Friday, August 12, 2005

Nexstar expenses cut, red ink bath continues

Nexstar Broadcasting's quarterly report indicates a steep drop in income, and cuts at local stations. Unfortunately for CEO Perry Sook and his company, those cuts were offset by expenses at newly acquired stations, according to a filing this week with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Nexstar, owner of KSNF in Joplin and KSFX in Springfield, and de facto owner of KODE in Joplin and KOLR in Springfield, diligently went about the "termination of non-strategic contractual commitments," including the Nielsen rating service and Associated Press. Of course, they also cut personnel. Those cuts enabled the highly-leveraged company to save $1.1 million. Unfortunately, that decrease was more than offset by a $2.1 million increase due to new acquisitions.
Operating income was $8.8 million for the six months ended June 30, compared to $14.4 million for the same period in 2004, a decrease of $5.6 million, or 38.8 percent.
In the filing, company officials continue to insist they will not be affected much by the current battle over retransmission rights has removed Nexstar stations from Cable One in Joplin, Independence, and Miami, as well as from Cable One and Cox in communities in Texas and Louisiana.

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