Sinclair Revenue Up 49%

Buying KBTV Beaumont, selling WLAJ Lansing

By Michael Malone -- Broadcasting & Cable, 11/1/2012 10:39:50 AM

Sinclair Broadcast Group reported net broadcast revenues in the third quarter of $226.4, up 49% from the same quarter last year. Political spending and a robust automotive category paced the big numbers.  

"We are very pleased with our results for the third quarter, which were driven by increased advertising spending by the political and automotive categories, as well as higher retransmission revenues," commented David Smith, president and CEO of Sinclair. "Despite increased demand for air-time by politicians and political action groups, the core business showed solid growth. On a same station basis, excluding political, net broadcast revenues grew 6.9% in the third quarter."

"We continue to reinvest in the company's long term growth, having recently entered into an agreement to buy the non-license assets of KBTV, the Fox affiliate in the Beaumont/Port Arthur, Texas, market, where we also own the CBS station," added Smith. "We also entered into an agreement to sell our ABC station, WLAJ, in Lansing, Mich., as part of our on-going portfolio evaluation in which we identify pockets of opportunity as well as non-strategic markets."

WLAJ was acquired in the Freedom Communications deal.

Local net broadcast revenues were up 34.5% in the third quarter, while national net broadcast revenues were up 96.8%.

"We have many reasons to be very excited about the state of our company," commented David Amy, executive VP and CFO. "Among them, political ad spending on our stations for this year is expected to reach a historic $98.2 million. On a pro forma basis, compared to 2008, that would represent an 82% increase.

"We believe the strength of our fundamentals and the contributions from our acquisitions will add to our strong competitive position as we enter next year," he added.