E.W. Scripps said Thursday its third-quarter loss narrowed despite another decline in revenue. The company continues to trim costs to cope with the advertising slump pummeling the media industry.

In a statement, CEO Rich Boehne said the company is "seeing some modest improvement in the flow of advertising dollars" to its local television stations.

But he said print advertising remains "very weak," and the company's newspapers will continue to cut expenses.

In the third quarter, newspaper advertising revenue dropped 27 percent from the year before. Television revenue was down 22 percent.

The company posted a loss of $3.3 million, or 6 cents per share. That was an improvement over last year's third-quarter loss of $16.8 million, or 31 cents per share, when results included hefty one-time charges related to the spin-off of the company's cable networks and interactive media business.

Overall revenue fell 19 percent to $186.4 million.

Shares rose 4 cents to $6.35 in morning trading.

The decline in ad dollars has forced E.W. Scripps to make dramatic cuts this year. It froze pensions and contributions to 401(k) plans, cut pay for management by as much as 15 percent and shuttered Denver's Rocky Mountain News.