OREANDA-NEWS. Tribune Media Company (the "Company") (NYSE: TRCO) today reported its results for the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2015.

Third Quarter Financial Highlights (each as compared to the three months ended September 28, 2014)

  • Consolidated operating revenue grew 3% to $488.6 million.
  • Excluding political revenues, consolidated operating revenue grew 7% to $483.0 million.
  • Television and Entertainment segment revenue grew 3% to $429.7 million, driven by increased core advertising (excluding political revenues) and increased carriage and retransmission consent fees.
  • Basic and diluted earnings per share from continuing operations of $0.29.
  • Consolidated operating profit decreased 30% to $38.8 million.
  • Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA decreased 13% to $112.1 million, primarily due to a decrease in political advertising due to 2015 being an off-cycle political year.
  • Cash distributions received from equity investments of $32.0 million.
  • Quarterly cash dividend declared of $0.25 per common share.

Strategic Highlights

  • Broadcast Stations
    • Core advertising (comprised of local and national advertising revenues, excluding political revenues) grew at a rate of 4.3% for the third quarter despite 40 fewer NFL games due to the season starting one week later as compared to third quarter 2014.
    • Increased revenue market share in top three markets by an average of more than 1%.
    • Continued increase in rates for local TV retransmission, driving a 20% increase in fees in the third quarter.
  • WGN America
    • Conversion of WGN America from superstation to cable network continues to be ahead of schedule with full conversion expected before the end of 2015.  The network will reach more than 80 million subscribers in January 2016.
    • 39% increase in carriage fees in the third quarter driven by an increase in rates and greater distribution.
  • Digital and Data
    • Revenue growth of 7% in the third quarter driven by acquisitions.

"Our solid third quarter results reflect the consistent focus we have on our long-term growth strategies," said Peter Liguori, Tribune Media's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We delivered growth across all our key revenue streams – advertising, carriage fees and retransmission fees -- and converted WGN America to a basic cable network 18 months ahead of our initial schedule.

"We see clear and compelling evidence that sports and news programming, especially in major markets, continues to accelerate the growth of our local station business. Our investment in high-quality original content is driving revenue growth now via increased carriage fees for WGN America and is expected to do so in the future through a series of distribution platforms.

"As a result of these focused initiatives, we continue to generate value for our MVPD and advertising partners, and create highly appealing programming for our audiences.

"In the near term, we are seeing encouraging trends in the advertising marketplace and believe we are well positioned to reach the upper half of our consolidated Adjusted EBITDA guidance range for 2015.

"Looking to the future, we are confident that we have the right strategies in place to continue to deliver strong operating results as well as return long-term sustainable value to our shareholders."