Scripps reported television revenue of $116 million in the second quarter, up 4% from 2013's second quarter. Local revenue increased 3.4% while national was off 12.5%.
Political spending was $5.3 million and retransmission fees, up 21%, were $12.7 million. Scripps’ digital revenue on the TV side increased 9.6% to $4.4 million.
On June 16, Scripps acquired stations in Buffalo and Detroit from Granite Broadcasting Corp. for $110 million. Scripps anticipates the stations contributing more than $15 million of revenue and $5 million of segment profit in the second half of the year.
Scripps’ consolidated revenues were $212 million in the quarter, up 2%. Newspaper revenue was $92.3 million, down 1.3% from the year-ago quarter. The continued decline in advertising and marketing services revenue was partially offset by an increase in subscription revenue, said Scripps.
Scripps and Journal Communications announced a merger July 30, with joint broadcast groups as well as joint newspaper outfits operating as separate companies.
For the third quarter, Scripps anticipates television revenues to be up about 30%, including approximately $20 million in political advertising and $15 million in retransmission revenue. That includes the Granite station acquisitions.
For the full year, management expects television revenues to be up about 20%, with more than $65 million in political advertising revenue.
