally to $5.78 from $5.76 year-over-year.

Total digital-only paid subscriptions across both segments stood at 1,461 thousand as of March 31, 2026. That is down 24% from 1,931 thousand a year earlier. The USA TODAY Media segment saw a 28% year-over-year decline in subscription volumes to 1,311 thousand, while Newsquest grew volumes 24% to 150 thousand.

Management attributed the volume decline to a deliberate strategy of optimising for sustainable monetisation over short-term subscriber count. According to Gosser, "volume decline slowed in Q1 with new starts approaching parity with stops late in the quarter, indicating stabilization and a potential return to volume growth."

The company has also introduced a product called "stacked subscriptions," which enables subscribers to bundle complementary offerings - such as USA TODAY Play and local publications - into a single package. According to Kristin Roberts, President of USA TODAY Media, digital subscribers who add a second product to their bundle show a 20-point improvement in pay-up rates compared to single-product subscribers. In other words, bundled users are significantly more likely to move from promotional or free access to a paid tier.

Golfweek, the company's golf publication, is expected to be added to the stacking stack later in 2026 and into 2027.

Audience scale and content strategy

The company reached 180 million average monthly unique visitors in Q1 2026, up slightly from 179 million in Q4 2025. Approximately 127 million of those visitors came from the US media network - including USA TODAY and its local properties - as measured by Comscore MediaMetrix for March 2026. The remaining approximately 53 million came from Newsquest's UK digital properties, based on Adobe Analytics.

Across both Newsquest and USA TODAY Media platforms, the company reported 1.4 billion total page views per month in Q1.

Roberts described two content verticals as core audience drivers: sports and entertainment. The High School Sports hub expanded into 12 additional markets during Q1, bringing the total footprint to 35 markets nationwide. The initiative is designed to cover athletes from high school through professional careers, creating a sustained engagement track that supports both advertising and subscription monetisation. In Q1, the company also launched a USA TODAY Soccer hub, bringing domestic and international coverage together ahead of the 2026 World Cup cycle.

On the entertainment side, the USA TODAY Style Meter - launched around the Oscars - generated approximately 20 million page views during the awards season, up more than 5% year-over-year. The interactive voting format, which invited audiences to rate red carpet looks, is described as an attempt to deepen engagement around cultural moments while creating incremental e-commerce opportunities.

Programmatic advertising and the Google Discover effect

Not all digital metrics moved in a positive direction. Digital advertising revenues fell 3% in Q1 2026, totalling $80.9 million. Gosser attributed the decline to "some softness in page views and programmatic revenue."

Page views were down modestly year-over-year, primarily on local sites. The company pointed to two causes: lower referrals from Google Discover and deliberate decisions to increase paywall encounters, which reduce total page view counts while directing traffic toward higher-value, monetisable experiences. According to Gosser, the company delivered its "strongest quarter of new digital business signings in Q1," and expects a "notable improvement" in digital advertising and digital marketing services revenue trends in Q2 as a result.

The tension between page view volume and monetisation quality is a widely recognised dynamic in the digital media industry. As covered on PPC Land, Google Discover has become the dominant traffic referral source for news publishers, accounting for two-thirds of Google referrals to news organisations, while Google Network advertising revenue fell 4% year-over-year to $6.97 billion in Q1 2026 as AI features reduce publisher traffic. Small publishers have lost 60% of their search traffic over two years, according to Chartbeat data published in March 2026, and even large-scale publishers with diversified portfolios have experienced measurable session losses. Dotdash Meredith reported in its Q1 2025 earnings that AI Overviews appeared on roughly a third of search results related to its content, contributing to a 3% year-over-year decline in core sessions.

For USA TODAY Co., the strategic response has been to prioritise direct audience engagement and reduce reliance on Google referral traffic. Roberts said the company is seeing "direct audience engagement increasing, reducing reliance on a single traffic source."

LocaliQ and the digital marketing solutions segment

The LocaliQ segment - which provides digital marketing services, primarily to small and medium-sized businesses - continues to face pressure. Core platform revenues in Q1 2026 were $99.3 million, down from $108.2 million a year earlier, representing an 8% decline. Core platform average customer count fell 11% year-over-year to approximately 11,900. Core platform ARPU, however, increased 4% to approximately $2,794.

Segment adjusted EBITDA for LocaliQ was $6.8 million in Q1 2026, with a margin of 6.8%, compared to $8.5 million and a margin of 7.8% in Q1 2025.

Reed described the segment's transition from "a traditional search agency business to a results-driven approach" as still in progress. The company is expanding social offerings, owned inventory, and targeted email, while deepening CRM integrations. Its Dash platform is being positioned as an AI-powered tool to help customers convert leads into paying customers.

According to Reed, the company expects LocaliQ to show improved revenue trends and position itself for growth in the second half of 2026. LocaliQ's second annual Small Business Marketing Trends Report, published in late 2025, showed that social media advertising adoption had surpassed search advertising adoption among small businesses for the first time - an indication of the market dynamics LocaliQ is navigating.

Newsquest: four consecutive quarters of revenue growth

The Newsquest segment, which operates across the United Kingdom, reported total revenues of $59.8 million in Q1 2026 - up 7% year-over-year and representing the fourth consecutive quarter of revenue growth. Segment adjusted EBITDA was $14.9 million, up 6.6%, with a margin of 24.9%. That margin was unchanged year-over-year, despite the revenue improvement.

Balance sheet and debt reduction

At March 31, 2026, the company reported cash and cash equivalents of $85.2 million, against total debt principal of $988.3 million. That total includes $740.5 million in first lien debt. First lien net leverage - calculated as first lien debt minus cash, divided by trailing twelve months adjusted EBITDA - fell to 2.3x, a 12% reduction year-over-year.

The company paid down $4 million of debt during the quarter and made a $28.5 million payment to a former partner, which was recorded as a financing outflow. Free cash flow was $6.4 million in Q1 2026, down from $10.2 million in Q1 2025. The decrease reflects higher interest paid ($16.4 million in Q1 2026, versus $7.9 million in Q1 2025) and higher integration and reorganisation costs of $9.4 million, compared to $7.5 million a year earlier.

Total assets stood at $1.80 billion as of March 31, 2026. Goodwill was $518.4 million. The company had 146.7 million shares outstanding as of March 31, 2026.

Full year outlook

The company reiterated its full year 2026 guidance. Total revenues are expected to be flat to down in the low single digits on a same-store basis. Digital revenues are expected to grow on a same-store basis and are projected to account for more than 50% of total revenues during 2026. Net income, adjusted EBITDA, operating cash flow, and free cash flow are all expected to grow versus the prior year. Operating cash flow and free cash flow are both projected to grow by double digits.

The company explicitly noted that its 2026 estimates do not factor in the impact of any possible future acquisitions or dispositions.

Timeline

Summary

Who: USA TODAY Co., Inc. (NYSE: TDAY), a diversified media company operating the USA TODAY Network in the United States and Newsquest in the United Kingdom, with the LocaliQ digital marketing solutions brand serving small and medium-sized businesses. Leadership on the Q1 2026 earnings call included Chairman and CEO Michael Reed, CFO Trisha Gosser, and President of USA TODAY Media Kristin Roberts.

What: The company reported Q1 2026 financial results showing total revenues of $548.5 million (down 4.0% year-over-year, down 1.8% on a same-store basis), adjusted EBITDA of $73.1 million (up 44.7%), net income of $19.9 million (an improvement of $27.2 million), and digital revenues of $261.9 million representing 47.8% of total revenues. Digital other revenues - including AI licensing with Meta and Microsoft - grew 125.6% year-over-year. The company reiterated its full year 2026 guidance.

When: Results cover the three months ended March 31, 2026, and were announced on April 30, 2026. The earnings conference call was held at 8:30 AM Eastern Time on that date.

Where: USA TODAY Co. operates nationally across the United States through the USA TODAY Network, covering approximately 220 local markets in 43 states, as well as the United Kingdom through Newsquest. Digital platforms reached 180 million average monthly unique visitors in Q1 2026.

Why: The results matter for the marketing community because they illustrate how one of the largest US news publishers is navigating the intersection of AI content monetisation, programmatic advertising pressure, and subscription model development simultaneously. The 125.6% growth in digital other revenues - driven largely by AI licensing - shows that content deals with foundational model providers are beginning to appear in meaningful numbers on publisher income statements. At the same time, the 3% decline in digital advertising revenues and lower page views on local sites reflect the structural pressure that AI-driven search features and reduced Google Discover referrals are placing on the open web advertising ecosystem.

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