Barrington-Earnings Release 4th Qtr 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Warren Spector
Tel 847 884 1877
Fax 847 755 3045
Email wspector@barringtontv.com
BARRINGTON REPORTS FOURTH QUARTER AND YEAR-END OPERATING RESULTS
Hoffman Estates, IL, March 15, 2010 – Barrington Broadcasting Group LLC
(“Barrington”) announced today its financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2009 and for the year ended
December 31, 2009. Highlights are as follows:
- Gross revenues for the quarter ended December 31, 2009 decreased 14.7% to $32.5 million from $38.1million for the quarter ended December 31, 2008. The decrease was primarily due to a decrease 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. Local revenues were unchanged at $18.3 million for the quarter. Other revenues increased $2.2 million, or
63.6%, to $5.5 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2009 primarily as a result of revenues from retransmission
consent agreements.
- Net revenues (gross revenues less agency commissions and other direct costs) for the quarter endedDecember 31, 2009 decreased 14.7%, or $4.8 million, to $27.8 million from $32.5 million for the quarter ended
December 31, 2008.
- Operating expenses for the quarter ended December 31, 2009, not including depreciation and amortizationand an impairment of intangible assets and goodwill, decreased 17.2%, or $3.7 million, to $17.8 million from $21.5
million for the quarter ended December 31, 2008. The decrease was primarily due to workforce reductions, expenses at
Barrington’s Peoria station WHOI-TV relating to a joint sales and shared services agreement with Granite
Broadcasting, and renegotiation of certain contractual obligations.
- Broadcast Cash Flow (as defined herein) for the quarter ended December 31, 2009 decreased 8.7% to $11.3million from $12.3 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2008.
- Gross revenues for the year ended December 31, 2009 decreased 17.3% to $115.6 million from $139.8 millionfor the year ended December 31, 2008. The decrease was primarily due to a decrease in political revenues of $12.4
million, or 83.8%, to $2.4 million as well as a decrease in national revenues of $9.4 million, or 27.4%, to $25.1
million and a decrease in local revenues of $9.3 million, or 11.8%, to $70.0 million. Other revenues increased $6.9
million, or 61.7%, to $18.1 million, primarily due to an increase in revenues from retransmission consent
agreements.
- Net revenues (gross revenues less agency commissions and other direct costs) for the year ended December31, 2009 decreased 17.1%, or $20.4 million, to $99.0 million from $119.4 million for the year ended December 31,
2008.
- Operating expenses for the year ended December 31, 2009, not including depreciation and amortization andan impairment of intangible assets and goodwill, decreased 11.9%, or $10.1 million, to $75.1 million from $85.2
million for the year ended December 31, 2008. The decrease was primarily due to workforce reductions, expenses at
Barrington’s Peoria station WHOI-TV relating to a joint sales and shared services agreement with Granite
Broadcasting, and renegotiation of certain contractual obligations.
- Broadcast Cash Flow for the year ended December 31, 2009 decreased 23.2% to $31.1 million from $40.5million for the year ended December 31, 2008.
Results for the three months and year ended December 31, 2008 and December 31, 2009 include results of WGTU and WGTQ,
stations that Barrington programs and to which it provides support services, since April 1, 2008, the date Tucker
Broadcasting of Traverse City, Inc. completed the acquisition of these stations. Results for the three months and
year ended December 31, 2009 also include results from joint sales and shared service agreements with Granite
Broadcasting Corporation related to Granite’s and Barrington’s respective station operations in the Peoria, Illinois
and Syracuse, New York markets, effective March 2, 2009.
“We were encouraged by our operating results in the fourth quarter and we are cautiously optimistic that the
increased activity will continue in 2010. As a Company, 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,” said K. James Yager, Chief Executive Officer of
Barrington Broadcasting.
Excess Cash Flow Payment
On March 10, 2010, Barrington discovered that it had made an inadvertent error in the calculation of the amount of
the excess cash flow mandatory prepayment which was required to be made under its senior credit facility for fiscal
2008. Due to this error, Barrington originally determined in April 2009 that no excess cash flow mandatory
prepayment was required under its credit facility for fiscal 2008, when in fact it actually owed $1,325,000. This
payment would have been due in April 2009 and the failure to make such payment constituted an event of default
under the credit facility. In order to cure this payment event of default, on March 15, 2010, Barrington made a
payment of $1,365,000, which included default interest on the prepayment amount, to the lenders under the credit
facility.
Impairment of Intangible Assets
As required by ASC Topic 350, “Intangibles-Goodwill and Other,” Barrington tested the impairment of its broadcast
licenses and goodwill during the fourth quarter. The amount of the impairment is still being analyzed and has not
been included in the results of operations disclosed in this release. However, Barrington expects the impairment to
be in excess of $9.0 million. This estimate is subject to completion of Barrington’s impairment testing and is
subject to change. The actual result of the impairment testing will be included in Barrington’s annual report.
Conference Call
As previously announced, Barrington will host a conference call to discuss its second quarter results at 11:00 AM
(ET) on Tuesday, March 16, 2010. The dial-in information for the earnings call is as follows: 1-877-941-1467. A
telephonic replay of the earnings call will be available beginning on March 16, 2010 at 1:00 PM (ET) and remain
available for 30 days. To access the replay, call 1-800-406-7325 (domestic callers) or 303-590-3030 (international
callers) and enter access code 4244455#.
During the conference call, representatives of Barrington may discuss and answer one or more questions concerning
Barrington’s business and financial matters. The responses to these questions, as well as other matters discussed
during the call, may contain information that has not been previously disclosed.
Annual Report
The information in this press release should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and footnotes
contained in Barrington’s annual report for the year ended December 31, 2009 which we expect to post on Barrington’s
website (www.barringtontv.com) on March 31, 2010. Barrington’s results for the year ended December 31, 2009 are
subject to the completion of its annual report for such period.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Broadcast Cash Flow, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA (each as defined in the attachments to this press release) are non-
GAAP financial measures (i.e., they are not measures of financial performance under generally accepted accounting
principles) and should not be considered in isolation from or as a substitute for consolidated statements of
operations and cash flow data prepared in accordance with GAAP. Broadcast Cash Flow, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA, as
used herein, are not necessarily comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies. For
definitions of and additional information regarding Broadcast Cash Flow, EBITDA and Adjusted
EBITDA and a reconciliation of such measures to the most comparable measures calculated in accordance with GAAP,
please see the attachments to this press release.
Broadcast Cash Flow, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are measures commonly used by financial analysts in evaluating
performance of companies, including broadcast companies. Accordingly, Barrington believes that Broadcast Cash Flow,
EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA may be useful in assessing Barrington’s operating performance and its ability to meet its
debt service requirements. Barrington also believes that these measures allow a standardized comparison between
companies in the broadcast industry, while minimizing the differences from depreciation policies, financial leverage
and tax strategies.
About Barrington
Barrington was formed in 2003 to acquire and operate television stations in smaller markets across the United
States. Barrington currently owns, operates, or supports the operations of twenty four network affiliated television
stations. Barrington is owned and controlled by Pilot Group, with management as its partner. Pilot Group is a non-
traditional private investment firm founded in 2003 by a group of operating executives who actively help its
management partners achieve their goals.
Forward Looking Statements
The statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that are subject to
material risks and uncertainties. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of future performance or results and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results or
developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Such
factors include those risks described from time to time in Barrington’s quarterly reports and annual reports which
are furnished pursuant to the Indenture dated as of August 11, 2006, by and among Barrington, Barrington Broadcasting
Capital Corporation, the guarantors named therein and U.S. Bank National Association, as trustee, as amended, and
which are posted on Barrington’s website. These factors should be considered carefully and readers are cautioned not
to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Barrington does not undertake to update any forward-
looking statements in this press release or with respect to matters described herein.
