New Vision Acquisition Paces LIN to Blockbuster Fourth Quarter

Net revenues up 76%, though same station core is down

By Michael Malone -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/28/2013 10:01:41 AM

LIN Media's fourth-quarter net revenues were $196.2 million, up 76% from the same quarter the year before, thanks in part to the group acquiring New Vision Television in the quarter. Net political revenues were $45.5 million; excluding the political spending, net revenues grew 39% in the quarter.

Core revenue, not including political or the newly acquired stations, decreased 3% in the quarter, thanks to a smaller increase in automotive advertising.

LIN's local revenues, which include net local advertising revenues, retransmission consent fees and station website revenues, increased 45% to $101.4 million. Net national revenues increased 25% to $32.7 million, while interactive revenues increased 52% to $12.8 million.

President and CEO Vincent L. Sadusky called 2012 a year of "record-setting results" for LIN. "We closed on the largest acquisition in our company's history, achieved historic political and digital advertising revenues and benefited from a rebound in the automotive industry," he said. "As a result, we delivered record revenue, EBITDA and EBITDA margin in both the fourth quarter and full year. Most recently, we completed the first of two transactions to remove the NBC joint venture overhangs, which is a significant positive development for our company."

LIN agreed to acquire the 13 New Vision Television stations for $330.4 million last year.

LIN expects net revenues for the first quarter of 2013 will increase in the range of 33% to 37%, compared to the first quarter of 2012. On a same station basis, excluding the revenues of the acquired stations, LIN expects net revenues will be up 4% to 7%.

"Looking ahead, we are cautious about the state of the economy and excited about the evolution of our company, continued growth of our digital business and the contributions of our recent acquisitions," said Sadusky.