THE New York Times Co said on Wednesday that advertising revenue dropped 20.9 percent in November from a year ago, as the financial crisis prompted steep declines in classified and national ad spending.

As part of its efforts to shore up its core newspaper assets amid the slump, the Times Co is actively seeking buyers for its 17.5 percent stake in the holding company of the Boston Red Sox, according to reports.

The holding company, New England Sports Ventures, owns the baseball club, Fenway Park and a majority interest in the New England Sports Network.

The Wall Street Journal cited an estimate by Barclays Capital that the Times Co stake in the holding company could be worth about US$166 million.

Red Sox president Larry Lucchino declined to comment. Spokesmen for the Times Co too were not immediately available but the company's flagship paper reported the effort to sell the Red Sox stake, citing a person briefed on the plans.

Bid to save daily

The New York Times said the company is "seeking to raise cash and shield its newspaper franchise from rapidly falling revenue." It said the Times Co paid US$75 million for the stake in 2002.

The Times Co's ad revenue, which makes up nearly two-thirds of total revenue, had booked declines of 16.2 percent in October and 14.1 percent in September.

Total revenue from continuing operations fell 13.9 percent last month.

For The New York Times' news media segment, advertising revenue dropped 21.8 percent, while circulation revenue grew 4.2 percent.

At its flagship newspaper, the New York-based company said weakness in the studio entertainment, national automotive, book and financial-services categories drove declines in national ad spending. Classified ad revenue in the segment plunged 33.3 percent.

Total Internet revenue - which also includes NYTimes.com, About.com and other company-owned Websites - dipped 2.6 percent in November. In total, Internet businesses accounted for 12.1 percent of total revenue in November, up from 10.7 percent in November 2007.

The company said Internet revenue gained 8.3 percent over the year-to-date period.