CINCINNATI, Ohio – The E.W. Scripps Company’s consolidated revenues increased 5.5 percent in August to $118 million, compared to $112 million in August 1997.For comparative purposes, the company’s monthly revenue report excludes divested operations and includes acquired operations as if they had been purchased on Jan. 1, 1997.Newspaper advertising moved up 5.1 percent to $58 million compared to $55 million for the same month a year ago. Classified advertising for August increased 7.1 percent to $25 million compared to $24 million in 1997. Local advertising revenues declined 1.3 percent to $21 million. Total newspaper revenues were up 3.7 percent to $76 million from $73 million for August 1997.Broadcast television revenues in August, at $23 million, were 11 percent below last year. In July and August, on a combined basis, revenues were 7.4 percent below last year. The decline was largely due to lost auto advertising caused by the General Motors strike. However, a general weakness in broadcast revenues is continuing in September. Political advertising revenues for the month were $700,000 compared to $100,000 for the same period in 1997.Category television revenues increased 78 percent to $11.3 million from $6.3 million in the same period a year ago. The number of subscribers at Home & Garden Television reached 44.6 million in August, up 1.2 million from the previous month, according to the Nielsen Homevideo Index. The number of Food Network subscribers reached 34.3 million in August, up 700,000 from the previous month, according to the Nielsen index.The E.W. Scripps Company operates 20 daily newspapers; nine network-affiliated television stations; two TV networks, Home & Garden Television and the Food Network; a TV programmer, Cinetel Productions; independent Yellow Pages directories; and United Media, a worldwide syndicator and licensor of news features and comics.