Barrington Broadcasting Group reported gross fourth quarter
revenues of $32.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2009, down 14.7% from the
same quarter a year before. The decrease was primarily due to a drop in
political revenues of $6.8 million, or 81.6%, to $1.5 million and a decrease in
national revenues of $0.9 million, or 11.4%, to $7.2 million, Barrington said in a statement.
Local revenues were unchanged at $18.3 million for the
quarter, while other revenues increased 63.6% to $5.5 million for the
quarter, primarily from retransmission consent revenues.
"We were encouraged by our operating results in the fourth
quarter and we are cautiously optimistic that the increased activity will
continue in 2010," said Barrington CEO K. James Yager. "We remain very focused
on three key priorities: re-engineering of our station-level operations,
development of local sales strategies and the growth of our local digital
platforms. Also, we anticipate the cost-saving initiatives we put in
place last year coupled with the reduced annual interest expense from the
bond-buyback program completed in 2009 give us an opportunity to substantially
increase cash flow available to reduce leverage."
Illinois-based Barrington
reported gross revenues for the full year were down 17.3% to $115.6 million,
compared to the whole of 2008.
Barrington
is owned by Pilot Group and owns, operates or provides services for 24 stations
in smaller markets.
