Nexstar Reports 17 Percent Decline In Revenue

Nexstar Media Group reports significant decline in its political and overall advertising revenue during the second financial quarter of the year.

The largest local broadcast station owner in the country earned just $413 million in overall advertising revenue during the three-month period that ended June 30, a 17 percent decline compared to Q2 2022. Of that, $9 million was attributed to political advertising revenue, a 90 percent drop compared to the $87 million reported this time last year.

Net revenue came in at $1.24 billion, in line with estimates from Wall Street analysts, spurred by higher affiliate fees charged to cable and satellite companies, which grew 7.7 percent to $696 million for the quarter.

Perry A. Sook, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. commented, “Nexstar again outperformed consensus expectations in the second quarter across all key financial metrics including net revenue, Adjusted EBITDA and Attributable Free Cash Flow. We attribute our strong performance to the combination of the benefits of scale in our Company-wide relationships and our decentralized local and business-unit management which are focused on delivering exceptional news, sports and entertainment to viewers and proven marketing solutions for advertisers at attractive operating margins. 

Perry Sook

"During the quarter we made continued meaningful progress with our ongoing organic growth initiatives at The CW Network and NewsNation. Our consistent free cash flow generation provides us with the financial flexibility to invest in our future while continuing to return capital to our shareholders. In the first half of the year, we returned $414 million to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases, representing 86% of our first half Attributable Free Cash Flow.

“We are excited about Nexstar’s near- and longer-term organic growth opportunities as we continue to leverage our portfolio of local and national media assets. Our platform provides nationwide reach with local activation at a greater scale than every other major broadcast network owner. Nexstar’s platform has attracted strong interest from sports properties looking to align with broadcast television to deliver the highest ratings and widest distribution to their fan bases while also providing promotion and engagement at the local level to drive attendance and ancillary revenue streams. "

Second Quarter 2023 Business Highlights

• Delivered first half and second quarter return of capital to shareholders of $414 million and $189 million, respectively in the form of share repurchases and dividends.
• Nexstar shareholders voted to declassify the Company’s Board of Directors which will result in all directors standing for election at each upcoming annual meeting of stockholders.
• Announced that Nexstar owned and operated television stations in three of the nation’s top-15 television markets, including WPHL-TV in Philadelphia (DMA #4), KRON-TV in San Francisco (DMA #10), and WTTA-TV in Tampa (DMA #13), will affiliate with The CW Network on September 1, 2023, bringing the number of Nexstar and partner-owned The CW Network stations to 40, covering 38% of U.S. TV Households.
• Announced that 23 Nexstar television stations earned a total of 36 regional Edward R. Murrow Awards For Outstanding Journalism And Exceptional Locally Produced News Programming.
• The CW Network announced its primetime schedule for the 2023-2024 broadcast season with a strategic mix of new and returning original scripted series and exciting new alternative programming.
• Announced the acquisition of KUSI-TV, an independent station and local news powerhouse in San Diego, CA, the nation’s 30th-largest television market. The transaction has received preliminary FCC approval, is expected to close before the end of the year, and will benefit economically from Nexstar recapturing The CW affiliation on a primary signal when the affiliation becomes available in the market.
• NewsNation marked a major cable news milestone by becoming a 24/5 news network with the debut of new expanded daytime programming, as well as the launch of the network’s political ensemble program, “The Hill,” and evening news program, “Elizabeth Vargas Reports.”