Increased Retrans Fees For Meredith Offsets Plummenting Ad Revenue

Anyone looking for another indication of the importance of increased retransmission-consent fees from cable operators and satellite TV providers just needs to look at the most recent set of earnings numbers from Meredith Corp.
   
The TV station group owner, which runs CBS and Fox affiliates in several states company saw political ad revenue drop substantially in this off-election year to just $725,000 for the quarter ending June 30. That compares to $3.2 million this time last year (which was an election year).

But Meredith said it posted $22.5 million in "other" revenue--primarily retransmission consent fees--nearly double the $12 million in revenue it posted in the "other" category during the same period last year. It collected $69.2 million in non-political advertising revenue, down slightly from $69.4 million last year.

It generated $68.2 million in "other" revenue, or retransmission-consent fees, in fiscal 2013, up from $38.8 million in fiscal 2012.

Meredith own Fox and CBS affiliates in Georgia, Oregon, Connecticut, Missouri, South Carolina, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada and Massachusetts.