Nexstar ad sales were up 22% from July 1-Sept. 30 ahead of the presidential election, the TV station giant reported in its third-quarter 2024 earnings Thursday.
The company also said that its broadcaster the CW once again narrowed its losses in Q3, this time down by $36 million, though the total remaining loss was not disclosed.
Distribution revenue for Q3 was $719 million, up 20% year over year. Ad sales were $622 million for the quarter with “other” revenues at $25 million.
Adjusted free cash flow for Q3 was $327 million.
Wall Street forecast earnings per share (EPS) of $5.41 on $1.37 billion in revenue, according to analyst consensus data provided by LSEG. Nexstar reported diluted EPS of $5.27, or net income of $180 million, on $1.37 billion in revenue.
“Nexstar generated record financial results for the third quarter, reflecting the continued power of our broadcast television business model,” Nexstar CEO Perry Sook said in a letter to shareholders. “We delivered the highest third quarter net revenue in the Company’s history, comprised of record third quarter distribution and advertising revenue, including all time high third quarter political advertising revenue of $154 million, up 16% over the comparable 2020 period.
“During the quarter, we made further progress on our strategy for The CW, reducing operating losses by $36 million year-over-year and by $119 million year-to-date. We debuted NASCAR Xfinity Series racing in September and WWE NXT wrestling in October on The CW broadcast network to double-digit percentage increases both in total audience and in adults 18-49 versus previous viewership on cable. Overall, our strong year-to-date operating performance yielded $792 million of Adjusted Free Cash Flow and we returned $590 million, or 74%, to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases and reduced debt by $146 million.”
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