Scripps 4Q TV Revenue Climbs 39%

Led by a record level of political advertising revenues and the performance of acquired television stations, The E.W. Scripps Co. reported operating results for the fourth quarter of 2012 that were significantly stronger than the fourth quarter of 2011, as well as the fourth quarter of the previous election year.

Revenue from the company’s television stations in the fourth quarter was $152 million, up 79.4% from $84.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2011. On a same-station basis (the company added four stations in 2012), television revenue increased 39% in the quarter to $118 million.

Reported advertising revenue broken down by category was:

• Local, up 11% to $54.9 million (down 12% on a same-station basis due to displacement caused by the surge in political advertising).
• National, up 12% to $25.9 million (down 17% on a same-station basis due to displacement).
• Political was $56.9 million, compared to $3.5 million in the 2011 quarter

Excluding the newly acquired stations, political advertising totaled $44.1 million in the fourth quarter. That compares with $28.1 million on a same-station basis in the fourth quarter of 2010 (the previous election cycle) and $26.0 million in 2008 (the previous presidential cycle).

Revenue from retransmission consent agreements more than doubled year over year to $7.9 million.  As a result of new agreements with cable operators that went into effect during 2012, same-station retransmission revenue in the quarter increased 41% to $5.5 million.

Digital revenues in the fourth quarter increased 59% to $4.4 million, and grew 29% on a same-station basis.

Largely as a result of the addition of new stations, expenses for the TV station group grew 41% to $86.6 million. Excluding the new stations, expenses were up 5.2%, driven by staffing increases and promotional initiatives associated with Let’s Ask America and The List.

The television division’s segment profit in the fourth quarter was $65.3 million, compared with $23.2 million in the year-ago period.

Our repositioning of Scripps really paid off in the fourth quarter, and in all of 2012,” said Rich Boehne, Scripps president-CEO. “Investing to expand our television portfolio and to improve our local news programming resulted in an attractive platform for political advertising and the most effective voice for election-year journalism ever staged by Scripps. We also took advantage of the election year to build out our digital product portfolio across both TV and newspaper markets, expanding audiences and attracting new revenue sources. Our investments in new digital products and services will continue in 2013, consistent with our goal to be the leader in our markets. These efforts, led by a broad deployment of more sales resources to take advantage of growing digital revenues, are good examples of creating value through internal investment.

“In the television division,” continued Boehne, “the new stations in Denver, Indianapolis, San Diego and Bakersfield finished their first year as Scripps stations with strong revenue growth. And our decision to replace underperforming syndicated shows with internally produced programming had a positive impact in the first year. Our two newest shows — Let’s Ask America and The List — are performing well from both ratings and financial perspectives.”

Read the company’s report here.