{"id":264497,"date":"2025-11-06T01:05:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T01:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/264497\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T01:05:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T01:05:10","slug":"sinclair-reports-q3-revenue-drop-net-loss-after-jimmy-kimmel-boycott","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/264497\/","title":{"rendered":"Sinclair Reports Q3 Revenue Drop, Net Loss After Jimmy Kimmel Boycott"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tSinclair<\/a>, one of the U.S.\u2019s biggest TV station groups, saw a significant drop in revenue and swung to a net loss for the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor Q3, the company reported revenue of $773 million, down 16%, and a net loss of $1 million (or 2 cents per share) compared with net income of $94 million in the year-earlier period. <\/p>\n

\n\tOn the earnings call, Sinclair president and CEO Chris Ripley noted that Sinclair\u2019s ABC stations are currently affected by the Disney-YouTube TV dispute, which has resulted in a blackout of ABC, as well as ESPN and other networks, on YouTube TV<\/a> since last Friday. Sinclair has 38 ABC affiliates. He blasted both both Google and Disney for the situation, calling them \u201cmedia giants,\u201d and said local broadcasters are \u201ccaught in the middle\u201d of such disputes \u2014 which he labeled an \u201cantitrust issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRipley said the company is lobbying for changes so that local TV station owners have control over such pay-TV distribution deals. \u201cAs local broadcasters, we have no say in whether our content \u2014 and the content we pay to air \u2014 will be distributed to local viewers,\u201d Ripley said, adding that Sinclair and others have discussed the issue with the FCC and antitrust regulators. \u201cWe believe this practice needs to be stopped.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Disney-YouTube TV blackout and others like it \u201ccontinue to hurt local viewers and local journalism,\u201d Ripley said.<\/p>\n

\n\tSinclair\u2019s earnings report came after its ABC-affiliated stations had briefly preempted \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live!\u201d in September<\/a> over the TV host\u2019s comments about Charlie Kirk\u2019s killer. It\u2019s not clear the extent to which the Kimmel boycott affected Sinclair\u2019s financial results for the quarter; the company did not provide any discussion of the blackout in its earnings press release and the topic did not come up on the call with analysts.<\/p>\n

\n\tSinclair\u2019s Q3 advertising revenue was particularly hard-hit, dropping 26% year over year to $321 million, attributable to much lower political ad sales ($6 million) compared with a record $138 million in the third quarter of 2024 during last year\u2019s presidential election cycle. Media segment revenue was $765 million for the quarter, down 16%; that segment consists primarily of broadcast TV stations and includes multicast networks and original content.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSinclair delivered a strong third quarter, achieving the high end of guidance for advertising and distribution revenue, while media expenses and adjusted EBITDA beat expectations,\u201d Ripley said in prepared remarks. \u201cWe expect to see continued improvement in core advertising trends in the fourth quarter and a sequential increase in distribution revenue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBaltimore-based Sinclair owns, operates and\/or provides services to 185 TV stations in 85 markets affiliated with each of the major broadcast networks. It also owns Tennis Channel and multicast networks Comet, Charge!, TBD and The Nest.<\/p>\n

\n\tSinclair, known for its conservative political leanings, on Sept. 17 said it was pulling \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live!\u201d from its ABC stations<\/a> over what Kimmel said on his show two days earlier: \u201cWe hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize the kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it.\u201d MAGA supporters were outraged, interpreting that as Kimmel saying Kirk\u2019s assassin was \u201cone of them.\u201d FCC chairman Brendan Carr weighed in on the situation; speaking earlier on Sept. 17 on a conservative podcast, he strongly implied ABC affiliates would be targeted by the agency and their spectrum licenses revoked if\u00a0they didn\u2019t \u201ctake action\u201d<\/a>\u00a0on Kimmel (i.e., pull the show off the air). Following Carr\u2019s threat and the pressure from Sinclair and Nexstar Media \u2014 which also announced it would preempt Kimmel \u2014 ABC said it was suspending \u201cJimmy Kimmel<\/a> Live!\u201d indefinitely.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn August, Sinclair had announced\u00a0a \u201ccomprehensive strategic review\u201d for its broadcast business, including potential sales and acquisitions<\/a>. Any deal Sinclair engages in that would involve the transfer of broadcast licenses would be subject to FCC review and approval. On the earnings call, Ripley said Sinclair expects the FCC to raise \u2014 or eliminate \u2014 the 39% national ownership cap on TV station ownership in the first half of 2026. He also noted that the FCC\u2019s rule barring a station group from owning more than one of the top four TV stations in a given market was vacated this summer.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs of Nov. 1, Sinclair had closed on 11 partner station acquisitions with \u201cadditional deals pending FCC approval, and more transactions planned,\u201d according to Ripley. The acquisitions represent at least $30 million in incremental annualized EBITDA once finalized, he added. In 2026, \u201cwe anticipate record midterm political revenue in the upcoming cycle, and are encouraged by recent regulatory developments that should lead to much-needed industry consolidation and significant synergies for investors,\u201d Ripley said.<\/p>\n

\n\tSinclair claimed its decision to preempt Kimmel\u2019s show \u201cwas independent of any government interaction or influence\u201d (as did Nexstar). In its Sept. 17 statement, Sinclair said, \u201cWe appreciate FCC Chairman Carr\u2019s remarks today and this incident highlights the critical need for the FCC to take immediate regulatory action to address control held over local broadcasters by the big national networks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSinclair previously said that before it would consider returning \u201cKimmel\u201d to its ABC affiliates, the TV host must apologize to Kirk\u2019s family and send \u201ca meaningful personal donation\u201d to them as well as Turning Point USA, the organization Kirk founded. (Sinclair planned to run a Charlie Kirk tribute on its ABC affiliates on Sept. 19 but instead aired a rerun of \u201cCelebrity Family Feud.\u201d<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\n\tKimmel has not specifically apologized to the Kirk family or offered a donation to Turning Point USA. Following ABC\u2019s decision to resume \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live!\u201d on Sept. 23, Sinclair said its ABC stations would resume airing \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live!\u201d as of Sept. 26<\/a> after \u201congoing and constructive discussions with ABC\u201d about various measures, including the possible appointment of a network-wide independent ombudsman. Sinclair also defended its move to preempt Kimmel, saying \u201cit is simply inconsistent to champion free speech while demanding that broadcasters air specific content.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tErika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk, said in an interview<\/a> this week with Fox News\u2019 Jesse Watters that Sinclair execs reached out to her to ask if she wanted Sinclair to try to elicit an apology from Kimmel or if she wanted to appear on \u201ca show.\u201d According to Erika Kirk, she declined Sinclair\u2019s offers.<\/p>\n

\n\tKimmel, in an emotional monologue<\/a> on his first night back on the air after ABC\u2019s suspension, said, \u201cIt was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything funny about it.\u201d He added, \u201cI posted a message on Instagram on the day he was killed, sending love to his family and asking for compassion, and I meant it. And I still do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sinclair, one of the U.S.\u2019s biggest TV station groups, saw a significant drop in revenue and swung to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264498,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[49,48,75,4592,85148,348],"class_list":{"0":"post-264497","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-jimmy-kimmel","12":"tag-sinclair","13":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}