LIN TV posts 1% increase in 1Q revenue

PROVIDENCE – LIN TV Corp. (NYSE: TVL), a media company whose stations include the Providence-based WNAC-TV and WPRI-TV, today posted net income of $1.43 million, a 93.1-percent decrease from the year-ago period’s $20.73 million. Diluted earnings per share fell to 3 cents from the 2007 first quarter’s 42 cents per share.

The company cited the year-ago period’s one-time gain of $23.09 million, or 47 cents per share, from the sale of LIN TV’s operations in Puerto Rico. (READ MORE)

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Net income from continuing operations rose $2.46 million, to $0.87 million from the year-ago operating loss of $1.58 million. The increase “was primarily driven by higher digital and political revenues and lower interest expense due to declining debt balances,” the company said.

First-quarter net revenue rose 1 percent to $93.06 million from the year-ago period’s $91.80 million. (READ MORE)

Political advertising rose to $3.2 million from $0.6 million in the 2007 first quarter, the company said. Digital revenue – including Internet advertising revenue and re-transmission consent fees – nearly doubled to $4.9 million from the year-ago $2.5 million. Those gains were partly offset by a decline in core advertising revenue – national and local advertising excluding political ads – which fell 3 percent compared with a year ago.

“We are very pleased to report that our net revenue grew 1 percent – despite the industry-wide weakness in local advertising – and this included a 100-percent increase in our digital revenues versus the prior year,” President and CEO Vincent L. Sadusky said in a statement this morning.

“We attribute this growth to the successful execution of our digital strategy and new business development efforts, as well as political revenues generated by our leading news stations. In addition, we strengthened our balance sheet by paying off $22 million of debt during the quarter.

“Looking ahead,” Sadusky said, “we continue to focus on the fundamentals of our business, including expense management and further maximizing our digital opportunities [in] a difficult economic environment.”

The company now predicts second-quarter net revenue 1 percent to 3 percent higher than the year-ago $101.8 million, based on projected digital and political revenue growth.

LIN TV Corp. (NYSE: TVL) owns or operates 29 television stations and Web sites in 17 mid-sized U.S. markets. Its stations include WNAC (Fox) and WPRI (CBS) in Providence; WWLP (NBC) in Springfield, Mass.; and WTNY (ABC) and WCTX (MyNetworkTV) in the Hartford-New Haven region. Additional information is available at www.lintv.com.