Driven by strong political advertising, Meredith’s broadcast group revenues hit a record $630 million in fiscal 2017, up 15% from the year before, the company reported Thursday.
In its final earnings report of the fiscal year, Meredith said its Local Media Group, which consists of 17 TV stations reaching 11% of U.S. homes, grew its profit by 36% to $215 million. EBITDA increased 27% to $250 million from the year before.
Details of the report include:
- Total advertising revenues grew 7% to a record $414 million, driven by strong demand for political advertising.
- Political advertising revenues were $63 million, largely coming from stations in Las Vegas, St. Louis, Phoenix, Kansas City and Atlanta.
- Non-political advertising revenues were $352 million, compared to $374 million, due primarily to political advertising displacement, the Super Bowl moving to Fox from CBS, and the Summer Olympic games on NBC.
- Digital advertising revenues grew more than 15%. Meredith relaunched all of the mobile news, weather and traffic apps across its station group, yielding record app opens and unique page views.
- Other revenues and operating expenses increased, primarily due to growth in retransmission revenues from cable and satellite television operators, partially offset by higher programming fees paid to affiliated networks.
During 4Q of fiscal 2017, revenues increased 8% to $152 million, Meredith said. The group’s operating profit grew 9% to $46 million, and EBITDA grew 6% to $55 million.
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