Nexstar reported its third-quarter 2025 earnings Thursday, revealing ad revenue was down 23.5% year over year during the July-September quarter.
Additionally, Nexstar says the CW network has narrowed its losses by 24% since the comparable period last year.
According to Nexstar, overall Q3 ad sales stood at $476 million, a decrease of $146 million from the third-quarter of 2024. Political ad revenue was $10 million, down $145 million, which Nexstar attributes to the current election cycle.
Wall Street forecast earnings per share (EPS) of $1.83 on $1.2 billion in revenue, according to analyst consensus data provided by LSEG. Nexstar reported diluted EPS of $2.14 on $1.2 billion in revenue. Net revenue was down 12.3%, which Netflix primarily attributes to lower political ad sales.
“In the third quarter, we took a major step forward in shaping Nexstar’s future as we entered into a definitive agreement to acquire TEGNA Inc. for $6.2 billion in a highly accretive transaction,” Nexstar founder, chairman and CEO Perry Sook said in a letter to shareholders. “Operationally, our core business is performing well, with stable year-over-year distribution and non-political advertising revenue and strong expense management resulting in lower year-over-year operating expenses. In addition, we continued to progress our network growth strategies as NewsNation was, once again, the fastest growing cable network in the quarter, and The CW generated its sixth consecutive quarter of primetime ratings growth and reduced losses by 24% year-over-year. Looking forward, we are focused on completing our upcoming distribution renewals, closing our acquisition of TEGNA Inc., and capitalizing on the 2026 mid-term election political advertising opportunity, all of which we anticipate will drive shareholder value.”