Mr. Sook was here to talk about our ongoing efforts to support our local communities. In summary, our record 2022 financial results reflected continued performance across our key near-term growth areas, including distribution, political advertising, new local direct advertising and digital with even more to drive growth ahead of us. We had two separate studios for local news, two different on-air staffs, and two separate sales forces. But we could develop sharing arrangements so we could get an economic benefit from a second station, Sook says, even if we werent allowed to own the license.. Its important to stay active and connected to the folks who do the work in the business, representing Nexstar in their local communities every day. . We hope to get everybody on the same page as much as we can after this call. When the president of the National Association of Broadcasters introduced Sook to banqueters as, more than just a broadcaster with a handsome face and a great tan, it was an inside joke. The only time we had video of what was going on in town was if there was a car wreck or a house fire, Sook says. I would say, things that will exist by 2024 that don't exist today. Theres a lot going on in the country that just doesnt happen in New York or D.C. or Los Angeles, he says. Most recently we closed on the acquisition of Tribune Media, a $7.1 billion transaction that doubled the size of the company. Global Edition. Looking ahead, 2023 will benefit from the renegotiation of our distribution contracts, representing more than half of our subscribers during 2022 and 2024 will benefit from the presidential election year, political advertising cycle as well as additional distribution contract renewals at the end of this year. The forward curve currently shows interest rates peaking in July and falling thereafter. Enjoy unlimited access to all of our incredible journalism, in print and digital. Overall, in the quarter, we saw an increase in the rate of decline in our subscribers to the mid-single-digit range, which was impacted by higher rate of MVPD declines offset by continued growth at virtual MVPD and DTC subscribers. Jennifer Nettles & Kristian Bush of Sugarland 6. The CW generates revenue primarily from national television and digital advertising, distribution fees from affiliates and virtual MVPDs as well as some short-term continuing revenue from licensing content to an SVOD player. Perry A. Sook has over 37 years of professional experience in the television and radio broadcasting industries, covering all facets of the business including ownership and M&A, management, sales, on-air talent and news. Other uses of cash included transaction expenses and other working capital items. Sook spends a great deal of time sorting through financial matters in New York and meeting with regulators in Washington, D.C. Originally launched as a three-hour news block on the cable channel WGN America, Nexstar has rebranded the channel as NewsNation and plans to replace more of its off-net reruns with news, including a morning show launching in September. Okay. As the largest local broadcaster, Nexstar is important to both our network partners and our MVPD partners, which provides us with a very strong negotiating position. Listen Bloomberg. I guess if they felt they wanted to vote with their feet, they wouldnt own the shares. I wonder if you could talk about that a little bit, too. Why? All Rights Reserved. Given the lack of regulation in the digital world, it's important that we remain united as an industry. Also Read: Despite Low Ratings, Nexstar Adding News to Mornings on NewsNation, When we launched NewsNation, 10% of the country knew what NewsNation was, Sook told analysts and investors. Sure. In January, the network averaged 65,000 viewers from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. according to Nielsen and just 15,000 viewers in the 25-54 demographic used to sell ads in news programming. Our next question comes from Barton Crockett with Rosenblatt Securities. (Bredeson was Blackburns opponent in the 2018 Tennessee Senate race.) Cash interest expense was $100 million for the quarter and $323.6 million for the year, slightly lower than our $326 million expectation at the last call due to the impact of the -- of actual versus projected yield curve and debt repayment. The proposed terms were below market, and as a result, CBS-affiliated stations, including Nexstar, remain off the air on that platform. Thank you, Tom, and good morning, everyone. Political ad revenue of $266 million, up 1,307%. They gave another $17,600 to John Boehner and $7,900 to Paul Ryan. Perry A. Sook has over 43 years of professional experience in the television and radio broadcasting industries, covering all facets of the business, including ownership and M&A, management, sales, on-air talent, and news. Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit OpenSecrets. Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, Revenue rose to $1.25 billion, up 10%, from [] Learn about Article Alert. Unfortunately, some members of the media use their platforms to push their own personal bias and agenda to control exactly what people think said the script. Fourth quarter distribution of approximately $616 million was flat to the prior year. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NASDAQ:NXST) Q4 2020 Earnings Conference Call February 23, 2021 9:00 AM ETCompany ParticipantsJoseph Jaffoni - Investor RelationsPerry Sook - Founder,. NewsNation launched officially in September 2020 with high hopes of securing solid viewership in a time of deep mistrust of the media. Before I dive into my usual financial discussion, I wanted to take a minute to step back and discuss a few changes in our financial presentation that we've been foreshadowing. Nexstar's stock has been one of the best short- and long-term performing stocks in media, one of the highest percentage returns of free cash flow to shareholders in media along with solid long-term growth prospects and a low valuation. Sook graduated from Ohio University and currently serves as chairman of The Ohio University. Before being recruited to run Seaway, he worked in the . You want to know what the distribution revenue was excluding the CW? That year they gave $18,500 to Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) and $16,300 to Ted Cruz. We have assumed no material M&A or other onetime or usual transaction these figures. We've returned $1.02 billion or 68% of our attributable free cash flow to shareholders in 2022 and recently increased our 2023 dividend by 50% to $5.40 per share per year, representing a 2.8% yield. Sook recalls running commercials with us holding up a penny and asking, Dont you think were worth a penny a day on your cable bill?, The Nexstar CEO felt he was on the right side of things and that cable customers would be willing to pay to get their local news content. Their attempt was scuttled by regulators, but Sinclair already owns a huge swath of local television stations, 191 by their count. We are seeing some sustained healthy increases off of that lower base. The resulting company will own over 200 television stations, giving it incredible access to American homes across the country through their local news programming. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. This year, we prepared an ESG report, which will be available on our website, outlining key principles, policies and action. What were your direct operating expenses, excluding that, the CW, how are you seeing that tracking this new year? So, heres a glance at the owner of NewsNation. By June, that time period was down to 28,000 viewers and 5,000 in the demo. His name is Trump. Could you talk a little bit about how else you are going to try to navigate that process of changing the content and publicizing the changes in the content to attract the desired audience since that transition could pose its own challenges? CW affiliation fees will have a slight positive impact on our year-over-year reported growth rates until we lap the acquisition date. In 2023, we plan to allocate a portion of our free cash flow to reduce indebtedness, primarily from mandatory amortization payments. Distribution fee revenue of $615.6 million, flat. This is extremely dangerous to a democracy.. I'll go back to what Tom said in his prepared remarks is that total virtual MVPD revenue is approximately 10% of our distribution revenue. So -- but I think if the public and private sector can sit down and talk about this holistically and kick around ideas, and I think that's coming. Regular cars couldnt climb the muddy, steep hill. Excluding onetime expenses included in this item, corporate expenses were effectively flat. And you guys obviously own some political specific properties now. We closed the acquisition of the CW on September 30, 2022. And with regard to overall growth, again, if you look at our expectations, assuming no further blackouts in a quick resolution at low double digits, the bridge between low double digits and mid-teens would be increased attrition. After flirting with bankruptcy in 2009, Sinclair was saved in part thanks to Citizens United and the ensuing influx of political ad spending. And then also when we're negotiating with the largest big 4 station group and you negotiate this all as a package, there is leverage inherent in that model. Nexstar Media Group owns NewsNation. Please refresh the page and try again. Excluding the results of the CW, net revenue was up 14.3%. Contribution Totals: Download all contribution records for this person from 1999 to present To a Spreadsheet or Other File Type: 2020 Transaction Count/Amount: 4/$20,000: 2018 Transaction Count/Amount: 7/$26,900: 2016 Transaction Count/Amount: Thats exactly what professional tennis player Jannik Sinner had in mind when he met up with Lindsey Vonn, US Olympic Champion and one of the best alpine ski racers of all time. Nexstar captured 13.8% of total political television dollars in line with prior years. He grew up in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The script was passed down from Sinclairs corporate office in Maryland. CapEx for the full year, excluding CW, was $155 million, slightly higher than our expectation of $150 million due primarily to anticipated reimbursement and rebates that have not yet been booked. Everyone get out to vote!. I mean do you think you start revenues from that in 2024, Sinclair was saying that. Its a publicly-traded company on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol NXST. Nexstar operates traditional media as well as digital and mobile media platforms. Our next question comes from Nick Zangler with Stephens. And we're working independently with Sinclair and with other companies to develop business applications that can be used today, given the capacity constraints in enhanced GPS and distributed power and some other use cases that are not very bandwidth-intensive. Outside of the huge Chicago-based cable network WGN America, most of its 196 stations are ABC, CBS, Fox, CW, and NBC, We have 5,400 journalists around the country who produce local newsmore than any other organization. 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