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.
