Scripps heralds ‘impressive’ 2021
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Editor
| 26 February 2022
With a record for a non US election-year free cash flow, far exceeding recent projections, and a strong advertising market and sales execution in its local and networks divisions, the EW Scripps Company has reported what it said was a notable fourth quarter of 2021.

At the end of the quarter ended 31 December 2021, with adjusted combined revenue growth of 14% for its Scripps networks division and 8% for its local media division core advertising.

The company’s $280 million of 2021 free cash flow was its largest for a non-election year since before it spun off its cable networks in 2008. Management had raised its FCF guide three times over the course of the year as the advertising market rebounded and company sales performance began to accelerate and expenses remained stable.

Local Media adjusted-combined core advertising grew by 8% in the fourth quarter, reaching 2019 levels for the second consecutive quarter while sales execution and new category growth continued to provide what the company described as a tailwind to financial results.

For the full year of 2021, Scripps Networks delivered adjusted-combined revenue growth of 13% and a margin of 41%, outpacing expectations for its first full year of operation. The company’s national entertainment network Bounce grew its audience by 24% among viewers 25-54 in the fourth quarter as it added The Nick Cannon Show and several popular syndicated shows and upgraded its film library. For the first time ever, in the fourth quarter Bounce outperformed cable network BET among total viewers, total-day basis. In addition, the Bounce XL streaming service gained more than 1.1 million hours of monthly viewing.

Total fourth-quarter company revenue was $622 million, an increase of 5.3% or $31.2 million from the prior-year quarter, reflecting the impact of the ION acquisition. Costs and expenses for segments, shared services and corporate were $454 million, up from $388 million in the year-ago quarter, reflecting the impact of the ION acquisition and higher affiliation fees from within its local media division. Income from continuing operations attributable to the shareholders of Scripps was $40.2 million.

Looking ahead, Scripps expects about $270 million of political advertising revenue in 2022 with projections for the mid-term election set to be up about 40% from Scripps’ political revenue in the last mid-term election year. This would help drive an approximately 50% year-over-year increase in 2022 free cash flow, to a range of $400-$450 million.

“Scripps shareholders have much to celebrate in the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2021 financial results, especially our delivery of record non-election year free cash flow of $280 million during a period when our country’s economy was emerging from a global pandemic,” said Scripps president and CEO Adam Symson commenting on the results.

“I am extremely proud of Scripps’ local sales teams [and] I am equally proud of our Scripps Networks team – barely a year old – which has come together to build a powerfully profitable operation that is laser-focused on serving the nation’s over-the-air and connected TV media consumers. This autumn, our five Nielsen-rated entertainment networks were the only ones out of 10 comparable portfolios to grow audience year over year. You can clearly see the results of that audience growth in the division’s strong Q4 revenue performance. Scripps Networks already capture 25% of viewing in the expanding OTA marketplace, and as we move through 2022, we are devoting ourselves to continued viewership and revenue growth.”