Net revenues exceeded LIN Media’s own guidance and Wall Street expectations for Q4. Those revenues were down 8% to $11.5 million, but excluding political advertising they were up 11%. And Q1 is looking strong.
Local revenues, including retrans and online as well as TV ad sales, rose 12% to $69.8 million in Q4. National declined 2% to $26.1 million. Political revenues in Q4 of 2011 were only $3 million, down from $26.5 million in Q4 of 2010.
For the current quarter, LIN is projecting that net revenues will be up 12-15% to a range of $92-94 million. That includes growth in retrans and core ad sales, with the latter pacing up about 4%.
For all of 2011 LIN reported net revenues down 2% to $400 million. Excluding political, revenues were up 7%. Operating income declined 20% to $89.1 million.
