Sinclair Inc (SBGI) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to Sinclair's third quarter 2023 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants have been placed on a listen-only mode, and we will open the floor for your questions and comments after the presentation. It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to your host, Chris King, Vice President of Investor Relations.

大家好，歡迎參加 Sinclair 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。目前，所有參與者都已進入僅聽模式，我們將在演示結束後開放發言，供您提出問題和評論。現在我很高興將發言權交給東道主投資者關係副總裁克里斯金 (Chris King)。

Sir, the floor is yours.

先生，地板是你的了。

Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for joining Sinclair's third quarter 2023 earnings conference call. Joining me on the call today are Chris Ripley, our President and Chief Executive Officer; Lucy Rutishauser, our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and Robert Weisbord, our Chief Operating Officer and President of Local Media.

謝謝。大家下午好，感謝您參加 Sinclair 的 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。今天和我一起參加電話會議的是我們的總裁兼執行長 Chris Ripley； Lucy Rutishauser，我們的執行副總裁兼財務長；以及我們的營運長兼本地媒體總裁 Robert Weisbord。

Before we begin, I want to remind everyone that slides and supplemental information for today's earnings call are available on our website sbgi.net on the Investor Information page and on the Earnings Webcast page.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒大家，今天的收益電話會議的幻燈片和補充資訊可以在我們的網站 sbgi.net 的投資者資訊頁面和收益網路廣播頁面上找到。

Certain matters discussed on this call may include forward-looking statements regarding, among other things, future operating results. Such statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results and the future could differ from those described in the forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors. Such factors have been set forth in the company's most recent reports as filed with the SEC and included in our third quarter earnings release.

本次電話會議討論的某些事項可能包括有關未來營運績效等的前瞻性陳述。此類聲明存在許多風險和不確定性。由於各種重要因素的影響，實際結果和未來可能與前瞻性陳述中描述的結果有所不同。這些因素已在公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的最新報告中闡述，並包含在我們的第三季財報發布中。

The company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. The company uses its website as a key source of company information which can be accessed at www.sbgi.net. In accordance with Regulation FD, this call is being made available to the public. A webcast replay will be available on our website and will remain available until our next quarterly earnings release.

該公司不承擔更新這些前瞻性陳述的義務。該公司將其網站作為公司資訊的主要來源，可透過 www.sbgi.net 存取。根據 FD 法規，本次電話會議將向公眾公開。我們的網站上將提供網路廣播重播，並將持續提供到我們下一個季度收益發布之前。

Included on the call will be a discussion of non-GAAP financial measures, specifically adjusted EBITDA, adjusted free cash flow, and leverage. The company considers adjusted EBITDA to be an indicator of the company's operating performance and the ability to service its debt. The company also believes that the adjusted EBITDA is frequently used by industry analysts, investors, and lenders as a measure of valuation and ability to service debt.

電話會議將討論非公認會計準則財務指標，特別是調整後的 EBITDA、調整後的自由現金流量和槓桿率。本公司認為調整後的 EBITDA 是公司經營績效和償債能力的指標。該公司還認為，產業分析師、投資者和貸方經常使用調整後的 EBITDA 作為估值和償債能力的衡量標準。

The company also discloses segment adjusted EBITDA as an indicator of the operating performance of its segments in accordance with ASC 280 Segment Reporting. The company considers adjusted free cash flow to be an indicator of the company's operating performance. The company also believes that free cash flow is a commonly used measure valuation for companies in the local media industry. In addition, this measure is frequently used by industry analysts, investors, and lenders as a measure of valuation for local media companies.

該公司還根據 ASC 280 分部報告揭露分部調整後的 EBITDA，作為其分部經營績效的指標。公司認為調整後的自由現金流是公司經營績效的指標。該公司也認為，自由現金流是當地媒體產業公司常用的估值衡量標準。此外，產業分析師、投資者和貸方經常使用此指標作為當地媒體公司的估值指標。

These measures are not formulated in accordance with GAAP, or not meant to replace GAAP measurements, and may differ from other companies' uses or formulations. The company does not provide reconciliations on a forward-looking basis. Further discussions and reconciliations of the company's non-GAAP financial measures to comparable GAAP financial measures can be found on our website, www.sbgi.net.

這些衡量標準並非根據 GAAP 制定，也無意取代 GAAP 衡量標準，並且可能與其他公司的用途或表述不同。該公司不提供前瞻性的調節表。有關公司非 GAAP 財務指標與可比較 GAAP 財務指標的進一步討論和調節，請造訪我們的網站 www.sbgi.net。

Any discussion of pro forma numbers as compared to 2022 will exclude Diamond, which was deconsolidated March 1, 2022, and any business sold since the beginning of 2022. For actual results, including the periods that Diamond was consolidated, please refer to this afternoon's earnings release.

任何與 2022 年相比的預估數字的討論都將排除 2022 年 3 月 1 日取消合併的 Diamond 以及自 2022 年初以來出售的任何業務。有關實際結果，包括 Diamond 合併期間，請參閱今天下午的收益發布。

In addition, due to the pending Diamond litigation, we are unable to comment on any specifics regarding the legal issues surrounding Diamond's bankruptcy or any potential financial impact that may or may not occur as a result of those matters other than to say that Sinclair firmly believes it has meritorious defenses to the allegations in the Diamond lawsuit and we plan to vigorously defend against them.

此外，由於 Diamond 訴訟懸而未決，我們無法對有關 Diamond 破產的法律問題的任何具體細節或這些事項可能會或可能不會發生的任何潛在財務影響發表評論，除了表示 Sinclair 堅信它對鑽石訴訟中的指控有充分的辯護，我們計劃積極辯護。

Let me now turn the call over to Chris Ripley.

現在讓我把電話轉給克里斯·里普利。

Good afternoon and thank you for joining us. I'll start on slide 4 by introducing an overview of our third quarter financial results. As you can see, Sinclair delivered strong third quarter results that met or exceeded our guidance expectations across the board on both advertising and distribution revenues as well as media expenses in both our local media and tennis channel segments. As a result, we exceeded the midpoint of our adjusted EBITDA guidance for the quarter by 40%, and we also exceeded adjusted free cash flow guidance.

下午好，感謝您加入我們。我將從投影片 4 開始介紹我們第三季財務業績的概述。正如您所看到的，辛克萊第三季度的業績表現強勁，在廣告和發行收入以及當地媒體和網球頻道領域的媒體支出方面全面達到或超出了我們的指導預期。結果，我們超越了本季調整後 EBITDA 指引的中位數 40%，也超過了調整後自由現金流指引。

Turning to slide 5. We have repurchased over $64 million in face value of our debt since the beginning of June. On average, the repurchases were made at a 24% discount to par for a total cash outlay of just over $49 million, representing a yield to maturity of 13%. These open market debt repurchases which took place across all three tranches of our notes as well as our nearest dated maturity, our 2026 Term Loan, represent our priority to strengthen our balance sheet while acting opportunistically when market conditions permit.

轉向投影片 5。自 6 月初以來，我們已回購了面額超過 6,400 萬美元的債務。平均而言，回購價格較面額折讓 24%，總現金支出略高於 4,900 萬美元，到期收益率為 13%。這些公開市場債務回購發生在我們票據的所有三部分以及我們最近到期的 2026 年定期貸款中，代表了我們加強資產負債表的首要任務，同時在市場條件允許的情況下採取機會主義行動。

Turning to slide 6. As we stated in the past, we are committed to our traditional local media business with the realization that the industry needs to transform in the coming years due to subscriber churn and regulatory constraints. With that being said, we believe Sinclair as well as the broader industry has multiple growth drivers in the coming quarters.

轉向幻燈片 6。正如我們過去所說，我們致力於傳統的本地媒體業務，並認識到由於訂戶流失和監管限制，該行業需要在未來幾年進行轉型。話雖如此，我們相信辛克萊以及更廣泛的行業在未來幾季將擁有多種成長動力。

First, we expect to see record-breaking political advertising revenue in 2024. We are seeing current political revenues trend above both 2021 and 2019 levels so far this year, and we expect the strong growth of issue-oriented and political advertising, and what appears to be several Senate and House races in our footprint will accelerate this growth significantly as we get closer to the next year's election.

首先，我們預計 2024 年政治廣告收入將破紀錄。今年迄今為止，我們看到當前政治收入趨勢高於 2021 年和 2019 年的水平，我們預計問題導向和政治廣告將強勁增長，以及出現的情況隨著我們越來越接近明年的選舉，我們足跡中的幾場參議院和眾議院競選將大大加速這一增長。

Second, our focus on high demand and differentiated local news and sports content as well as syndicated programming continues to drive strong and loyal viewership with 42% of viewer impressions across our station portfolio driven by non-network content.

其次，我們對高需求和差異化的本地新聞和體育內容以及聯合節目的關注繼續推動強大和忠誠的收視率，我們的電視台組合中 42% 的觀眾印像是由非網路內容驅動的。

In addition, for nearly all of our big four traditional subscribers renewing by the end of next year, we continue to expect a three-year positive, low single digit CAGR of net retrans revenues through our negotiation cycle from 2022 through 2025.

此外，對於明年年底之前續訂的幾乎所有四大傳統訂戶來說，我們繼續預計，透過2022 年至2025 年的談判週期，淨轉播收入將在三年內實現正的、低個位數的複合年增長率。

And while the regulatory environment is far from positive overall for broadcasters, particularly from a relative perspective to our big tech and big media competitors, we are cautiously optimistic regarding long-term changes for a couple of industry items.

儘管總體而言，監管環境對廣播公司來說遠非積極，特別是從與我們的大型科技和大型媒體競爭對手的相對角度來看，但我們對幾個行業項目的長期變化持謹慎樂觀的態度。

Turning to slide 7. All of these developments, in addition to significant changes within the past several weeks in the pay-TV distribution model, we believe could begin to launch what I like to refer to as the great rebundling.

轉向幻燈片 7。所有這些發展，加上過去幾週付費電視發行模式的重大變化，我們相信可能會開始啟動我所說的「偉大的重新捆綁」。

We believe the recent Charter-Disney carriage agreement has the potential to materially strengthen the pay-TV bundle in the future. While we don't know all the details regarding the new agreement, what we do know is it appears to significantly increase the consumer value proposition of pay-TV relative to a la carte DTC offerings. It will incorporate certain Disney DTC platforms, including Disney+ and ESPN+ into Charter's current pay-TV packages.

我們相信，最近的特許迪士尼運輸協議有可能在未來實質地加強付費電視捆綁業務。雖然我們不知道有關新協議的所有細節，但我們所知道的是，相對於點菜 DTC 產品，它似乎顯著提高了付費電視的消費者價值主張。它將把某些迪士尼 DTC 平台（包括 Disney+ 和 ESPN+）納入 Charter 目前的付費電視套餐中。

In addition, the agreement allows Charter to drop some of Disney's low rated, undifferentiated cable channels from its bundles. We believe these developments reduced consumer reasons to leave traditional pay-TV bundles and increased consumers' overall value received, which should lead to meaningful churn reduction of pay-TV subscribers over time.

此外，該協議還允許 Charter 從其捆綁節目中刪除迪士尼的一些低收視率、無差異化的有線頻道。我們認為，這些發展減少了消費者放棄傳統付費電視捆綁服務的理由，並增加了消費者獲得的整體價值，隨著時間的推移，這將導致付費電視訂戶的流失顯著減少。

In addition, the pay-TV bundle is crucially important to our television network partners as well. Each network receives approximately $1 billion annually in reverse compensation from station groups as well as significant advertising and reach benefits.

此外，付費電視捆綁對於我們的電視網絡合作夥伴也至關重要。每個電視網每年從電視台集團獲得約 10 億美元的反向補償以及大量的廣告和覆蓋範圍收益。

The bottom line being that it is doubtful that networks are financially viable today without those revenue streams and other benefits. And not only is the bundle important to the networks, but it's also important to the various sports leagues that want to maximize both revenue and distribution of their content. The NFL is the most obvious example of this decision making, and they, as a league, have benefited tremendously from the nationwide distribution on over the air channels.

重點是，如果沒有這些收入流和其他收益，網路在財務上是否可行是值得懷疑的。捆綁包不僅對網路很重要，而且對希望最大化收入和內容分發的各種體育聯盟也很重要。 NFL 是這種決策最明顯的例子，他們作為一個聯盟，從全國範圍內的無線頻道發行中獲益匪淺。

Add all these points up, and it's our view that the relative value of the pay-TV bundle as compared to a la carte DTC offerings remains strong and is in fact improving as the environment continues to shift in favor of the pay-TV bundle. We look forward to continuing having discussions with our network and distribution partners as to how we can add content and other value to consumers to attract more subscribers back to the value of the bundle.

綜合所有這些因素，我們認為，與點菜 DTC 產品相比，付費電視捆綁服務的相對價值仍然強勁，而且隨著環境繼續向有利於付費電視捆綁服務的方向轉變，其相對價值實際上正在改善。我們期待繼續與我們的網路和分銷合作夥伴討論如何為消費者添加內容和其他價值，以吸引更多訂閱者回歸捆綁包的價值。

Now, let me turn it over to Rob to discuss our local media strategy.

現在，讓我把它交給 Rob 來討論我們的本地媒體策略。

Thanks, Chris. Turning to slide 8, I wanted to touch on our four strategic pillars of local media and the transformation that we are on our way to executing. First is multi-platform content. To generate revenues, we need impressions, and to increase impressions we need to be a multi-platform media content provider.

謝謝，克里斯。轉向投影片 8，我想談談我們本地媒體的四大策略支柱以及我們正在執行的轉型。首先是多平台內容。為了產生收入，我們需要印象，為了增加印象，我們需要成為多平台媒體內容提供者。

The days of reaching eyeballs only through linear TV transmission are gone. Our stations have an active presence on every platform, including linear and various social media applications, YouTube, station websites, podcast, everywhere our viewers and listeners are, and every platform that can carry our content is where we need to be. We are constantly working on maximizing impressions and the best way to do that is to be on multiple platforms.

僅透過線性電視傳輸來吸引眼球的日子已經一去不復返了。我們的電台活躍在每個平台上，包括線性和各種社交媒體應用程式、YouTube、電台網站、播客，無論我們的觀眾和聽眾在哪裡，每個能夠承載我們內容的平台都是我們需要的地方。我們一直致力於最大限度地提高展示次數，而實現這一目標的最佳方法就是在多個平台上開展業務。

This leads to our second pillar, community and interactive engagement. We not only capture impressions, but we monetize them. We accomplished this by keeping our viewers on our platforms for longer periods of time through various methods of engagement. We are developing opportunities for the viewer to further engage with us and for us to develop more unique viewers and consumers of our content as well as more revenue opportunities per user. These methods may include unique content, a game center running various contests, just to name a few.

這引出了我們的第二個支柱：社區和互動參與。我們不僅捕捉印象，而且將其貨幣化。我們透過各種參與方式讓觀眾在我們的平台上停留更長時間，從而實現了這一目標。我們正在為觀眾提供進一步與我們互動的機會，並為我們的內容培養更多獨特的觀眾和消費者，以及為每個用戶帶來更多收入機會。這些方法可能包括獨特的內容、舉辦各種競賽的遊戲中心等等。

Which brings us to the third pillar of marketing services. We continue to refine our services, including introducing a unified ad sales platform in recent months, which ties together our ad proposals with linear, digital, as well as billing, traffic with digital, and order entry systems, which provide massive efficiency improvements for our sales teams. It makes the digital multi-platform sales dramatically easier to execute upon.

這就引出了行銷服務的第三個支柱。我們不斷完善我們的服務，包括近幾個月推出了統一的廣告銷售平台，該平台將我們的廣告提案與線性、數字以及計費、數位流量和訂單輸入系統聯繫在一起，這為我們的廣告效率帶來了巨大的提高。銷售團隊。它使數位多平台銷售的執行變得更加容易。

We are also using AI to increase our sales prospecting and presentation velocity to drive our clients' sales growth, leveraging the technology to build comprehensive profiles of prospects and constructing specific tailored communications.

我們也利用人工智慧來提高銷售勘探和展示速度，以推動客戶的銷售成長，利用該技術建立全面的潛在客戶檔案並建立具體的客製化溝通。

The final pillar for our local media segment covers infrastructure and data distribution for our NextGen Broadcast cases. Development of this data distribution-as-a-service platform or DDAS is proceeding rapidly, and we expect to launch our product before year end. This platform is expected to allow us to centrally orchestrate our wireless data distribution capability, and more importantly, to scale that business across the country and in conjunction with our technology partners around the world.

我們本地媒體部門的最後一個支柱包括下一代廣播案例的基礎設施和資料分發。這種資料分發即服務平台（DDAS）的開發進展迅速，我們預計在年底前推出我們的產品。該平台預計將使我們能夠集中協調我們的無線數據分發能力，更重要的是，與我們世界各地的技術合作夥伴一起在全國範圍內擴展該業務。

This development of NextGen is dependent upon the modernization of Sinclair's Broadcast technology stack, which is now underway with our transition to the cloud. In addition, earlier this week, we launched the Nest, our new free over the air national TV network which will develop home improvement, true crime, factual reality series, and celebrity-driven family shows to viewers. The Nest joins our lineup of national broadcast networks Comet, CHARGE!, and TBD to the stack, which is our portfolio of linear networks. Notably, the stacks ratings were up 23% year over year during the quarter.

NextGen 的發展依賴 Sinclair Broadcast 技術堆疊的現代化，隨著我們向雲端的過渡，這項技術堆疊正在進行中。此外，本週早些時候，我們推出了 Nest，這是我們新的免費無線全國電視網絡，該網絡將為觀眾開發家居裝修、真實犯罪、事實真人秀節目以及名人驅動的家庭節目。 Nest 將我們的國家廣播網絡 Comet、CHARGE! 和 TBD 陣容加入到堆疊中，這是我們的線性網路組合。值得注意的是，本季堆疊評級較去年同期成長 23%。

In summary, these four strategic pillars of local media segment, in addition to expanding our programming content creation, are the roadmaps to transforming local media into our growth engine once again in the coming years.

總而言之，本地媒體領域的這四大戰略支柱，除了擴大我們的節目內容創作之外，也是未來幾年將本地媒體再次轉變為我們的成長引擎的路線圖。

On slide 9, pro forma core advertising, excluding political, was up approximately 3% year over year during the third quarter. Our current outlook for the broader advertising environment is relatively stable. Of note, national was slightly positive year over year in the quarter, which was welcome good news.

在投影片 9 上，預計第三季核心廣告（不包括政治廣告）將年增約 3%。我們目前對更廣泛的廣告環境的展望相對穩定。值得注意的是，該季度全國同比略有增長，這是一個值得歡迎的好消息。

In terms of categories, home-related services continued to perform well, up 18% year over year. While automotive remained strong, up 7%, home products were up 18% and legal continues to contribute to our growth. In addition, we are now beginning to lock the insurance category, which reduced their budgets for the past year. And while it is still early in the quarter, core advertising trends are currently pacing to a mid-single-digit growth rate over the year ago quarter, similar to the third quarter trends.

分品類來看，居家相關服務持續表現良好，較去年同期成長18%。汽車產業依然強勁，成長了 7%，家用產品成長了 18%，合法產品繼續為我們的成長做出貢獻。另外，我們現在開始鎖定保險類別，這減少了他們去年的預算。儘管仍處於本季初期，但核心廣告趨勢目前正以中個位數成長率成長，與去年同期相比，與第三季的趨勢類似。

On slide 10, I wanted to provide a quick update on political ad spending as we begin to look forward to 2024. We booked $11 million in political advertising in the quarter, above our $7 million to $9 million guidance range, and are guiding to $25 million to $30 million in the fourth quarter, which would imply a record for a nonelection year of $46 million to $51 million for the full year. Given these strong trends, the political fundraising outlook and the heavy spend forecasted to continue for issue-based advertising, we see a record-breaking election year coming up in 2024.

在投影片10 上，當我們開始展望2024 年時，我想提供有關政治廣告支出的快速更新。本季我們預定了1,100 萬美元的政治廣告支出，超出了700 萬至900 萬美元的指導範圍，而指導為25 美元第四季的收入為 100 萬至 3,000 萬美元，這意味著非選舉年全年的收入將達到 4,600 萬至 5,100 萬美元，創歷史新高。鑑於這些強勁趨勢、政治籌款前景以及預計將繼續在基於問題的廣告上投入大量資金，我們預計 2024 年將是破紀錄的選舉年。

Turning to slide 11, we have signed two network affiliate agreements in recent months. This includes a multiyear deal with the CW Network, which also expands our ability to negotiate our CW stations directly with virtual MVPDs. We also entered into a multiyear network affiliation renewal for our CBS stations.

轉向投影片 11，最近幾個月我們簽署了兩項網路聯盟協議。這包括與 CW Network 的多年協議，這也擴展了我們直接與虛擬 MVPD 協商 CW 電台的能力。我們也為哥倫比亞廣播公司 (CBS) 電視台進行了多年的網路附屬關係更新。

The company has also reached an agreement with Comcast to renew and extend its carriage agreements for all Sinclair Television stations, Tennis Channel, Marquee Sports Network, and YES Network. With virtually all of our big four traditional subscribers up for renewals by the end of 2024, we remain confident in our guidance for a net retrans, low-single-digit CAGR growth through our renegotiation cycle from 2022 through 2025. As first highlighted earlier, we continue to see positive industry trends regarding the long stability of net retransmission revenues.

該公司還與康卡斯特達成協議，續簽並延長所有辛克萊電視台、網球頻道、Marquee Sports Network 和 YES Network 的傳輸協議。由於幾乎所有四大傳統用戶都將在 2024 年底前續訂，因此我們對 2022 年至 2025 年重新談判週期中的淨重傳、低個位數複合年增長率增長的指導仍然充滿信心。我們繼續看到淨轉播收入長期穩定的正面產業趨勢。

Now, let me turn the call back over to Chris to provide an update on NextGen Broadcast plans as well as our ventures segment.

現在，讓我將電話轉回克里斯，以提供有關 NextGen Broadcast 計劃以及我們的風險投資部分的最新資訊。

Thanks, Rob. On slide 12, I wanted to provide a quick couple of updates regarding NextGen Broadcast technology, which has now been deployed in half of our 86 markets covering 74% of our covered population. In addition, nationwide coverage is now above 70% as the industry continues to improve NextGen reach.

謝謝，羅布。在投影片 12 上，我想提供一些有關 NextGen Broadcast 技術的快速更新，該技術現已部署在我們 86 個市場中的一半，涵蓋了我們覆蓋人口的 74%。此外，隨著產業不斷擴大 NextGen 覆蓋範圍，全國覆蓋率現已超過 70%。

While our recent patent dispute has caused LG to suspend the inclusion of 3.0 chips in its 2024 US television lineup, Samsung and Sony continue to produce and sell ATSC 3.0-ready TVs and the industry expects 10 million 3.0 receivers to be available in the US by year end. We expect the patent verdict to have very little impact long term and is being appealed by LG.

雖然我們最近的專利糾紛導致 LG 暫停將 3.0 晶片納入其 2024 年美國電視陣容，但三星和索尼繼續生產和銷售支援 ATSC 3.0 的電視，業界預計 2024 年將在美國銷售 1,000 萬台 3.0 接收器年底。我們預計該專利判決對長期影響很小，LG 正在上訴。

In addition, last week we announced an agreement to expand development of and promote ATSC 3.0 NextGen services in South Korea with the Korea Radio Promotion Association. We continue to play a leading role in accelerating the adoption of the DDAS business model and the continued transformation of local broadcast capabilities not only in US but globally.

此外，上週我們還宣布了一項協議，將與韓國無線電促進協會在韓國擴大 ATSC 3.0 NextGen 服務的開發和推廣。我們繼續在加速 DDAS 商業模式的採用以及美國乃至全球本地廣播能力的持續轉型方面發揮主導作用。

As seen on slide 13, Tennis Channel recorded another strong quarter with $59 million in total revenue and $18 million in adjusted EBITDA, both well in excess of our quarterly guidance. Our full year guidance for Tennis Channel is increasing as a result. We are now expecting full year revenues in the range of $226 million to $227 million with full year adjusted EBITDA in the range of $61 million to $62 million.

如幻燈片 13 所示，網球頻道又錄得強勁的季度業績，總收入為 5,900 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 1,800 萬美元，兩者均遠超我們的季度指引。因此，我們對網球頻道的全年指導正在增加。我們目前預計全年營收將在 2.26 億美元至 2.27 億美元之間，全年調整後 EBITDA 將在 6,100 萬美元至 6,200 萬美元之間。

Turning to Tennis Channel's operational highlights on slide 14, the average audience in the third quarter grew by 31% year over year, while social media impressions grew by 187% year over year. The TC+ streaming platform increased monthly subscribers by 11% year over year, while authenticated viewing for MVPD customers grew by 52%.

轉向幻燈片 14 上網球頻道的營運亮點，第三季的平均觀眾同比增長 31%，而社交媒體印象同比增長 187%。 TC+ 串流平台的每月訂閱人數較去年同期成長 11%，而 MVPD 客戶的認證觀看人數則增加了 52%。

The T2 FAST Channel grew by 27% year over year as the exclusive Tennis content continues to drive strong growth across multiple delivery channels. In addition, Tennis Channel announced a joint venture with the Carvana Professional Pickleball Association during the quarter, which launched a new 24-hour pickleball dedicated FAST channel in October.

由於獨家網球內容持續推動多個交付管道的強勁成長，T2 FAST 頻道年增 27%。此外，網球頻道在本季宣布與 Carvana 職業匹克球協會成立合資公司，該協會於 10 月推出了新的 24 小時匹克球專用 FAST 頻道。

Tennis Channel will also now produce all events for the PPA Tour. We believe pickleball will drive even stronger growth metrics for Tennis Channel in the upcoming quarters, and we could not be more excited about the opportunities that lie ahead.

網球頻道現在也將製作 PPA 巡迴賽的所有賽事。我們相信匹克球將在未來幾季為網球頻道帶來更強勁的成長指標，我們對未來的機會感到無比興奮。

Before I turn the call over to Lucy to discuss the financial results of the quarter, I wanted to provide a brief update on our ventures investment portfolio on slide 15, which we know excludes Tennis Channel and Compulse.

在我將電話轉給 Lucy 討論本季度的財務業績之前，我想在幻燈片 15 上提供有關我們風險投資組合的簡要更新，我們知道其中不包括 Tennis Channel 和 Compulse。

In addition, several smaller consolidated investments that were included in the investment portfolio last quarter were removed from our calculation this quarter. As of September 30, the minority investment portfolio's market value was $1.17 billion, which includes a cash position of $364 million, and represents a sequential increase of $7 million on an apples-to-apples basis, excluding approximately $60 million of majority owned investment values from both quarters.

此外，上季投資組合中包含的幾項規模較小的綜合投資已從我們本季的計算中刪除。截至 9 月 30 日，少數投資組合的市值為 11.7 億美元，其中包括 3.64 億美元的現金頭寸，以同類計算連續增加 700 萬美元，不包括約 6000 萬美元的多數股權投資價值來自兩個方面。

Of note, during the quarter, the company had capital investments of approximately $5 million in minority investments and capital distributions of approximately $4 million, including exit payments. As we have stated in the past, our goal over time is to transition a significant amount of these minority investments into other majority investments that we expect to have long term growth potential and consolidation opportunities -- (technical difficulty) 20:00

值得注意的是，本季該公司的少數股權投資資本投資約為 500 萬美元，資本分配約 400 萬美元，其中包括退出付款。正如我們過去所說，隨著時間的推移，我們的目標是將大量少數股權投資轉變為我們預計具有長期成長潛力和整合機會的其他多數股權投資 --（技術難度）20:00

Now, I'll turn the call over to Lucy to provide additional detail on our financial results in the quarter.

現在，我將把電話轉給露西，以提供有關本季度財務業績的更多詳細資訊。

Thank you, Chris, and good afternoon, everyone. Beginning on slide 16. On a consolidated basis, we delivered media revenues during the third quarter that exceeded the high end of guidance, as distribution and political advertising revenue was modestly higher than expectations and core advertising revenue met our internal forecast. As compared to last year, which was a midterm election year, consolidated Media revenues decreased to $758 million during the quarter, primarily on the lower political revenues and to a lesser extent, the impact of year-over-year subscriber churn.

謝謝克里斯，大家下午好。從幻燈片 16 開始。在綜合基礎上，我們第三季度的媒體收入超出了指導上限，因為發行和政治廣告收入略高於預期，而核心廣告收入達到了我們的內部預測。與去年中期選舉年相比，本季綜合媒體收入下降至 7.58 億美元，主要是由於政治收入下降，其次是由於訂閱者同比流失的影響。

On slide 17. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA exceeded the high end of guidance for the quarter on the media revenue overachievement and on lower than expected expenses, driven by lower programming and production costs, as well as lower sales, digital and G&A cost.

在幻燈片 17 上。由於媒體收入超額完成且費用低於預期，合併調整後 EBITDA 超過了本季度指導的上限，這主要是由於節目和製作成本降低以及銷售、數字和一般管理費用降低。

As compared to last year on a pro forma basis, consolidated adjusted EBITDA in the quarter decreased from the 2022 period with media revenues contributing primarily all of the decline as a result of the lower political revenues and an off-cycle political year. Slightly lower media expenses, film payments, and corporate overhead, excluding one-time costs, partially offset the revenue decline.

與去年預計的相比，本季綜合調整後 EBITDA 較 2022 年期間有所下降，其中媒體收入主要是由於政治收入較低和非週期政治年造成的所有下降。媒體費用、電影付款和企業管理費用（不包括一次性成本）的略微下降部分抵消了收入的下降。

Slide 18 shows our consolidated adjusted free cash flow results, which also exceeded the high end of our guidance for the quarter due to the favorable adjusted EBITDA results. Adjusted free cash flow declined year-over-year on a pro forma basis due to the decline in the adjusted EBITDA as just discussed, as well as higher interest expense, and fewer cash distributions from our minority investment portfolio, as last year we exited several investments.

投影片 18 顯示了我們的綜合調整後自由現金流結果，由於調整後 EBITDA 結果良好，該結果也超出了我們本季指導的上限。由於剛剛討論的調整後 EBITDA 下降、利息支出增加以及我們少數投資組合的現金分配減少（去年我們退出了幾個項目），預計調整後自由現金流量同比下降。投資。

Slide 19 walks through our balance sheet metrics with the next meaningful maturity almost three years away. At TG, Sinclair Television Group's first lien net leverage was 4.3 times. Last Sinclair Television Group's total net leverage was 5.3 times at the end of the quarter on a trailing eight quarter basis. Interest coverage was 3.3 times as of September 30. Our consolidated cash position was $643 million at quarter end with $279 million of cash at STG and $364 million of cash at Ventures. There were 63.4 million total shares outstanding at quarter end.

投影片 19 詳細介紹了我們的資產負債表指標，距離下一個有意義的成熟期大約還有三年時間。在TG，辛克萊電視集團的第一留置權淨槓桿率為4.3倍。截至本季末，辛克萊電視集團過去八個季度的總淨槓桿率為 5.3 倍。截至 9 月 30 日，利息保障倍數為 3.3 倍。截至季末，我們的綜合現金部位為 6.43 億美元，其中 STG 現金為 2.79 億美元，Ventures 現金為 3.64 億美元。截至季末，流通股總數為 6,340 萬股。

Slide 20 introduces our fourth quarter guidance, which calls for total media revenues in the $812 million to $838 million range. We anticipate pro forma core advertising revenues to be up mid-single digits year-ove-year, driven by strong digital advertising growth. Our distribution revenue is expected to be up slightly year-over-year at the midpoint of guidance.

幻燈片 20 介紹了我們第四季度的指導，該指導要求媒體總收入在 8.12 億美元至 8.38 億美元之間。我們預計，在數位廣告強勁成長的推動下，預計核心廣告收入將年增中個位數。我們的分銷收入預計將在指導中點同比小幅增長。

We expect adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $176 million to $196 million, down from the pro forma $311 million of adjusted EBITDA in the year ago period, due largely to the lower political advertising revenue and an off-cycle election year, higher production costs, and network programming fees, and investments in technology infrastructure, and various growth initiatives. We anticipate adjusted free cash flow of $77 million to $99 million in the quarter.

我們預計調整後 EBITDA 將在 1.76 億美元至 1.96 億美元之間，低於去年同期預估的 3.11 億美元調整後 EBITDA，這主要是由於政治廣告收入較低、非週期選舉年、產量較高成本、網路程式費用、技術基礎設施投資以及各種成長計畫。我們預計本季調整後的自由現金流為 7,700 萬美元至 9,900 萬美元。

Turning to slide 21, incorporating our fourth quarter guidance. For the full year, we expect total company consolidated revenues of $3,129 million to $3,154 million. Media expenses for the year are expected to be favorable to our prior year for guidance, due primarily to the favorable expense performance in the third quarter. Our full year guidance also reflects approximately $60 million in technology, infrastructure, and growth initiative spending down from our prior $65 million forecast. Adjusted EBITDA is estimated at between $545 million and $564 million and adjusted free cash flow between $220 million and $242 million or $3.64 per share at the midpoint of guidance.

轉向幻燈片 21，其中包含我們第四季度的指導。我們預計全年公司綜合收入為 31.29 億美元至 31.54 億美元。預計今年的媒體費用將有利於我們去年的指導，這主要是由於第三季良好的費用表現。我們的全年指引也反映了約 6,000 萬美元的技術、基礎設施和成長計畫支出，低於我們先前預測的 6,500 萬美元。調整後的 EBITDA 預計在 5.45 億美元至 5.64 億美元之間，調整後的自由現金流在 2.2 億美元至 2.42 億美元之間，即每股指引中位數 3.64 美元。

With that, I'd like to turn the call back over to Chris for some closing comments.

至此，我想將電話轉回給克里斯，以徵求一些結束語。

Thank you, Lucy. Turning to our key takeaways on slide 22. Sinclair delivered strong third quarter results as we met or exceeded our guidance expectations in the third quarter. In addition, our commitment to reducing debt has been on full display, as we have repurchased more than $64 million in face value of debt and an average 24% discount to par through open market repurchases since the beginning of June. And while we continue to deal with increased linear subscriber churn levels, Sinclair is well positioned for the near and long term as we have focused on transitioning -- sorry, transforming the broadcast industry through our four strategic pillars.

謝謝你，露西。轉向幻燈片 22 上的關鍵要點。Sinclair 交付了強勁的第三季度業績，因為我們在第三季度達到或超過了我們的指導預期。此外，我們對減少債務的承諾也得到了充分體現，自 6 月初以來，我們已透過公開市場回購回購了超過 6,400 萬美元面值的債務，平均票面折扣為 24%。雖然我們繼續應對不斷增加的線性訂戶流失率，但辛克萊在近期和長期都處於有利地位，因為我們專注於轉型——抱歉，透過我們的四個戰略支柱來轉變廣播行業。

In addition, the much watched Charter-Disney carriage dispute was resolved in a manner that we believe highlights the importance and relative value of the pay-TV bundle, which is a significant positive for the industry as we anticipate improved long-term trends for linear subscriber churn as a result. Advertising trends remain solid with record political revenues during the third quarter for a non-political year. We expect to record political revenues in both the fourth quarter and in 2024, which will drive strong adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow growth for us in 2024.

此外，備受關注的包機與迪士尼運輸糾紛的解決方式凸顯了付費電視捆綁的重要性和相對價值，這對該行業來說是一個重大積極因素，因為我們預計線性電視的長期趨勢將會改善。結果導致訂戶流失。廣告趨勢保持穩健，第三季的政治收入創下非政治年份的紀錄。我們預計第四季度和 2024 年政治收入都將創紀錄，這將推動我們 2024 年調整後 EBITDA 和自由現金流的強勁成長。

In the meantime, core advertising trends continue to improve as we saw significant year-over-year growth from several categories during the quarter. We are also looking ahead to significant retransmission agreements that are coming up for renewal over the next 12 months. In the meantime, we continue to see increased demand both domestically and internationally for a Tennis Channel related assets and programming. Sinclair is well positioned for the future, and we remain excited about the opportunities that lie ahead of us. Lucy, Rob, and I will now open the call to questions.

同時，核心廣告趨勢持續改善，我們看到本季多個類別的年比顯著成長。我們也期待在未來 12 個月內續簽重要的轉播協議。同時，我們繼續看到國內外對網球頻道相關資產和節目的需求不斷增加。辛克萊為未來做好了充分的準備，我們對眼前的機會仍然感到興奮。露西、羅布和我現在開始提問。

Thank you for joining us today.

感謝您今天加入我們。

(Operator Instructions) Dan Kurnos, The Benchmark Company.

（操作員說明）Dan Kurnos，Benchmark 公司。

Great, thanks. Good afternoon. That's nice quarter, guys. Maybe, Chris, there's a lot to unpack here. But on the distribution, your commentary around Charter Disney, just -- it seems like rate's been pretty strong from what we've seen in your results, also appear to start reflecting that. I guess the flip side of your commentary or the other aspect of your commentary is the reduction of carriage of some of these low-value cable nets and more dollars accruing to broadcast. And I'm just curious as you have these conversations on the retrans side, how much you're factoring that into your net guide or on the rate side, just how much you think you can kind of continue to pick up here?

萬分感謝。午安.夥計們，這是一個美好的季度。克里斯，也許這裡有很多東西要解開。但在分配方面，您對特許迪士尼的評論，從我們在您的結果中看到的來看，比率似乎相當強勁，似乎也開始反映出這一點。我想你的評論的另一面或你的評論的另一個方面是減少了一些低價值有線電視網絡的運輸以及更多的廣播收入。我只是很好奇，當您在轉發方面進行這些對話時，您在網絡指南或費率方面將其考慮了多少，您認為您可以繼續在這裡接受多少？

So it is a great observation. I think there's a few key takeaways from a the Charter Disney deal. And one of which is that premium content got paid and non-premium content like the dozen or so channels at Disney, and it is getting dropped from Charter where don't get -- it does not get paid. And so we think that's significant. Our programming is pound for pound, the most premium programming available to a pay-TV distributor.

所以這是一個很好的觀察。我認為迪士尼特許協議有幾個關鍵要點。其中之一是優質內容獲得了付費，而非優質內容（例如迪士尼的十幾個頻道）正在從憲章中刪除，而那些無法獲得的內容 - 它不會獲得付費。所以我們認為這很重要。我們的節目是按比例製作的，是付費電視發行商可以獲得的最優質的節目。

So we definitely see that being a validation of our pricing power. And everything we've seen so far from recent negotiations have reinforced that fact. And I think the other thing that I would point out about the Disney Charter arrangement that I think is just a really solid plus is the inclusion of these ala carte D2C offerings like Disney Plus and ESPN Plus into the charter base packages is a real significant value proposition for the consumer. And we think if it -- the extent that spreads to other distributors and other media companies, we view that as a real positive and it will give the relative value proposition for the consumer of leaving to -- essentially the main alternative to leaving right now is to cobble together thses ala carte D2C offerings, and by way to win those go up in price, month by month, day by day, and they get added and they crackdown on passwords.

因此，我們肯定認為這是對我們定價能力的驗證。到目前為止，我們從最近的談判中看到的一切都強化了這一事實。我想我要指出的關於迪士尼包機安排的另一件事是，我認為這是一個非常堅實的優勢，將這些單點D2C 產品（例如Disney Plus 和ESPN Plus）納入包機基本套餐中是一個真正重要的價值為消費者提出的建議。我們認為，如果它傳播到其他分銷商和其他媒體公司的程度，我們認為這是一個真正的積極因素，它將為離開的消費者提供相對價值主張，本質上是現在離開的主要選擇就是將這些按菜單點菜的D2C 產品拼湊在一起，並透過方式贏得那些價格逐月、日復一日上漲的產品，並增加它們並打擊密碼。

So the relative cost of ala carte D2C is skyrocketing up, and the relative value of pay-TV is actually increasing because more and more is getting added to the offering. And so we think that's a very positive trend. That wasn't the case a few years ago, but we're seeing -- over the last couple of years, we're seeing a rightsizing of the two base alternatives that people choose for their video entertainment.

因此，點菜 D2C 的相對成本正在飆升，而付費電視的相對價值實際上正在增​​加，因為越來越多的內容被添加到服務中。所以我們認為這是一個非常正面的趨勢。幾年前並非如此，但我們看到 - 在過去幾年中，我們看到人們為視訊娛樂選擇的兩種基本替代方案正在調整大小。

That's super helpful. And just housekeeping, after the deals or renewals you announced in the release today, what do you have left over the next 12 months?

這非常有幫助。就內務管理而言，在您今天在新聞稿中宣布的交易或續訂之後，您在接下來的 12 個月裡還剩下什麼？

We still have the vast majority -- almost all of our traditional pay-TV subscribers coming up between now and the end of 2024. So we feel really good about that dynamic heading into what should be significant step-ups.

從現在到 2024 年底，我們仍然擁有絕大多數——幾乎所有傳統付費電視訂戶。因此，我們對這種動態進入應該是重大的進步感到非常滿意。

And then just on the political front, obviously, there's been a lot of talk about fundraising and obviously tthe whole Tim Scott stuff. And I know people have been afraid to sort of go out there and talk about record for next year, given the uncertainties on the presidential side, but -- or maybe the guaranteed outcome on the presidential side. So just any incremental color on your confidence in calling for a record '24 with that backdrop?

然後，在政治方面，顯然，有很多關於籌款以及蒂姆·斯科特的事情的討論。我知道，鑑於總統方面的不確定性，人們一直不敢走出去談論明年的記錄，但是——或者也許是總統方面有保證的結果。那麼，在這樣的背景下，您對創造 24 年創紀錄的信心有任何增加嗎？

Yeah, I'll answer that. It is Rob. We have significant Senate House races and seeing a lot of money spent on issue based advertising. So we're still bullish and calling it for a record year for us. The presidential election, we're seeing spending in Iowa. Some money just came down a couple hours ago. So the money will be spent, whether that it is presidential election or the local races and issues that are out there that are significant.

是的，我會回答這個問題。這是羅布.我們有重要的參議院競選，並且看到大量資金花在基於問題的廣告上。因此，我們仍然看好這一年，並稱今年將是創紀錄的一年。在總統選舉中，我們看到愛荷華州的支出。幾個小時前剛剛降了一些錢。因此，無論是總統選舉還是當地的競選和重大議題，這些錢都會被花掉。

And any external research on that topic is still pointing towards a record fundraising, and that's really the key money raised is money spent.

關於該主題的任何外部研究仍然指向創紀錄的籌款，而籌集的資金實際上是支出的關鍵資金。

That has been historically true. Chris, if I could just ask one last one, just on allocation or capital allocation. You guys obviously deserve credit for buying back your debt in the open market at a discount since it accrues to the equity. I think that's been smart. We're at the point here, given that everyone thinks the sky's falling where -- and I know you guys care about value of your equity. So you have had a big buyback at these levels. I just don't know how you think about balancing the two and knowing that most of the free cash is going to come in next year, but just kind of your thoughts on balancing the two from this point on.

歷史上確實如此。克里斯，我能否問最後一個問題，關於分配或資本分配。你們在公開市場上以折扣價回購債務顯然值得讚揚，因為它會計入股本。我認為這很聰明。鑑於每個人都認為天塌下來了，我們現在已經到了這個地步——而且我知道你們關心自己的股權價值。所以你在這些水平上進行了大規模回購。我只是不知道你如何看待平衡兩者，並且知道大部分自由現金將在明年到來，但只是從現在開始你對平衡兩者的想法。

Sure. We never like to be to forward-looking when it comes to these types of things. But as you noted, we did buy back a significant amount of stock this year. We have been very active on the debt side. We've heard from investors that the equity would benefit from lower amounts of debt. And so we have shifted our focus, and that is our current focus today. But you are right in pointing out that the equity is really, really low from a fundamentals perspective and it's hard to ignore that.

當然。當涉及到這些類型的事情時，我們從不喜歡具有前瞻性。但正如您所指出的，我們今年確實回購了大量股票。我們在債務方面一直非常積極。我們從投資者得知，股權將受益於較低的債務金額。所以我們改變了我們的焦點，這就是我們今天的焦點。但你正確地指出，從基本面的角度來看，股本確實非常低，很難忽略這一點。

Okay. Thanks for bearing with me. Appreciate it. Thanks.

好的。謝謝你對我的包容。欣賞它。謝謝。

Steven Cahall, Wells Fargo.

史蒂文卡霍爾，富國銀行。

Thanks. So Chris, there's just so much noise in retrans these days between sub declines, and pricing, and virtuals. And you all have, as you said, virtually every sub renewing, I think, between now and the middle of next year. So if we just step back from it all, I think your retrans revenue was down around 4% this quarter. It's clearly going to start accelerating here very, very soon.

謝謝。所以，克里斯，現在在轉播中，子下降、定價和虛擬之間存在太多噪音。正如您所說，我認為從現在到明年年中，幾乎所有的子都進行了更新。因此，如果我們退一步看，我認為本季貴公司的轉寄收入下降了 4% 左右。顯然，這裡很快就會開始加速。

Can you help us with where you think it might get to when that revenue peaks after all these renewals, because I think that's the really hard thing in kind of understanding the expectation for retrans and net retrans related to your guidance?

您能否幫助我們了解您認為在所有這些續約後收入可能達到高峰的情況，因為我認為這是理解與您的指導相關的重轉和淨重轉預期的真正困難的事情？

Lucy, so you outperformed a lot on EBITDA in Q3 versus the guidance. Slide 4 is really helpful to see where that came. Some good revenue performance in there, a lot of it is on the cost side as well. Can you just help us unpack what in cost came out significantly better than what you'd expected? Are you seeing lower programming expenses? Is this cost cutting that you've been doing? It doesn't look like it's timing, but I just wanted -- just stated on the Q4 guide, but I want to make sure that I understand that. Thank you.

露西，所以你在第三季的 EBITDA 上的表現比指導值好很多。幻燈片 4 對於了解其來源確實很有幫助。其中有一些良好的收入表現，其中許多也反映在成本方面。您能幫我們分析一下成本結果明顯優於您的預期嗎？您是否發現程式費用降低了？這是你一直在做的成本削減嗎？看起來時機不對，但我只是想 - 剛剛在第四季度指南中指出，但我想確保我理解這一點。謝謝。

All right. so as it relates to on net retrans, I would point you back to the guidance we gave over a year ago on our 2022 to 2024, So our three-year CAGR, which were over a year into now. And we are standing by that guidance of low single digits growth. And so if you want to see -- not necessarily where it peaks, but where it's headed to in 2025 from here, I'll just do the math based on where we were in 2022. So that you're right, it basically, you should see a meaningful acceleration starting in the fourth quarter and then making its way up to a much higher number from where it is run rating today to that growth number in 2025.

好的。因此，就網路重傳而言，我想請您回顧一下我們一年多前就 2022 年至 2024 年給出的指導，即我們的三年複合年增長率，到現在已經一年多了。我們堅持低個位數成長的指導方針。因此，如果你想了解 — 不一定是峰值，而是從現在開始到 2025 年將走向何方，我會根據 2022 年的情況進行數學計算。所以你是對的，基本上，你應該會看到從第四季開始出現有意義的加速，然後從今天的運行評級上升到2025 年的成長數字。

Yeah. And Steven, on the expense question, so this is something we have been as a company focused on all year. And it's a company-wide focus to look at, really questioning some of our expenses. So where you're seeing it is really coming across all of our large spending categories and our departments. So you can't really point to just one area.

是的。史蒂文，關於費用問題，這是我們公司全年關注的問題。這是全公司範圍內需要關注的焦點，這確實對我們的一些支出提出了質疑。因此，您所看到的情況確實存在於我們所有的大型支出類別和部門中。所以你不能真的只指向一個區域。

Again, this has been a company-wide focus and not just here in Q3, but for the full year. And as you look from Q3 forward right into Q4, there will be some seasonality that will just be from quarter to quarter, just Q4 is usually a bigger quarter for us, and sales expense commissions will be up on the higher revenue. But we have really focused on this and taken a lot of cost out of the business this year.

同樣，這一直是全公司範圍內的焦點，不僅是在第三季度，而是全年。當你從第三季度直接進入第四季度時，會出現一些季度性的季節性變化，第四季度對我們來說通常是一個更大的季度，銷售費用佣金將隨著收入的增加而增加。但今年我們確實專注於這一點，並從業務中削減了大量成本。

I think what I'd add to that is that we expect that these changes will be -- are permanent, right. These are not just onetime cost saves. This is us getting more efficient, us getting rid of things that we didn't need, things of that nature.

我想我要補充的是，我們期望這些變化將是永久性的，對吧。這些不僅僅是一次性的成本節省。這是我們變得更有效率，我們擺脫了我們不需要的東西，這種性質的東西。

So we'll continue. In fact, we think we'll continue to improve all the investments that we're making this year, which is quite significant. Sound transformation, be it cloud, be it the unified ad platform, be it [edas] and there's a number of other smaller initiatives there. They're all geared around being more efficient with what we have, selling more with what we have, and so either making more revenue or running the business unless expense. And so that drive to greater efficiency will continue, we won't just stop after this year.

所以我們會繼續。事實上，我們認為我們將繼續改善今年所做的所有投資，這是相當重要的。健全的轉型，無論是雲端、統一廣告平台、[edas]，還有許多其他較小的措施。它們都是為了提高我們所擁有的產品的效率，利用我們所擁有的產品銷售更多產品，從而要么賺取更多收入，要么經營業務（除非費用）。因此，提高效率的努力將繼續下去，我們不會在今年之後停下來。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) Aaron Watts, Deutsche Bank.

（操作員指示）Aaron Watts，德意志銀行。

Hey, everyone. Thanks for having me on. Just few questions from me. Chris, one more follow-up on the distribution side. You've highlighted that you have a majority of your sub-base up for renewal over the next 12 months. We've seen a couple of notable blackouts between station owners and distributors, and a couple of elongated ones even with the NFL ongoing.

嘿大家。謝謝你邀請我參加。我只問幾個問題。克里斯，分銷方面的另一位跟進者。您強調指出，您的大部分子基地都將在未來 12 個月內進行更新。我們已經看到電視台所有者和發行商之間發生過幾次明顯的停電，甚至在 NFL 比賽仍在進行的情況下也發生過幾次長時間的停電。

With that backdrop in post Charter Disney, are you bracing for more abrasive negotiations as you go into these discussions? And at least compared to the past, are you are you approaching them any differently? And given that we are on the outside looking in, is the base case that we should work with? Is that these negotiations can get done without any prolonged blackouts?

在迪士尼憲章後的背景下，您在進行這些討論時是否準備好迎接更激烈的談判？至少與過去相比，你對待他們的方式有什麼不同嗎？考慮到我們是在外面觀察，我們應該遵循的基本情況是什麼？這些談判是否可以在沒有長時間停電的情況下完成？

So I would actually, Aaron, challenge the notion that that blackouts have increased. And I just think people are paying more attention to them. Periodic blackouts have been a common occurrence for years. And I can remember plenty of times where we had much longer blackouts in the industry. But I'll tell you from a Sinclair perspective, we haven't had a single blackout on the broadcast side for multiple years. And so I don't think it would be accurate, though I haven't actually looked at the numbers myself to say that blackouts have increased. It's all from the very start of retrans, it's it's always been a battle and it continues to be one, one that's fought in a friendly fashion. And we both need each other.

所以，亞倫，我實際上會對停電增加的觀點提出質疑。我只是認為人們越來越關注他們。週期性停電多年來一直是常見現象。我記得很多時候，我們產業的停電時間要長得多。但我會從辛克萊的角度告訴你，多年來我們的廣播方面沒有發生過一次停電。因此，我認為這並不準確，儘管我自己實際上並沒有查看這些數字來表明停電增加。這一切都從重傳一開始就開始了，這一直是一場戰鬥，而且仍然是一場以友好方式進行的戰鬥。我們都需要彼此。

And so I expect that to continue. I don't see a meaningful change in how we interact with the MVPDs for all the reasons I have cited when I talked about the Disney charter deal in terms of what's available for distributors to secure and ponder, ours is the most desirable full-stop. So if they want to be in the video business, which they all still want to be in the video business, I assure you that they need our content. And so I don't think the marketplace has really changed that much.

所以我希望這種情況能夠持續下去。我沒有看到我們與 MVPD 互動的方式發生有意義的變化，原因是我在談論迪士尼特許交易時所引用的所有原因，即分銷商可以確保和思考的內容，我們的是最理想的完全停止。因此，如果他們想進入視訊業務，他們仍然想進入視訊業務，我向你保證他們需要我們的內容。所以我認為市場並沒有真正改變那麼多。

Okay. That's helpful context. And then just secondly, around the core advertising picture based on your third quarter results and 4Q guide, it seems like heading in the right direction. Is it too early to say you may be turning a corner towards more sustainable positive ad trends going forward and rolling into 2024? Or is it a little too early to make that call? And I guess, can these early positive signs like National moving towards positive traction, can they be sustainable?

好的。這是有用的背景。其次，圍繞著基於第三季業績和第四季指南的核心廣告圖片，似乎正朝著正確的方向前進。現在說您可能會轉向更永續的正向廣告趨勢，並持續到 2024 年，現在說還為時過早嗎？或者現在做出這樣的決定還為時過早嗎？我想，這些早期的正面跡象，例如國家黨正在走向積極的牽引力，它們能夠持續嗎？

Yeah, Aaron, it's Rob. I would say that we're cautiously optimistic. Auto has returned, services is getting stronger, the little categories are strong, retail and travel are strong. So I wish I had a crystal ball, but we are optimistic that we have seen this turnaround, we've done through the pandemic, recession thought process, now we've come full turn, I think, that the election year makes it robust. And we're excited because everything we've been building for the last few years, including our AIML pricing, it's a dynamic pricing system for kick in to allow us to maximize our value of our assets.

是的，亞倫，我是羅布。我想說的是，我們持謹慎樂觀的態度。汽車回歸，服務業強勁，小品類強勁，零售和旅遊強勁。所以我希望我有一個水晶球，但我們樂觀地認為我們已經看到了這種轉變，我們已經完成了大流行、經濟衰退的思考過程，現在我們已經全面轉變，我認為，選舉年使它變得強勁。我們很興奮，因為過去幾年我們一直在建立的一切，包括我們的 AIML 定價，它是一個動態定價系統，可以讓我們最大限度地提高資產價值。

I also think this is a reflection of a continued shift in multi-platform strategy and digital becoming a bigger and bigger portion of our total advertising pie. I have really put a lot of work and Rob's team has spent a lot of work into transforming our sellers into marketing consultants as opposed to sellers, that's starting to pay dividend.

我還認為這反映了多平台策略的持續轉變，數位化在我們的廣告總量中所佔的比例越來越大。我確實投入了大量的工作，羅布的團隊也投入了大量的工作，將我們的賣家轉變為行銷顧問，而不是賣家，這開始帶來紅利。

Yeah. We live in a cross-platform solution world. And we are, as stated earlier that we're building our assets on every single platform, and we monetize every two platforms. So going to '24, we are really happy to be expanding upon our podcasting network as well as our presence on the various social media networks with the hiring of a gentleman that came from company, NASA and HBO Max that give a little bit different look to how we impact the social media space. So as we do the content, we also have a monetization plan to go along with it.

是的。我們生活在一個跨平台解決方案的世界。正如前面所說，我們正在每個平台上建立我們的資產，並且我們將每兩個平台貨幣化。因此，到了 24 年，我們非常高興能夠擴大我們的播客網絡以及我們在各種社交媒體網絡上的影響力，聘請了一位來自 NASA 和 HBO Max 公司的紳士，這給了我們一些不同的面貌我們如何影響社群媒體空間。因此，當我們製作內容時，我們還有一個與之相配合的貨幣化計劃。

Appreciate the thoughts, guys. Thank you.

欣賞這些想法，夥計們。謝謝。

Thanks, Aaron.

謝謝，亞倫。

Thank you. That concludes our Q&A session. I will now hand the conference back to Chris Ripley, President and CEO, for closing remarks. Please go ahead.

謝謝。我們的問答環節到此結束。現在我將把會議交還給總裁兼執行長 Chris Ripley 致閉幕詞。請繼續。

Thank you all for joining us today. And to the extent you have any questions or comments, feel free to reach out.

感謝大家今天加入我們。如果您有任何問題或意見，請隨時與我們聯繫。

Thank you, everyone. This concludes today's event. You may disconnect at this time and have a wonderful day. Thank you for your participation.

謝謝大家。今天的活動到此結束。此時您可能會斷開連接並度過美好的一天。感謝您的參與。