Political Revenue Drives Increases For Fourth Quarter 2020 At TEGNA

Q4 Results

TEGNA fourth quarter 2021 revenue jumped 35% year-to-year to $938 million, boosted by record political advertising revenue, subscription revenue growth, and acquisitions, including the TRIBUNE MEDIA stations; without the $264 million in political revenue ($50 million from the GEORGIA Senatorial runoffs alone), total revenue rose only slightly. Net income almost tripled to $244 million ($1.11/diluted share).

The company does not disclose revenue for its radio stations, Sports WBNS-F (97.1 THE FAN) and Sports WBNS-A (ESPN 1460)/COLUMBUS, OH or its podcasting operations.

“As we previewed in our JANUARY 6th press release announcing preliminary fourth quarter and full-year 2020 results, TEGNA had an exceptional year of growth and innovation,” said Pres./CEO DAVE LOUGEE. “The resiliency of our business model and continued execution of our five-pillar strategy positioned us for success regardless of the broader economic backdrop. I am particularly proud of the innovative spirit and perseverance of our employees throughout 2020. Their efforts to serve the greater good of our communities have never been more impactful or inspirational. Whether through exceptional local journalism, helping businesses navigate the pandemic or supporting our neighbors through fundraising and giving, our people were there for our communities when they needed us most. And during a time when mistrust is at an all-time high, our journalists are focused on combating disinformation and misinformation, and building and deepening the trust our audiences place in us through our VERIFY fact-checking reporting initiative and award-winning news and digital reporting."

LOUGEE added, “We will continue to execute and innovate to drive advertising and marketing services revenues, and we expect to see continued improvement in underlying advertising trends following the impact of the global pandemic. Premion, our over-the-top advertising business, is poised to continue to benefit from increased viewing on streaming services into 2021 and beyond, helping us expand our revenue base and giving us access to new markets.

“The strong financial position and balance sheet we have built through our thoughtful financing actions and prudent expense management provides us with significant optionality in the ways in which we can allocate capital. We recently reintroduced a three-year, $300 million share repurchase authorization as an additional opportunistic capital allocation tool. As we look to the year ahead, we are confident in our ability to continue to create and return value to our shareholders.”

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