Media General 1Q TV Revenue Up 12%

Media General Inc. today reported total revenues in the 2012 first quarter were $150 million, an increase of 0.4% from last year on the strength of higher broadcast revenues, partially offset by lower print and digital media revenues.

Political revenues were $6.2 million, compared with $188,000 last year. Cable and satellite retransmission fees increased 63% to $8.7 million from $5.3 million last year, as the result of rate increases in contract renewals.

Commenting on the results, Marshall N. Morton, president-COO, said: “The operating improvement is primarily the result of increased profits at our broadcast television stations, as they generated 12% revenue growth from increased political revenues and higher retransmission fees. Broadcast platform cash flow margin increased from 25% last year to 32% this year. Total company operating costs, excluding impairment, decreased 4.5%, as a result of our continued aggressive cost management,” he said. “All of our geographic markets generated profit improvements over last year.

“Our local media websites generated $7.8 million in revenues, up 5.4%, driven by nearly 13% growth in local online advertising. Revenues from mobile, our fastest growing advertising category, were up nearly threefold, and mobile page views increased 93%,” Morton said.

Read the company’s report here.