Tribune Media Reports Strong 2018 Start During 1Q

Tribune Media Company today reported its results for the three months ended March 31, 2018.

FIRST QUARTER 2018 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (compared to first quarter 2017)

• Consolidated operating revenues increased 1% to $443.6 million
• Consolidated operating profit was $187.3 million, including a $133 millionnet pretax gain on the sales of spectrum, compared to an operating loss of $21.0 millionfor the first quarter of 2017
• Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA increased 108% to $119.9 million
• Television and Entertainment net advertising revenues fell 7% to $270.4 million
• Net core advertising revenues (which exclude political and digital revenues) decreased 10% to $245.0 million
• Retransmission revenues increased 25% to $118.1 million
• Carriage fee revenues increased 24% to $41.7 million
• Programming expenses decreased 29% to $100.7 million, primarily due to the shift in strategy at WGN America
• Cash distributions from TV Food Network were $115.1 million

'Tribune Media is off to a strong start in 2018 with first quarter revenues up one percent and consolidated Adjusted EBITDA more than doubling year-over-year,' said Peter Kern, Tribune Media's Chief Executive Officer.

'Our new strategy at WGN America, our sustained focus on overall expense management, and our very strong growth in retransmission and carriage fee revenues, are driving meaningful improvements in profitability across the company. These improvements more than offset the anticipated headwinds to core advertising due to the soft overall advertising environment and our limited exposure to Olympics and Super Bowl advertising. When adjusted for the substantial impact of core advertising dollars shifting into the Olympics and a challenging Super Bowl comparison to last year, we estimate that first quarter core advertising revenues were down in the low single digit percentage range year-over-year.

'As we continue to move toward closing our previously announced merger with Sinclair, the company maintains an aggressive focus on profitability. At WGN America, our new programming strategy has produced solid audience growth and made the network a significant contributor to consolidated Adjusted EBITDA. Additionally, corporate expenses were down double-digits year-over-year. Finally, while we expect to generate the majority of our political advertising revenue in the second half of the year, the momentum of political spending we saw in the first quarter is very encouraging. As we move deeper into 2018, we are well positioned to execute on our strategy and remain committed to delivering value for our shareholders, advertisers and the communities we serve.'