Fisher Reports 27% Boost In TV Revenue

Robust political spending coupled with continued growth in core advertising led to strong year-over-year increases in revenue and broadcast cash flow for Fisher Communications, which contributed to a net profit in the third quarter of 2010.

Broken out:

• TV net revenue increased $6.9 million, or 27%, to $32 million.
• TV net advertising revenue was up $7.1 million, or 38%, to $25.6 million. Core net advertising revenue increased 17% to $21 million and political net revenue increased $4.1 million to $4.7 million.
• Advertising increased in virtually all key categories — automotive, the largest category, increased 61%, while professional services and retail increased 11% and 14%, respectively.
• TV BCF increased $4 million to $7.6 million; TV BCF margin was 24%, up from 14%.
• Retransmission consent revenue for the quarter was $3.6 million, a decrease of $655,000 from the $4.2 million recorded in the third quarter of 2009. The 2009 amount included $1.8 million of cable retransmission consent fees attributable to the first half of 2009 under contracts with several distribution partners that were executed in the third quarter of 2009. If the $1.8 million had been recorded in the first half of 2009, the comparative quarter increase in retransmission revenue would have been $1.1 million, or 47%.
• Internet net revenue (excluding convergence revenue) increased by $435,000, or 89%, to $924,000. During the quarter, Internet net revenue was 2.9% of TV revenue (4% including convergence revenue).

Total company revenue for the third quarter of 2010 was $42.2 million, an increase of $7.7 million, or 22%, compared to the third quarter of 2009. The company reported $3.3 million in net income for the quarter, compared to a $4.0 million net loss in the third quarter of 2009.

Fisher President-CEO Colleen B. Brown commented: “We are pleased with the financial results for the quarter, which represented Fisher’s third consecutive quarter of revenue growth. Our performance reflects continued growth in core advertising and robust political spending in California, Washington and Oregon. Our stations continue to take higher shares of both ratings and revenue, and as we look ahead beyond elections and into 2011, we are cautiously optimistic that the core advertising rebound that began a year ago will continue.”

Read the company’s report here.