Media General Friday reported revenues of $362.7 million in the second quarter.
That figure is a 13% increase over last year and includes $10 million in political money, the company said. Without political money (which rose from $3 million in 2Q 2015), the increase dips to 11%.
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2Q highlights include:
- Net local revenues, which include net local advertising revenues and retransmission consent fees, increased 13% to $248 million, compared to $220 million in 2Q 2015
- Net national revenues increased 1% to $54 million, compared to $53 million in 2Q 2015
- Net political revenues were $10 million, compared to $3 million in 2Q 2015
- Net digital revenues increased 18% to $43 million, compared to $36 million in 2Q 2015
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“We delivered strong results, with total net revenues increasing 13% and Adjusted EBITDA growing 23%, compared to the prior year. Key drivers for our performance were political advertising, an increase in pay-TV subscriber fees and expense management, including further realization of synergies from the LIN Media merger,” president and CEO Vincent Sadusky said in a statement. “In addition, our digital restructuring initiatives resulted in an 18% revenue increase for the quarter, and in June, we recorded the highest digital revenue month in our company's history.”
Sadusky said he expects the company to stay strong during the last half of the year, during which Nexstar Broadcasting’s acquisition of Media General will move toward completion.
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“Looking ahead, we feel great about the second half of the year, as our strong news stations benefit from national and local political races,” he said. “Additionally, the highly viewed Summer Olympics will air on our 13 NBC stations. This is an exciting time as we work towards the consummation of our combination with Nexstar.”
