Sinclair 2Q Media Revenue Hits $1.3B

Sinclair Broadcast Group this morning reported that its second quarter 2020 media revenues grew 75% to $1.3 billion versus $721 million in 2Q 2019. Breaking down the media revenue:

• Political revenues were $19 million versus $3 million in 2Q 2019.
• Distribution revenues were $1 billion versus $367 million, driven by the acquisition of 21 regional sports networks and Fox College Sports in August 2019.

For the company as a whole, total revenue increased 66% to $1.3 billion versus $771 million in 2Q 2019.

Operating income was $492 million, including $19 million of non-recurring costs for transaction, legal, litigation, and regulatory costs, versus operating income of $106 million in the prior year period, which included $28 million of adjustments. Operating income when excluding the adjustments, increased to $501 million from $134 million for the same prior-year period.

Diluted earnings per common share were $3.12 as compared to $0.45 in the prior year period.

Chris Ripley, president-CEO, said: “Our second quarter results were much as expected as a result of COVID-19. The pandemic dampened advertising spending and resulted in the continued postponement of major sports league games. Advertising trends, however, did improve throughout the quarter, with the decline in June’s advertising revenue versus the prior year period being roughly half the decline experienced in April. July trends showed further improvement throughout the month. Like many across the country, we are happy to see the return of sports.”

Ripley continued, “Despite the pandemic’s significant disruption to our business during the quarter, our employees did an admirable job of adapting to the changes necessary to operate in a very different environment than we have experienced in the past. The transition was relatively seamless, and I could not be more proud of their efforts.”

Ripley added, “We continue to judiciously manage our costs and to take the actions necessary to enable us to endure this period of economic weakness. This includes seeking ways to optimize our capital structure to create value for our investors.”

Also on Wednesday, Sinclair’s board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.20 per share on the company’s Class A and Class B common stock. The dividend is payable on Sept. 15 to the holders of record at the close of business on Sept. 1.

Read the company’s report here.