INDIANAPOLIS, July 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Emmis Communications Corporation (Nasdaq: EMMS) today announced results for its first fiscal quarter ended May 31, 2008.

'I'm proud of the results our Emmis team was able to deliver during the first quarter,' Emmis Chairman and CEO Jeff Smulyan said. 'Five percent growth in operating income during such a challenging period for American media is a testament to the talent and professionalism of our team. I'm particularly thrilled with the performance of some of our newer initiatives, including the 14 percent growth during the quarter in our International revenues, the launch of the Broadcaster Traffic Consortium, and the growing roster of new customers at Emmis Interactive.'

For the first fiscal quarter, net revenue was $86.8 million, compared to $87.3 million for the same quarter of the prior year.

Diluted net loss per common share from continuing operations improved to ($0.05), compared to ($0.07) for the same quarter of the prior year.

For the first quarter, radio net revenues decreased 1 percent, while publishing net revenues were up 2 percent. On a pro forma basis, publishing net revenues were down 5 percent. Domestic radio net revenues decreased 3 percent during the quarter, slightly outperforming its markets, which Miller Kaplan reported down 4 percent for the quarter.

For the first quarter, operating income improved to $12.6 million, compared to $12.1 million for the same quarter of the prior year. Emmis' station operating income also improved during the first quarter to $23.3 million, compared to $22.5 million for the same quarter of the prior year.

Emmis has included supplemental pro forma net revenues, station operating expenses, and certain other financial data on its website, www.emmis.com under the 'Investors' tab.

International radio net revenues and station operating expenses, excluding depreciation and amortization, for the quarter ended May 31, 2008 were $9.3 million and $6.8 million, respectively, representing an increase of 14 percent and 16 percent, respectively, over the same period of the prior year.

During the quarter, the Company announced that Emmis Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of Emmis Communication Corporation, would begin to market its services to radio broadcasters and other local media companies. Since that announcement, Emmis Interactive has announced agreements with broadcasters Renda Broadcasting, Big League Broadcasting and Lincoln Financial Media, as well as announcing a licensing agreement with the iTunes Store to market Emmis Interactive's custom Storefront technology to other radio stations and media companies.

Also during the quarter, Emmis announced that it has joined seven other radio companies in launching the Broadcaster Traffic Consortium, LLC (BTC), a company formed to build a nationwide terrestrial broadcasting network to distribute NAVTEQ traffic and other map-related data via radio technology. Founding members of BTC are Beasley Broadcast Group; Bonneville International Corporation; Cox Radio, Inc.; Emmis Communications; Entercom Communications Corp.; Greater Media; NPR and Radio One. Other participating broadcasters include Lincoln Financial Media, Cumulus Media, Hubbard Broadcasting and Cobalt Operating, LLC. Emmis VP of Integrated Technologies Paul Brenner serves as BTC's president.

On May 2, 2008, Emmis entered into a definitive agreement to sell its sole remaining television station, WVUE-TV in New Orleans. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of calendar 2008. Gross proceeds from the sale of the company's 16 television stations were $1.24 billion.

Subsequent to the quarter's end, Emmis Publishing suspended publication of Tu Ciudad Los Angeles because the magazine's financial performance did not meet the Company's expectations. Emmis expects to record a charge of approximately $1.1 million related to severance and other shut-down costs during its quarter ended Aug.