Media General: Strong, But Lower, Rev In ’13

Media General expects its total revenues will be down in 2013 compared to 2012, due to the absence of “nonrecurring political and other event-driven revenues,” George Mahoney, company president-CEO said during the company’s fourth quarter earnings conference call with analysts Thursday afternoon.

But Mahoney said that the company expects company retransmission consent revenues to increase 50% in 2013 “based on contracts already negotiated.”

In addition, he said CBS’s carriage of the Super Bowl will benefit eight of the company’s stations, “and we’ve done very well selling the game.”

Mahoney also said the company expected political ad revenues of at least $5 million from the Virginia gubernatorial race; the contest for former Sen. John Kerry’s seat in Massachusetts; from congressional races in Alabama and South Carolina; and issue advertising across a number of the company’s markets.

“Because of our strong track record and the steps we have taken to transform our company, Media General has a bright future,” Mahoney said.

The conference followed up on the release of the company’s report for the quarter issued Thursday morning, in which company revenue was up 39.5%.

During the conference call, Mahoney said company household ratings for November were up, and that Media General stations were starting 2013 with higher core market share numbers, and that all the company’s stations had programs in place to further increase local time sales.

He said the company expected this year’s Super Bowl carriage to generate “double-digit growth” compared to the 2010 Super Bowl, which is the last time CBS carried the game.

Also looking forward, Mahoney said that the company’s retransmission consent agreement with Dish Network “comes up” at the end of June, “and it is for about 11% of all our households.”

In addition, Mahoney predicted that company’s digital business “will grow at a better than industry rate.”

Overall, he said, “We have a portfolio of top-ranked stations, located in attractive, growing markets. This is a time of great opportunity for us, and we have a clear path forward.”