Nexstar Ad Sales Fall 36% in Q4 as CW Loss Narrows to $52 Million

variety.com:

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Nexstar reported its fourth-quarter 2023 earnings Wednesday, revealing its TV ad sales were down 36% from Oct.

1- Dec. 31. In the same period, Nexstar’s losses at the CW narrowed to $52 million from $60 million in Q3. That marks a 45% improvement in the network’s losses (down from $94 million) since Q4 of 2022, when the CW was formally acquired by Nexstar from Paramount Global and Warner Bros.

Discovery. Nexstar’s core ad sales were $449 million in Q4, a decrease of 5.9% from the comparable year-ago quarter. Political ad sales fell 88.7% to $30 million from $266 million in 2022, when midterm elections spiked that categories revenue.

Total TV ad sales were $479 million, down 36% year-over-year from $743 million. Distribution revenue grew 14.3% ($704 million vs. $616 million), digital dropped 5.4% ($106 million vs. $112 million) and “other” revenue dipped 6.3% ($15 million vs. $16 million).