Nexstar Overall Revenue Up For Fourth Quarter Despite Declines In Local, National Ad Revenue

Q4 Results

Political and digital revenue and retransmission fees helped NEXSTAR MEDIA GROUP show an overall net revenue increase for fourth quarter 2018, rising 22.1% year-to-year to $798,022,000.  The increase came despite local revenue falling 1.5% and national revenue off 1.8%; political revenue jumped 1,019.5% from $12.5 million to $140.2 million, while retrans fees saw a 12.3% increase (and exceeded advertising revenue for the full year, a first for the company) and digital revenue was up 3.3%.  Net income fell 59.3% to $154.5 million, but free cash flow rose 60.8% to $250 million.

Chairman/Pres./CEO PERRY SOOK touted the company's seventh straight year with "record financial performance," projecting that the deal to acquire TRIBUNE MEDIA (including that company's News-Talk WGN-A/CHICAGO) will "nearly double our pro-forma average annual revenue and adjusted EBITDA, will be immediately accretive upon closing and will result in approximately 46% growth in NEXSTAR’s pro-forma average annual free cash flow in the 2018/2019 cycle to approximately $900 million per year."

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