Sinclairs top three recipients for 2018 were Republican Senators Roger Wicker (R-Miss. This concludes our conference call for today. CW affiliation fees will have a slight positive impact on our year-over-year reported growth rates until we lap the acquisition date. "We're now up to 16%, but that means 84% of the country has no earthly idea. Nexstar Inc.s Networks Division President Sean Compton said last year, Rebranding WGN America as NewsNation underscores the networks clearly defined mission of delivering fact-based and unbiased news, while making it easier for viewers to find this new informative source for news.. But more reliance on unscripted, but a higher quality of unscripted, a higher profile, something that's maybe a little bit more noisy that will get some attention and get some eyeballs. The resulting company will own over 200 television stations, giving it incredible access to American homes across the country through their local news programming. Net revenue for the quarter increased 19.3% from the prior year quarter due primarily to our strong political results as well as inclusion of the results from the CW, partially offset by a decline in core advertising primarily a result of national advertising market softness. We firmly believe that we should control our own destiny with regard to the virtual MVPDs instead of allowing the network to negotiate on our behalf. Market Realist is a registered trademark. As always, you should use these metrics in connection with our reconciling schedules and financial statements that have been prepared in accordance with GAAP and are filed with the SEC. - Achieved monthly website growth of 2.3 million views over two-year period through strict web and social media initiatives (Feb. 2009 to Feb. 2011) - Served as one of four Perry Sook, chairman, president and CEO of Nexstar Broadcasting Group, is not worried about political ad revenue given the ascendancy of Donald Trump in the GOP race, despite his reliance more on earned media than paid media. Looking ahead, excluding the impact of the CW affiliate fees, given our recent contract resets, we expect distribution revenues to be up high single to low double digits for 2023, depending on the outcome of our partners' ongoing negotiations with multiple -- with a couple of MVPDs on which they are currently dark and inclusive of our projections for subscriber attrition. When you refer to Bay, who are you talking about? Is it still a little too early? Double-digit attributable free cash flow growth enabled us to return approximately 68% of our 2022 attributable free cash flow or a record of $1.02 billion to our shareholders in the form of share repurchases as well as dividends. The article includes a quote from a political scientist who says, though the statement is distasteful, they dont think it shows shes a virulent racist. Our programming continues to be recognized by watchdog group for its independence, and we believe this is the type of content that journalists want to report and audiences want to watch. Hear the latest economic, business and market news, as well as global, national, and local news. We announced plans to allow shareholders to vote to declassify our Board of Directors, and we maintain an active and accessible Investor Relations function, resulting in several acknowledgments in institutional investors annual survey. We've seen a number of RSN groups now kind of get into a period of change. Or is it just like a national game on that national feed? "I really,. Global Edition. He founded Nexstar in 1996 with one local television station in Scranton, PA, and began building the foundation of what became one of the world's leading local marketing and content companies, leveraging localism to bring new services and value to consumers and advertisers across its traditional media, digital and mobile media platforms. They also own a station in San Francisco where Nancy Pelosi is the congressperson for the 12th district and where Dianne Feinstein was mayor in the 80s. Last month, NewsNation hired former Fox News exec Cherie Grzech as managing editor. And so we are very pleased with our ability to continue to earn more for the CW. Mr. Sook was a principal of Superior Communications Group. Fourth quarter operating cash taxes were $53.1 million, which includes $65.3 million attributable to Nexstar, excluding CW and a $12.2 million benefit from the attributable tax deductible losses from our investment in the CW. And most importantly, the affiliates as well as our own stations were thrilled. Moving to distribution revenue. Last year, it. I can tell you that our first -- we're very pleased with our first weekend of LIV Golf across the first 3 days from Mayakoba, Mexico. Our country is very important. NewsNation InSites. I'm sorry, how our direct operating expenses tracking in Well, I mean is there anything out of the ordinary we should know about your direct operating expenses this year, putting aside the CW, anything out of the ordinary. It was a kind of a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, but it also energized me to go out and find a real job. That meant television sales, which led to the purchase of WYOU in Scranton, taking us back to the beginning of Sooks story. CapEx was higher in the fourth quarter than prior quarters in 2022 as CapEx that was delayed in the first 3 quarters of the year due to supply chain disruptions was finally fulfilled in the fourth quarter. According to the Washington Post, Sinclair stations ran fifteen exclusive interviews with Trump and did none with Hillary Clinton. Whether youre reading about 2022 midterm fundraising, conflicts of interest or dark money influence, we produce this content with a small, but dedicated team. Sook is also credited for helping Nexstar rise from its founding to earning $4.6 billion in net revenue in 2021 alone. And I've recently been at the FCC meeting with the commissioners as well as the Chairwoman. Everyone get out to vote!. KTSM, an El Paso, Texas station owned by Nexstar, re-ran an article from the Texas Tribune exploring the effect of Hispanic identity on the Senatorial race that pitted Beto ORourke against Cruz. Okay. From an operating perspective, these figures take into consideration our current best estimates for our core business based on current and expected trends as of today. And then switching to ATSC. We attribute our success during the record midterm cycle to the benefits of Nexstar scale and meticulous analysis and planning on a state-by-state and race-by-race basis, which has enabled us to nicely exceed the midpoint of our initial full year net political revenue guidance range between pro forma 2018 and 2020 levels. We're not in the business of disenfranchising customers, viewers and advertisers. I mean can you generate revenues that are meaningful without that? 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. Certainly, when you look at the power of The Hill, which is a national brand in concert with NewsNation, which is a national brand; and the strength of our local stations, which is the backbone of everything we do, I think you'll see all of that come together in a unified sales effort to highlight the opportunity available to us in 2024 and beyond. Before reviewing our other revenue segments, I'd like to provide some color on how we think investors should think about our distribution revenue outlook and evolving relationships with the virtual MVPDs. Theres a lot going on in the country that just doesnt happen in New York or D.C. or Los Angeles, he says. Is there any leverage around the ability to see local games that somehow rights constructed by the agreement with you or not? And if there's any way to kind of, I don't know, directionally size the impact of LIV Golf, just so we have a sense of what these kind of deals could be helpful. I'm very proud of the folks we have on the air and the job that they do, and we look to add to that as we continue to fill out these other hours and other dayparts. As a reminder, we typically spend less in CapEx in odd number nonpolitical years than political years. Now, are we beyond those days where a woman can behave as a slut, but you cant call her a slut?. Some of my most fun days, my best days, are when I go visit one of our local TV stations. NewsNation aired an interview with President Donald Trump in September 2020. Thats job one.. Fox Board's Failure; McCarthy Pressed on Tucker Handout; Lord of the Studios Are those negotiations coming up at all? So basically, auto under -- the way you're describing it. Nexstar's outstanding debt as of December 31, 2021, was $6.95 billion, down from $7.41 billion at year-end last year. New York, DC I wondered what the next steps are. . On the strategic side, we acquired a 75% interest in the CW network for no purchase consideration, adding a national broadcast platform to our portfolio, another asset in addition to NewsNation and ATSC 3.0 that will be capable of contributing long-term outsized growth to the company. The forward curve currently shows interest rates peaking in July and falling thereafter. Discussions with potential technology and business partners for this service are ongoing, and we continue to believe the revenue opportunity for applications using our spectrum could rival our retransmission revenues by the end of this decade. Why? That concludes the financial review for the call. Every donation we receive from users like you goes directly into promoting high-quality data analysis and investigative journalism that you can trust. We also have begun to execute on our cost savings plan by reducing redundant functions at the network, and we've hired new top-tier executives with backgrounds at Fox, NBCUniversal, HBO, Pop TV and Google to lead our programming and distribution strategies. And so we know we have value. And I would tell you, without it, wed be in worse shape than the newspaper business.. Sook said Nexstar will be mounting a promotional campaign for NewsNation that will kick off after Labor Day. Early in 2021, news broke that Bill Shine, a former co-president of Fox News, had consulted from the beginning on the creation of NewsNation. Sook graduated from Ohio University and currently serves as chairman of The Ohio University. Well, I think it was all part of the thinking. Okay. a serious, hands-on leader who earned executive-level platinum points last year in just five months while still managing to maintain a golf handicap of 15. While we have higher expectations for growth in this line item for the year, until our partners' ongoing negotiations are resolved, our growth rate will remain near the mid-single-digit area. In the first quarter and the first half of the year, I think it will be more pronounced. Just some nitpick questions, if I could start off with on the CW. Nexstar also closed its acquisition of The CW last quarter, bringing the . Our strong free cash flow enables us not only to increase the percentage of capital return to shareholders in the form of dividends but also allows us to continue to opportunistically repurchase shares as well as reduce debt and pursue other strategic opportunities to further enhance shareholder value. And you guys obviously own some political specific properties now. Perry Snook: Perry Sook, Nexstar's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "2022 was a monumental year for Nexstar as we generated $5.2 billion of revenue as well as record levels of Adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow. I want my commission salespeople to be the, Nexstars $7.1 billion purchase of Tribune Media changed everything. Pack and political advertising accounted for 50% of our political revenue. So did Timothy Busch, the president of the companys broadcasting subsidy. But our quantum of debt, we don't expect to tick up. Now moving back to the rest of our revenue line items in the quarter. NewsNation is also available across a wide range of streaming services including Sling, Hulu, YouTube TV, Vidgo, fubu TV, and DirecTV Stream. We appreciate you joining us today to discuss Nexstar's outstanding fourth quarter and full year financial results. Q4 2022 total corporate expense was approximately $49.2 million, including noncash compensation expense of $18.2 million compared to $43.6 million, including noncash compensation expense of $12.4 million in 2021. That will be followed by Tom's operations review and Lee Ann's financial review, and then we'll open the call for questions from you. Our total net leverage for Nexstar, excluding CW at quarter end, was 2.93x, down from 3.7x as of December 31, 2021, and 3.18% in Q3. Trusted News Discovery Since 2008. And while we're executing well on our business, ESG also remains a priority for Nexstar, and we continue to take actions to evolve our practices and disclosures to improve our already strong profile. So free cash flow is deployed in the form of reinvestment, debt repayment, dividends and share repurchases. Looking ahead, we project corporate overhead exclusive of stock comp and transaction cost to be approximately $36 million in the first quarter, and we expect overhead around $144 million for the year. They also gave $5,000 to Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). Political ad revenue of $266 million, up 1,307%. I would say, things that will exist by 2024 that don't exist today. So thank you, everyone, for joining us today. Perry Sook Political Campaign Contributions 2020 Election Cycle. In 2008, Tribune gave $11,450 to then-Senator Barack Obama. Please refresh the page and try again. If you follow the decline in general network -- general entertainment network ratings, we couldn't have made the pivot at a better time. Of my most fun days, are when I go visit one of political. Some political specific properties now typically spend less in CapEx in odd number nonpolitical years political. 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