Scripps 4Q Local Media Revenue Up 17%

E.W. Scripps Co.’s Local Media division (its TV stations and local brands on all platforms) today reported revenue for the fourth quarter of 2019 of $330 million, up 17% from the prior-year quarter. (Note, during 2019, Scripps acquired eight TV stations being divested in the Nexstar/Tribune merger on Sept. 19, 15 stations from Cordillera on May 1, and three stations from Gray/Raycom on Jan. 1.)

Retransmission consent revenue increased 42% to $111 million.

Core advertising revenue increased 67% to $199 million, mainly due to the impact of the stations acquired from Gray/Raycom, Cordillera and Nexstar/Tribune.

Fourth quarter political revenues were $15 million during this non-election year, compared to $82 million in the prior-year quarter.

Local Media segment expenses increased 37% to $251 million, primarily driven by increases in programming fees tied to network affiliation agreements and the impact of the television stations acquired from Gray/Raycom, Cordillera and Nexstar/Tribune.

Local Media profit was $79.7 million, compared to $98.7 million in the year-ago quarter.

Note: Using what Scripps calls an adjusted combined basis, as though all of those station acquisitions had closed on Jan. 1, 2018, the Local Media segment numbers would have been:

• Revenue: $330 million, down 21%
• Political ad revenue: $114 million
• Core Advertising: Up 4.7%
• Other revenue: Up 12%
• Segment expenses: Up 5.4%
• Adjusted combined segment profit: $79.7 million, compared to $152 million a year ago

For the company as a whole, total revenue was $444 million, an increase of 21% or $76.3 million from the prior-year quarter.

Commenting on the quarter’s results, Scripps President-CEO Adam Symson said: “The E.W. Scripps Company has positioned itself exceedingly well to thrive in the media landscape by working a plan dedicated to executing for near-term operating results and long-term value creation. As we turn the page on 2019, we are the fourth-largest independent broadcaster, reaching one in three U.S. television households with a stronger and better-performing portfolio of local television stations. We have the reach and the depth we sought out as a part of our consolidation strategy.

“Last quarter, our national businesses blew past the $100 million milestone in quarterly revenue through strong contributions from Katz, Newsy, Stitcher and Triton. Each of these four businesses is a leader in a fast-growing marketplace and is contributing to expanding division margins and creating new shareholder value by capitalizing on consumers’ changing media behaviors.

“As a result of that repositioning, Scripps will take advantage of the opportunity we see in 2020. Our expanded political advertising footprint sets us up now to even better capture political advertising dollars during what has already proven to be a robustly contested presidential election year. The M&A work of the last year grew the company’s scale just ahead of the reset our Comcast retransmission fees and the renegotiating of another 40% of our cable and satellite subscriber base this spring. We expect our National Media division to run ahead of our previous revenue targets of $500 million in 2021.

“We remain committed to a balanced approach to allocating capital through acquisitions and dividends, and we now have a new share repurchase authorization in place. Looking ahead, we are focused on high cash flow this year as we benefit from the creation of a more durable and better-performing company.”

Read the company’s report here.