Hearst, Belo, Meredith, ACME up
By Steve McClellan -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/31/2002 3:00:00 AM
Hearst-Argyle Television Inc., Belo Corp., Meredith Corp. and ACME Communications Inc. all reported double-digit gains in TV revenue for the third quarter.
Cash-flow gains were also substantial. Hearst-Argyle reported a 22 percent revenue gain to $176.5 million, while cash flow leaped 57 percent to $74.2 million.
Belo reported an 18 percent gain in TV revenue to $158.7 million with a 44 percent cash-flow gain to 64.5 million.
Meredith said TV revenues were up 14 percent to $64.2 million while cash flow soared 52 percent to $15.4 million.
ACME reported a 20 percent revenue gain to $20 million while cash flow climbed 16 percent to $4 million.
Political was a big factor for all of the groups but ACME. Hearst-Argyle got $23 million in political for the quarter, and it estimated that full-year political will exceed the $57.7 million it generated in 2000.
Belo generated a little more than $11 million in political for the quarter, and it said it would generate a bunch more in the month leading up to the election -- spot dollars for the group will be up 30 percent for October and in the high-teens for the fourth quarter.
While political is helping a lot, executives at all of the groups said the underlying business is also growing significantly and should continue to do so through the end of the year.
Splitting Headaches for Belo, Hearst
10/14/2007Hearst-Argyle Television Q4 Earnings Down
02/22/2008Strong 4Q for Hearst-Argyle, Belo
02/07/2003
