Revenue

[bostonmediaguy]

For those interested in the finance aspect of broadcasting, Sunbeam had one of the largest revenue drops in the country compared to the previous year at over 15%

www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2009/07/01/daily.2/

CBS and Hearst down slightly over 5%. Fox down over 10%.

[fluffernutter523]

Good, maybe Ansin will sell WHDH to someone else who will bring real journalism back to the station.

[seeveebee]

Most Broadcast groups are coming in lately with revenue drops of over 15%. Ansin is in better shape than most because unlike other groups he actually owns the stations pretty much free and clear. Most of the Broadcast Groups are heavily indebted and have little or no ongoing value when you consider the debt loads. Sure Ansin's stations are doing poorly, but EVERYONE is.

MANY Broadcast groups will not survive through the next year. But fortunately, for Boston, Hearst, CBS, Fox, and Sunbeam will ALL survive. There aren't many markets that can say that.

[des]

No doubt, many broadcasting companies have sustained significant reductions in revenue -- but are they really on the verge of collapse? Their profit margins are still robust when compared with other industries that manage to survive on thin profits (i.e., retail).

[fox25rox]

Yup

[brightonboris]

Jul 2, 2009 18:28:15 GMT -5 seeveebee said:

Most Broadcast groups are coming in lately with revenue drops of over 15%. Ansin is in better shape than most because unlike other groups he actually owns the stations pretty much free and clear. Most of the Broadcast Groups are heavily indebted and have little or no ongoing value when you consider the debt loads. Sure Ansin's stations are doing poorly, but EVERYONE is.

MANY Broadcast groups will not survive through the next year. But fortunately, for Boston, Hearst, CBS, Fox, and Sunbeam will ALL survive. There aren't many markets that can say that.

Good point. Locally, Ansin's shop in Boston didn't have layoffs this year. 4, 5 and 25 all had RIF's.

[seeveebee]

Look, if your station/parent company isn't loaded with Debt, your station is likely cash flow positive despite the big revenue drop off. It will live to see another day.

Debt doesn't just kill consumers...it kills businesses including TV stations. MANY stations and several TV groups in the US won't make it. Debt reduces your "margin for error". Or years like 2009.

Boston is actually quite fortunate in this environment. We don't any Sinclairs or Youngs or Grays, etc.

All of the stations and station's parents will survive this downturn. They've taken their downsizing medicine, and I think they'll thrive in the new media world albeit in different forms.

Ultimately, I do NOT think you'll see 4 or 5 stations doing Newscasts at 5,6, and 11 PM or whenever...but thats a whole other issue.