TV broadcasting and media company Sinclair Inc. reported political revenue of $138 million for its third quarter, coming in slightly below its updated guidance.
In September, the company had upped its guidance for the quarter to approximately $140 million to $145 million, up from the previously announced forecast range of $113 million to $128 million. The company attributed the miss to cancellations in political ads in late in September, with $5 million in lost revenue due to late ad cancellations during the quarter.
Still, the company noted that it had seen record Q3 and Q4 revenue, up through Election Day, as well as for full-year political advertising.
The estimates for 2024 political revenue is $406 million, up 16 percent more than 2020 pre-Georgia runoff total. That total also includes $26 million in cancellations as “dollars shifted to states and local markets outside of our footprint.”
Total revenue increased 20 percent to $917 million in Q3 versus $767 million in the prior year period. Total advertising revenues hit $433 million, up 42 percent versus $304 million in the prior year.
Net income attributable to the company was $94 million after a net loss of $46 million in the prior year period.
“Sinclair delivered solid third quarter results, as core advertising revenues grew by 1% year-over-year, in spite of record-breaking political revenues,” said Chris Ripley, Sinclair’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “This is unprecedented for Sinclair in recent history and perhaps the industry to be able to grow core advertising revenues in the third quarter of a political year. Total advertising revenue was up 42% year-over-year and distribution revenues grew by 5%.
Ripley, “We have now reached agreement to renew retransmission consent agreements covering 78% of our Big 4 network MVPD linear subscriber base this year and we are confident in our ability to grow net retransmission revenues in line with our prior mid-single-digit CAGR estimate from 2023-2025. Our industry-leading core advertising revenue trends, and with most of our retrans and network affiliation agreement renewals now behind us, we believe we are well-positioned to finish 2024 on a strong note.”
More to come.
English (US) ·