Tegna Inc (TGNA) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the TEGNA third-quarter 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 TEGNA 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。

I would now like to turn the conference over to your speaker for today, Kirk von Seelen. Please go ahead.

現在我想將會議交給今天的發言人柯克·馮·塞倫 (Kirk von Seelen)。請繼續。

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to our third-quarter 2024 conference call and webcast. My name is Kirk von Seelen, and I am TEGNA's Treasurer.

謝謝。早安，歡迎參加我們的 2024 年第三季電話會議和網路廣播。我叫 Kirk von Seelen，是 TEGNA 的財務主管。

Today, our CEO, Mike Steib; and our CFO, Julie Heskett, will review TEGNA's third-quarter performance and results and provide TEGNA's full-year and fourth-quarter outlook. After that, we'll open the call for questions.

今天，我們的執行長 Mike Steib；我們的財務長 Julie Heskett 將回顧 TEGNA 第三季的業績和業績，並提供 TEGNA 的全年和第四季度展望。之後，我們將開始提問。

Hopefully, you've had the opportunity to review this morning's press release. If you have not yet seen a copy of the release, it's available at tegna.com.

希望您有機會閱讀今天早上的新聞稿。如果您尚未看到該版本的副本，可以在 tegna.com 上取得。

Before we get started, I'd like to remind you that this conference call and webcast includes forward-looking statements, and our actual results may differ. Factors that may cause them to differ are outlined in our SEC filings.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒您，本次電話會議和網路廣播包含前瞻性陳述，我們的實際結果可能會有所不同。我們向 SEC 提交的文件中概述了可能導致它們出現差異的因素。

This presentation also includes certain non-GAAP financial measures. We have provided reconciliations of those measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures in the press release.

本簡報也包括某些非公認會計準則財務指標。我們在新聞稿中提供了這些指標與最直接可比較的 GAAP 指標的調整表。

With that, let me turn the call over to Mike.

接下來，讓我把電話轉給麥克。

Thanks, Kirk, and good morning, everybody. I'm excited to be here working hard for our shareholders and the communities we serve.

謝謝柯克，大家早安。我很高興能夠在這裡為我們的股東和我們服務的社區努力工作。

On the heels of this week's election, I want to commend our team for helping to keep our communities informed and engaged in our democracy. Local journalism has never been more important in America. And as the folks on this call know, it's also never been more challenged. As the world has undergone a digital transformation, viewers and advertisers have shifted to online.

在本週的選舉之後，我要讚揚我們的團隊幫助我們的社區了解並參與我們的民主。當地新聞在美國從未如此重要。正如參與本次電話會議的人員所知，它也面臨前所未有的挑戰。隨著世界經歷數位轉型，觀眾和廣告商已轉向網路。

Since 2021, pay TV homes have been declining 5% to 7% per year, with traditional cable and satellite homes declining in the teens, while TV advertising has declined 3% to 5% per year. Traditional media, and broadcast in particular, has fallen behind, missing opportunities to evolve the business and take advantage of the digital moment.

自 2021 年以來，付費電視家庭每年下降 5% 至 7%，傳統有線和衛星家庭的下降幅度為十幾歲，而電視廣告則每年下降 3% 至 5%。傳統媒體，尤其是廣播媒體已經落後，錯過了發展業務和利用數位時代的機會。

But history is not destiny here. Local communities continue to strongly value local news, with 85% telling Pew that local news is important, and the vast majority reporting that their local media team is doing a good job. TEGNA's brands, in particular, have strong leadership positions in attractive markets across the US. In this hyper-competitive environment, where it is extremely difficult to establish an audience and build trusted brands, TEGNA has both.

但歷史在這裡並不是命運。當地社區繼續高度重視當地新聞，85% 的人告訴皮尤，當地新聞很重要，絕大多數人表示他們的當地媒體團隊做得很好。尤其是 TEGNA 的品牌在美國各地有吸引力的市場中擁有強大的領導地位。在這個競爭異常激烈的環境中，建立受眾群體和建立值得信賴的品牌極其困難，而 TEGNA 兩者兼具。

We reach approximately 100 million people every month across the web, mobile apps, streaming, and linear television. Our brands and our products continue to mean a lot to the people in our local communities. Some of the wins Julie will share with you around political advertising and new sports rights really underline the resilient value of our TV stations.

我們每月透過網路、行動應用程式、串流媒體和線性電視覆蓋約 1 億人。我們的品牌和產品對當地社區的人們仍然意義重大。朱莉將與您分享的一些關於政治廣告和新體育轉播權的勝利確實強調了我們電視台的彈性價值。

At a moment of technological shift, where audiences continue to show a boundless appetite for great content on all devices, and where AI is offering massive opportunities to improve products and productivity, now is the moment for a company like TEGNA to build a more profitable future on our strong foundation. Over the last few years, TEGNA has been through a lot with the merger process behind us and our leadership transition complete. We're taking a fresh look at how to best leverage our competitive advantages.

在技​​術變革的時刻，觀眾繼續對所有設備上的精彩內容表現出無限的興趣，人工智慧為改進產品和生產力提供了大量機會，現在是像TEGNA 這樣的公司打造更有利可圖的未來的時刻在我們堅實的基礎上。在過去的幾年裡，TEGNA 經歷了很多事情，合併過程已經結束，領導層過渡也完成。我們正在重新審視如何最好地利用我們的競爭優勢。

In my first few weeks here, I've been spending time at our stations and with key business leaders across the company, and I've come away with an initial set of five potential opportunities that are going to have our focus. Number one, we're ensuring that we have the team, the culture, the accountability, and the leadership operating system to move with the urgency and the excellence that this moment demands of us. The no-huddle offense is on the field at TEGNA from now on.

在我來到這裡的最初幾周里，我一直在我們的站點並與公司的主要業務領導者一起度過了時光，我得到了最初的五個潛在機會，這些機會將成為我們的重點。第一，我們要確保我們擁有團隊、文化、責任和領導力操作系統，以應對當下時刻對我們的緊迫性和卓越性的要求。從現在開始，TEGNA 的球場上將採用無擁擠進攻。

Number two, we're reviewing org structures and processes across the enterprise to ensure we're doing our jobs as effectively and efficiently as possible. I hypothesize that there are synergies across stations that we have not fully exploited.

第二，我們正在檢視整個企業的組織結構和流程，以確保我們盡可能有效和有效率地進行工作。我假設我們尚未充分利用各個站點之間的協同效應。

Number three, we're doing a nose-to-tail review of every process, from content creation to sales and marketing, to ensure we are leveraging the power of technology. I believe we are underutilizing automation and AI to drive efficiency and create a better product.

第三，我們正在對從內容創建到銷售和行銷的每個流程進行徹底審查，以確保我們充分利用技術的力量。我相信我們沒有充分利用自動化和人工智慧來提高效率並創造更好的產品。

Number four, we're examining a myriad of opportunities to expand our reach and better serve our users through digital channels. Today, we generate a sizable online audience, but the amount of engagement per user is well below our potential, and we see a path to deepening user engagement and, ultimately, revenue for our company.

第四，我們正在研究無數的機會來擴大我們的影響力並透過數位管道更好地服務我們的用戶。如今，我們擁有大量線上受眾，但每個用戶的參與度遠低於我們的潛力，我們看到了一條加深用戶參與度並最終為我們公司帶來收入的途徑。

And number five, we are scrutinizing every expense in the company to ensure each dollar is a smart investment, driving audience and driving revenue. This is still my first quarter here, and I can't tell you exactly what the work is going to yield. But what I've seen so far makes me optimistic. There's a sense of urgency and energy in the company that is exactly what we need to ensure a bright future for TEGNA.

第五，我們正在仔細審查公司的每一筆開支，以確保每一美元都是明智的投資，從而吸引觀眾並增加收入。這仍然是我在這裡的第一季度，我無法確切地告訴你這項工作將會產生什麼成果。但到目前為止我所看到的一切讓我感到樂觀。公司有一種緊迫感和活力，這正是我們確保 TEGNA 光明未來所需要的。

Now, before I turn it over, I want to welcome our new Chief Legal Officer, Alex Tolston. Alex is an experienced public company CLO with a deep understanding of our space. He's a trusted business partner that is comfortable in fast-paced, dynamic environments. He's a tough-as-nails negotiator and a proven winner. He's going to be a high-impact addition to Team TEGNA.

現在，在我移交之前，我想歡迎我們新任首席法務官 Alex Tolston。Alex 是一位經驗豐富的上市公司 CLO，對我們的領域有著深入的了解。他是一位值得信賴的商業夥伴，能夠適應快節奏、動態的環境。他是一位強硬的談判者，也是一位公認的勝利者。他將成為 TEGNA 團隊中極具影響力的一員。

I'll now hand it over to Julie to provide a more detailed look at our financial results.

現在我將把它交給朱莉，讓她更詳細地介紹我們的財務表現。

Thank you, Mike. Good morning, everyone.

謝謝你，麥克。大家早安。

We are thrilled to have Mike leading our team, bringing a fresh perspective and a sense of urgency to drive our execution forward. In just a short time, he has already made an immediate impact, energizing our team with a clear focus on accelerating our performance.

我們很高興麥克領導我們的團隊，帶來新鮮的視角和緊迫感來推動我們的執行。在短短的時間內，他已經產生了立竿見影的影響，為我們的團隊注入了活力，明確地致力於提高我們的績效。

I'll begin today by covering TEGNA's financial results and capital allocation execution for the third quarter, then provide an update on our cost control initiatives before closing with a review of our guidance. My comments today will primarily focus on TEGNA's performance on a consolidated, non-GAAP basis to provide you with visibility into the financial drivers of our business trends and operational results. You can find all our reported data and prior period comparatives in our press release.

今天，我將首先介紹 TEGNA 第三季度的財務表現和資本分配執行情況，然後介紹我們的成本控制計劃的最新情況，最後回顧我們的指導。我今天的評論將主要關注 TEGNA 在綜合非 GAAP 基礎上的業績，以便讓您了解我們業務趨勢和營運績效的財務驅動因素。您可以在我們的新聞稿中找到我們所有報告的數據和前期比較。

Here are some headlines. Total company revenue for third quarter increased 13% year over year to $807 million, exceeding our guidance of 9% to 12% growth. This performance was primarily driven by political advertising and an uptick in advertising and marketing services revenue, referred to as AMS.

以下是一些頭條新聞。第三季公司總收入年增 13% 至 8.07 億美元，超出了我們 9% 至 12% 成長的指導。這項業績主要是由政治廣告以及廣告和行銷服務收入（簡稱 AMS）的成長所推動的。

AMS revenue was up slightly year over year, as strength in the Summer Olympic Games was offset by continued softness from national customers, as well as political displacement. An important note to emphasize, our core linear advertising was up in third quarter, driven by Olympic sales across our NBC station. TEGNA is the largest NBC affiliate group, and our portfolio experienced a 35% growth in total hours watched for the Paris Games versus the last Summer Games in Tokyo.

AMS 營收較去年同期略有成長，因為夏季奧運的強勁勢頭被國內客戶的持續疲軟以及政治流離失所所抵消。需要強調的重要一點是，在我們 NBC 電台的奧運銷售的推動下，我們的核心線性廣告在第三季度有所增長。TEGNA 是最大的 NBC 附屬集團，與上屆東京夏季奧運會相比，我們的投資組合觀看巴黎奧運會的總觀看時長增長了 35%。

We are encouraged by our local advertising performance across several categories, including services, banking, finance, healthcare, entertainment, education, and travel and tourism. However, automotive, retail, and home improvement categories continue to be soft.

我們對服務、銀行、金融、醫療保健、娛樂、教育以及旅遊和旅遊等多個類別的本地廣告表現感到鼓舞。然而，汽車、零售和家居裝修類別仍然疲軟。

Now, let's look at our subscription revenue. For the third quarter, our subscription revenue decreased 6% year over year to $356 million. We will renew approximately 20% of our traditional MVPD subscribers at the end of this year and approximately 45% of traditional subscribers in 2025.

現在，讓我們看看我們的訂閱收入。第三季度，我們的訂閱收入年減 6% 至 3.56 億美元。我們將在今年底續約約 20% 的傳統 MVPD 訂戶，並在 2025 年續約約 45% 的傳統訂戶。

Turning to political advertising, we delivered record political revenue in the third quarter. Our political advertising year to date through Election Day is approximately $375 million. Despite having fewer competitive Senate and House races, 2024 political advertising to date nearly matched 2020, excluding the two Georgia Senate runoffs. While not all political cycles are created equal, results further emphasize the importance of our strategic footprint in key battleground states and the durability of political advertising across broadcasts.

談到政治廣告，我們在第三季創造了創紀錄的政治收入。今年迄今為止，到選舉日為止，我們的政治廣告支出約為 3.75 億美元。儘管參議院和眾議院的競選競爭較少，但迄今為止，2024 年的政治廣告幾乎與 2020 年持平（不包括喬治亞州的兩場參議院決選）。雖然並非所有政治週期都是平等的，但結果進一步強調了我們在關鍵戰場州的戰略足跡的重要性以及跨廣播政治廣告的持久性。

Now, let me turn to expenses for the third quarter. We continue to make structural cost reductions across our legacy operations. Our expense management trend has been improving throughout the year. In first quarter, expenses were up 1% year over year. In second quarter, we improved to flat, as we started to benefit from our initial cost reductions. Now, in third quarter, we achieved a 2% reduction year over year.

現在，讓我談談第三季的支出。我們繼續在我們的傳統業務中進行結構性成本削減。我們的費用管理趨勢全年都在改善。第一季度，費用年增1%。第二季度，我們的業績成長至持平，因為我們開始受益於最初的成本削減。現在，在第三季度，我們實現了年減 2%。

It's important to note that when we discuss our core cost initiatives, we are focusing on legacy operations, excluding growth areas such as programming, which includes sports rights and Premion. We believe this provides a clearer picture of our cost reduction efforts in the traditional areas of our business.

值得注意的是，當我們討論核心成本計劃時，我們關注的是遺留業務，不包括節目製作等成長領域，其中包括體育版權和Premion。我們相信，這可以更清楚地展示我們在傳統業務領域的成本削減工作。

Looking ahead, we remain on track to generate $90 million to $100 million in core annualized savings when we exit 2025. We expect to achieve approximately $50 million, or 50%, of these annualized core business savings as we end 2024. This puts us in a strong position to meet our overall goal.

展望未來，當我們退出 2025 年時，我們仍有望實現 9,000 萬至 1 億美元的核心年度節省。我們預計到 2024 年底，這些核心業務年化成本將節省約 5,000 萬美元，即 50%。這使我們處於有利地位來實現我們的總體目標。

To balance this discussion, I want to emphasize that while we are focused on cost management in our core operations, we continue to invest organically in other areas of the business. Specifically, our recent sports rights agreements, while impacting our programming expenses, are important to grow strong local audience engagement. Additionally, Premion is experiencing momentum as it's heading into the fourth quarter.

為了平衡這一討論，我想強調，雖然我們專注於核心業務的成本管理，但我們繼續對業務的其他領域進行有機投資。具體來說，我們最近的體育版權協議雖然影響了我們的節目支出，但對於增強當地觀眾的參與度非常重要。此外，Premion 在進入第四季時也呈現出強勁的勢頭。

Turning to capital allocation, we continue to make progress on our commitment to return between 40% and 60% of adjusted free cash flow to shareholders over the 2024 and 2025 periods. In the third quarter, we returned approximately $91 million of capital to shareholders, comprised of $21 million in dividends and $70 million in share repurchases, representing 4.9 million shares at an average price of $14.48. Year to date, we have returned $286 million to shareholders, keeping us on track to meet our commitment of returning approximately $350 million in 2024.

在資本配置方面，我們繼續在承諾方面取得進展，在 2024 年和 2025 年期間將 40% 至 60% 的調整後自由現金流返還給股東。第三季度，我們向股東返還了約 9,100 萬美元的資本，其中包括 2,100 萬美元的股息和 7,000 萬美元的股票回購，相當於 490 萬股，平均價格為 14.48 美元。今年迄今為止，我們已向股東返還 2.86 億美元，這使我們預計將兌現 2024 年返還約 3.5 億美元的承諾。

Cash and cash equivalents totaled $536 million at the end of the third quarter.

截至第三季末，現金及現金等價物總額為 5.36 億美元。

Net leverage finished the quarter at 2.8 times, below our 3 times annual guidance.

本季淨槓桿率為 2.8 倍，低於我們 3 倍的年度指引。

Now, turning to our outlook, we are reaffirming all our full-year 2024 key guidance metrics, as well as our combined 2024, 2025 adjusted free cash flow guidance of $900 million to $1.1 billion. There is one improvement to call out regarding tax rate guidance. We are lowering our full-year 2024 effective tax rate guidance to 22% to 23%, reflecting a purchase of tax credits at a discount made available through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

現在，轉向我們的展望，我們重申 2024 年全年所有關鍵指導指標，以及 2024 年、2025 年調整後自由現金流合併指導價值 9 億至 11 億美元。關於稅率指引有一項值得指出的改善。我們將 2024 年全年有效稅率指引下調至 22% 至 23%，反映了透過 2022 年通貨膨脹削減法案提供的折扣購買稅收抵免。

For the fourth quarter, we expect total company GAAP revenue to be up 19% to 21% year over year, driven by strength in political advertising. We expect total non-GAAP operating expenses to be up 1% to 3%, compared to fourth quarter of 2023, driven by growth in programming and Premion cost, but also offset in part by savings realized from our core cost reduction initiatives.

在政治廣告實力的推動下，我們預計第四季公司 GAAP 總營收將年增 19% 至 21%。與2023 年第四季相比，我們預計非GAAP 營運支出總額將成長1% 至3%，這主要是受到節目製作和Premion 成本增長的推動，但也部分被我們核心成本削減計劃實現的節省所抵消。

In closing, we are pleased with our third-quarter performance.

最後，我們對第三季的業績感到滿意。

With that, operator, let's open the call for questions.

那麼，接線員，讓我們開始提問。

(Operator Instructions) Steven Cahall, Wells Fargo.

（操作員說明）Steven Cahall，富國銀行。

Thank you. So Mike, thanks for your comments this morning. It wasn't so long ago that TEGNA was under an agreement to be acquired, and then that deal fell apart due to the actions, really, of the FCC. It sure looks like we're going to get a much more favorable FCC, possibly starting early next year.

謝謝。麥克，感謝您今天早上的評論。不久前，TEGNA 簽訂了一項被收購協議，但後來該交易因 FCC 的行動而破裂。看起來我們肯定會得到更有利的 FCC，可能從明年初開始。

So how do you think about the opportunities here for TEGNA within that? And how does that affect how you kind of think about allocation of free cash flow between reducing leverage or just building cash on the balance sheet or stock for purchases, maybe knowing that there could be some more opportunities ahead?

那麼您如何看待 TEGNA 在這方面的機會？這對您如何考慮自由現金流的分配是如何減少槓桿或只是在資產負債表上累積現金或購買股票（也許知道未來可能會有更多機會）有何影響？

And then, Julie, the cost reduction really showed through in Q3. It seems like that, going ahead, you'll probably have lower costs in '25 just due to not having the political revenue in there. So as we think about maybe expense growth in the next year, is it logical to think about it being down year on year? But you also talked about some organic investments, so just trying to think about how we put that all together. Thank you.

然後，朱莉，成本降低在第三季度真正顯現出來。看起來，展望未來，你可能會在 25 年擁有更低的成本，因為那裡沒有政治收入。因此，當我們考慮明年的費用成長時，考慮年減是否合乎邏輯？但你也談到了一些有機投資，所以只是想一下我們如何將它們整合在一起。謝謝。

Thank you, Steve. I'm excited to be here and looking forward to working with you. I am certainly of the personal opinion that the regulatory regime needs to be reevaluated.

謝謝你，史蒂夫。我很高興來到這裡並期待與您合作。我個人當然認為監管制度需要重新評估。

If you look at any of our markets, Google makes 50 times the advertising revenue that any broadcaster does in our markets, and TikTok has a greater share of news viewing by young audiences than any single broadcaster and is owned by a foreign adversary. And yet today, we're not allowed to buy a Fox station in Waco, Texas. So I'm certainly hopeful that the regulators will be looking at what the right regulatory regime is to ensure a long and prosperous future for local broadcast and local news.

如果你看看我們的任何一個市場，你會發現谷歌的廣告收入是任何廣播公司在我們市場上的廣告收入的50 倍，而TikTok 的年輕觀眾新聞收視份額比任何單一廣播公司都高，而且由外國對手擁有。然而今天，我們不被允許購買德州韋科的福克斯電視台。因此，我當然希望監管機構能夠研究什麼是正確的監管制度，以確保地方廣播和地方新聞擁有長遠而繁榮的未來。

With that in mind, we certainly are big believers here, from the Board to the leadership team and down, that there are opportunities to unlock synergies and value for shareholders through combinations, in particular in the markets where we operate. Whether what unlocks the most value for our shareholders is for us to be an acquirer or a seller, either on a market-by-market basis or across the board, you don't know until you know prices. Our job is to be good capital allocators, and we're going to be really focused on making the right capital allocation decisions now and forever.

考慮到這一點，我們從董事會到領導團隊乃至下層都堅信，有機會透過合併為股東釋放協同效應和價值，特別是在我們經營所在的市場。為我們的股東釋放最大價值的是我們成為收購者還是賣方，無論是在逐個市場的基礎上還是全面的，在你了解價格之前你都不知道。我們的工作是成為優秀的資本配置者，我們將真正專注於從現在到永遠做出正確的資本配置決策。

So forgive me, it's a little bit of a non-answer. I think your instinct that we're going to be having a lot of these conversations is right. And you should know that we're going to want to be in a position to unlock value for shareholders in whatever way and with whatever opportunities present themselves.

所以請原諒我，這有點沒有答案。我認為你關於我們將進行大量此類對話的直覺是正確的。你應該知道，我們希望能夠以任何方式和任何機會為股東釋放價值。

And Julie, on expenses?

朱莉，費用呢？

Yeah. So on expenses, Steven, you're exactly right. We're really focusing on the cost takeout of our legacy businesses, the underlying trends, which you have seen successfully in the first three quarters here of 2024.

是的。所以關於費用，史蒂文，你是完全正確的。我們真正關注的是我們傳統業務的成本削減和潛在趨勢，您在 2024 年前三個季度已經成功地看到了這一點。

What is happening is we are preparing and working hard with the integration of Octillion and returning Premion to growth, which you'll see here in fourth quarter, as well as we've invested in programming with sports rights, which comes with that both top line and expense. So the growth rate that you're going to see in fourth quarter is probably something that will be more realistic going into 2025. But as of right now, we are not coming forward with any specific details on 2025 guidance.

正在發生的事情是，我們正在準備並努力整合 Octillion 並使 Premion 恢復增長，您將在第四季度看到這一點，並且我們已經投資了體育賽事轉播權的節目，這與頂級線路和費用。因此，到 2025 年，您將在第四季度看到的成長率可能會更加現實。但截至目前，我們尚未提供有關 2025 年指導的任何具體細節。

Thanks.

謝謝。

Dan Kurnos, The Benchmark Company.

Dan Kurnos，基準公司。

Great. Thanks. Good morning. Mike, appreciate your initial vision here. Glad to have you talking to all of us.

偉大的。謝謝。早安.麥克，很欣賞你最初的願景。很高興您能與我們大家交談。

Maybe just high level, any philosophical differences, I'm guessing, now between sort of you and the way things were or in your outlook and the way things were before, number one. Number two, you gave us a few pieces of things that you're looking at. I mean, a lot of it sounds expense-oriented. Is there any way to get more at least directional thoughts on breadth, like how aggressive or sizing of any of these things, these opportunities? Just you don't need to quantify specifically, but any kind of directional help there would be great.

我猜，也許只是高層次的，任何哲學上的差異，現在在你和事物本來的方式之間，或者在你的觀點和事物以前的方式之間，第一。第二，你給了我們一些你正在關注的東西。我的意思是，很多聽起來都是以費用為導向的。有沒有辦法獲得更多至少是關於廣度的方向性想法，例如這些事情、這些機會的動機或大小？只是您不需要具體量化，但任何類型的定向幫助都會很棒。

And then, Julie, you said Premion returning to growth in Q4. I assume that means it wasn't growing in Q3. How should we kind of view the acceleration trajectory there? Thanks.

然後，朱莉，您說 Premion 在第四季度恢復增長。我認為這意味著第三季沒有成長。我們該如何看待那裡的加速軌跡？謝謝。

On the first one -- Dan, thank you for the question -- I'm not sure I can give you a useful sort of philosophical comparison, but what I can tell you is the company has been through a lot over the last few years with a busted merger and a CEO transition. And so I think what is different and important is that there is a re-energization here and a real focus on execution.

關於第一個問題——丹，謝謝你提出的問題——我不確定我能為你提供有用的哲學比較，但我可以告訴你的是，公司在過去幾年裡經歷了很多事情合併失敗和執行長換屆。因此，我認為不同且重要的是，這裡有重新註入活力，並且真正專注於執行。

And what you heard in my rundown was certainly, in one part, we're talking about cost, but we're talking about just as importantly how do we put the absolute best product in front of our audience across platforms. And looking at talent, looking at our operating system, but also the nose-to-tail review of all of our processes and where we're leveraging software, automation, and AI is going to help us to create more and better content that better serves in our markets, helps us to win on the revenue side, helps us to win market share, but also ensures that we're not investing a dollar that we don't have to invest to put out the best product and to monetize it.

您在我的概述中聽到的肯定是，一方面，我們正在談論成本，但我們正在談論同樣重要的問題，即我們如何跨平台將絕對最好的產品呈現在我們的受眾面前。專注於人才，專注於我們的作業系統，也要對我們所有流程以及我們利用軟體、自動化和人工智慧的地方進行全面審查，這將幫助我們創造更多更好的內容，服務我們的市場，幫助我們贏得收入，幫助我們贏得市場份額，同時也確保我們不會投入不必要的資金來推出最好的產品並將其貨幣化。

And on the Premion question, Dan, I'll take that one. So Premion did have another tough quarter comp here in Q3. It continues to be the national trends of that business.

關於 Premion 問題，丹，我會接受這個問題。因此，Premion 在第三季確實有另一個艱難的季度表現。它仍然是該行業的全國趨勢。

In Q3, our overall advertising and marketing services, which you saw in the release, were up slightly. Core linear was actually positive, up low single digits. Premion is the area that brought that down. But we do foresee Premion returning to growth in Q4.

在第三季度，您在新聞稿中看到的我們的整體廣告和行銷服務略有上升。核心線性其實是正值，上漲了低個位數。Premion 是導致這種情況下降的領域。但我們確實預計 Premion 將在第四季度恢復成長。

And I want to remind you, Premion local has performed well continuously throughout the year. And third quarter, local Premion was up double digits. We continue to see that accelerate as we go into Q4.

我想提醒您的是，Premion local 全年表現持續良好。第三季度，當地 Premion 成長了兩位數。隨著進入第四季度，我們繼續看到這種加速。

Great. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.

偉大的。非常感謝。欣賞它。

Craig Huber, Huber Research.

克雷格·胡貝爾，胡貝爾研究中心。

Great. Thank you. Julie, just a follow-up there on Premion. Can you give us a sense of what you're looking for Premion in terms of growth in the fourth quarter year over year? Are you thinking like mid-single digits at this time or what?

偉大的。謝謝。Julie，只是 Premion 的後續行動。您能否向我們介紹一下您對 Premion 第四季年增率的期望？你現在的想法是中個位數還是什麼？

Yeah. So we're not going to guide to specific line items, Craig. Of our revenue, you saw total revenue plus 19% to 21% in Q4, driven mostly by political. AMS specifically is going to be challenged in fourth quarter because of the heavy political displacement. But Premion, as I just said, I'll just re-articulate, we do project that to return to growth in Q4, driven by local, which continues to grow double digits.

是的。因此，克雷格，我們不會指導特定的訂單項目。在我們的收入中，第四季度總收入增加了 19% 至 21%，這主要是由政治因素推動的。由於嚴重的政治流離失所，AMS 將在第四季度受到特別挑戰。但 Premion，正如我剛才所說，我將重新闡明，我們確實預計在第四季度將在本地市場的推動下恢復成長，本地市場繼續以兩位數成長。

And as you think out for next year on Premion, is there going to be any changes you're sensing out there? Are we going to end up having a better year next year, at least the first six months?

當您對明年的 Premion 進行規劃時，您是否感覺到會有任何變化？明年，至少是前六個月，我們會過得更好嗎？

We're not providing any guidance for 2025 at this time. We continue local Premion to have growth opportunities, and national continues to be challenged.

我們目前不提供 2025 年的任何指導。我們繼續在本地Premion 擁有成長機會，而全國繼續面臨挑戰。

Okay. Can you help me understand, if you will?

好的。如果你願意的話，你能幫助我理解嗎？

If I could add a quick -- let me just add a quick strategic note on that one because I'm sure you guys are also wondering how we think about Premion generally. Over the last decade, a lot of the television audience has moved to connected TV, and the advertisers that we serve in our markets have not had the same ability to reach that audience as they did in television.

如果我可以快速添加一點——讓我對此添加一個快速的策略說明，因為我相信你們也想知道我們對 Premion 的整體看法。在過去的十年中，許多電視觀眾已經轉向連網電視，而我們在市場中服務的廣告商沒有像在電視中那樣有能力接觸到這些觀眾。

The local sales teams and the relationships and the brands that we have in those markets sets us up really nicely to expand that business, especially with local advertisers, and better serve them by helping them to run their ads across linear and digital. So we think it's a real opportunity.

當地的銷售團隊以及我們在這些市場上擁有的關係和品牌使我們能夠很好地擴大業務，特別是與當地廣告商合作，並透過幫助他們在線上性和數位領域投放廣告來更好地為他們服務。所以我們認為這是一個真正的機會。

It is, in part, an execution story. We have to, in our markets, be exceptional at connecting our advertisers to audiences across platforms, even though historically we have been a company that sells those advertisers television. So it's going to have -- it was a component of the fourth point I touched on earlier. Thinking about the opportunity for growth in these digital channels through better execution is something that we've got a lot of excitement about.

從某種程度上來說，這是一個執行的故事。在我們的市場中，我們必須在跨平台將廣告商與受眾聯繫起來方面表現出色，儘管歷史上我們一直是一家向廣告商銷售電視的公司。所以它將會——這是我之前提到的第四點的組成部分。想到透過更好的執行來實現這些數位管道的成長機會，我們感到非常興奮。

And then, Mike, as a little separate note here, as you think about the company and what you've seen so far and the strategies that you're contemplating here and so forth, in terms of potentially doing digital acquisitions going forward here, I mean, the media landscape, as you know, is littered with underperforming digital acquisitions that have been done over the last 20 years and stuff. And it can be very, very risky and stuff. And some CEOs will come in and do one or two and make a mess of the company and stuff, occasionally will work and stuff.

然後，麥克，作為一個單獨的說明，當你思考公司和你迄今為止所看到的以及你在這裡考慮的策略等等時，就未來可能進行的數位收購而言，我的意思是，正如你所知，媒體領域充斥著過去20 年表現不佳的數位收購之類的事情。這可能非常非常危險。有些執行長會進來做一兩件事，把公司搞得一團糟，偶爾也會工作什麼的。

What is your appetite for digital acquisitions at TEGNA? Do you feel like you need to really totally try to revamp this company to some degree in a different direction? Or are you pretty contented status quo for a while?

您對 TEGNA 的數位收購有何興趣？您是否覺得需要真正完全嘗試在某種程度上朝不同的方向改造這家公司？或者你對目前的現狀相當滿意嗎？

I'll answer vaguely and then try to answer specifically. So vaguely, if you would, I started in media a bunch of years ago in corporate development at NBC, which then became NBCUniversal. And I saw, through my time there, two different kinds of acquisitions. One kind of acquisition brought cost savings and revenue synergies and unlocked real value. And the other always inevitably was referred to as a strategic acquisition. And it didn't unlock revenue or costs, but it made the acquirer feel like they had gotten some kind of a capability or opportunity in a space that they didn't fully understand.

我會模糊地回答，然後嘗試具體地回答。如果你願意的話，我可以隱晦地講，幾年前我在 NBC 的企業發展部門開始從事媒體工作，後來成為 NBCUniversal。在那段時間裡，我看到了兩種不同類型的收購。一種收購帶來了成本節約和收入協同效應，並釋放了真正的價值。而另一個總是不可避免地被稱為策略性收購。它並沒有釋放收入或成本，但它讓收購者感覺他們在他們不完全理解的領域中獲得了某種能力或機會。

A lot of media companies did those acquisitions at that time. We can hearken back to iVillage and MySpace and some others, and everyone lost their shirts. I have seen real success through my career with acquisitions in the first camp, where when you put two assets together, it unlocks cost savings or it brings revenue synergy. If we are to see acquisitions that we get excited about, it would be for that reason.

當時很多媒體公司都進行了這些收購。我們可以回顧一下 iVillage 和 MySpace 以及其他一些公司，每個人都失去了襯衫。在我的職業生涯中，我在第一陣營的收購中看到了真正的成功，當你將兩種資產放在一起時，它可以節省成本或帶來收入協同效應。如果我們看到令我們興奮的收購，那就是這個原因。

There are probably not in your mind a lot of digital acquisitions that meet that description. So I can't get all the way to an answer for you. I'm only in my first quarter here, and we'll be getting a better sense over the coming months as to the opportunities on this landscape. But we are old-fashioned in the way that we think about M&A. You're supposed to put two assets together, and as a result, more cash flow comes out and well, well pays for both the acquisition takeover premium that you have to pay, as well as the execution risk.

您的腦海中可能沒有很多符合這種描述的數位收購。所以我無法為你找到完整的答案。我剛在這裡工作的第一季度，在接下來的幾個月裡，我們將對這一領域的機會有更好的認識。但我們對於併購的思考方式卻很老派。你應該將兩種資產放在一起，結果會產生更多的現金流，並且很好地支付你必須支付的收購收購溢價以及執行風險。

Okay. A final question, if I could ask Julie or Mike, your TV advertising pacings post the election, how are they looking on a year-over-year basis? Is the trend any better here on a year-over-year basis post the election? The best you can tell, the bookings you have so far.

好的。最後一個問題，如果我可以問茱莉或麥克，選舉後你們的電視廣告節奏與去年同期相比如何？選舉後，年比趨勢是否有所改善？您能透露的最好資訊是您迄今為止的預訂。

Yeah. Craig, I'll take that one. So what we have seen, as you know, throughout 2024 is mixed economic signals. There are signs of resiliency, and there's also signs of challenge, where advertisers and consumers seem to have been very cautious with their spending, what you saw in Q2. Obviously, Q3, that continued, but also had political displacement, and then Q4, we see that same pattern. So fourth quarter will be hindered with the political displacement, specifically in October, November.

是的。克雷格，我想要那個。如您所知，我們在 2024 年看到的經濟訊號好壞參半。有彈性的跡象，也有挑戰的跡象，廣告商和消費者似乎對他們的支出非常謹慎，正如你在第二季度看到的那樣。顯然，第三季度，這種情況仍在繼續，但也出現了政治位移，然後第四季度，我們看到了相同的模式。因此，第四季將因政治流離失所而受到阻礙，特別是在 10 月、11 月。

To your point, December looks better. It is sequentially better than both October and November, but it's still sluggish and challenged, and I would say similar to what you've seen in Q2. Q3 is really dirty because of Olympics and political displacement. But if you go back and kind of look at what we saw April, May, June, kind of Q2, it's in that same similar range.

就你而言，十二月看起來更好。它連續好於 10 月和 11 月，但仍然低迷且充滿挑戰，我想說與您在第二季度看到的情況類似。由於奧運和政治位移，第三季確實很髒。但如果你回顧我們在四月、五月、六月以及第二季度看到的情況，你會發現它處於同樣相似的範圍內。

Great. Thank you both.

偉大的。謝謝你們倆。

(Operator Instructions) Patrick Sholl, Barrington Research.

（操作說明）Patrick Sholl，Barrington Research。

Hi. Thank you. I was wondering if you could talk a little bit on political and how maybe the share has shifted between broadcast and Premion and if any of the political and Premion is kind of contributing to the rebound and growth in Q4, or if it is all just -- if it's non-political that you're talking about.

你好。謝謝。我想知道您是否可以談談政治問題，以及廣播和 Premion 之間的份額如何發生變化，以及政治和 Premion 是否對第四季度的反彈和增長做出了貢獻，或者這一切都只是 - - 如果你談論的是非政治的。

I'll take that, Patrick. Hi. So from political advertising, I think it is still clear that broadcast wins the day and takes the majority share of overall political spending nationwide. Yes, there's a shift to digital in political, and yes, CTV is a beneficiary of that shift of US political spending.

我會接受的，派崔克。你好。因此，從政治廣告來看，我認為很明顯廣播贏得了勝利，並佔據了全國整體政治支出的大部分份額。是的，政治領域正在數位化轉變，CTV 是美國政治支出這一轉變的受益者。

From a Premion perspective, Premion is able to take some of those national political dollars, but most of those are spent on a programmatic side of the equation, which is not the product that Premion is focused on. So yes, Premion has got some political. I would not call it a material number. Our political is very heavy on the TV linear side.

從 Premion 的角度來看，Premion 能夠獲得一些國家政治資金，但其中大部分都花在了程序方面，這不是 Premion 重點關注的產品。所以，是的，Premion 有一些政治因素。我不會稱之為材料編號。我們的政治在電視線性方面非常重要。

With that said, I can say that Q4 Premion's growth is not isolated just to political. But we do see non-political Premion returning to growth in Q4, driven again by local.

話雖如此，我可以說 Premion 第四季的成長不僅與政治有關。但我們確實看到非政治 Premion 在第四季度恢復成長，再次受到當地的推動。

Okay. Thank you.

好的。謝謝。

David Karnovsky, JPMorgan.

大衛卡諾夫斯基，摩根大通。

Hi. Thank you. Maybe to press on the regulatory piece, I just wanted to see if you could expand on what you think is possible in terms of easing rules for either in-market or the ownership cap. Do you think the FCC has room to maneuver independently? Or will kind of substantial changes require congressional action?

你好。謝謝。也許為了強調監管方面的問題，我只是想看看你是否可以在放寬市場或所有權上限規則方面擴展你認為可能的內容。您認為FCC還有獨立操作的空間嗎？或者某種實質的改變需要國會採取行動嗎？

And then, as a second question, Michael, I want to see if you can expand on local sports, especially if more team deals might come available. Can you say anything about how the deals are kind of structured at a high level? Are you aiming to be profitable on ads alone? Or should we look at the games kind of more broadly in terms of their benefit to adjacencies or even retrans? Thank you.

然後，作為第二個問題，邁克爾，我想看看你是否可以擴大當地運動的範圍，特別是如果可能有更多的團隊交易。您能談談這些交易的高層結構嗎？您的目標是僅靠廣告獲利嗎？或者我們應該從更廣泛的角度來看待這些遊戲對鄰近甚至重傳的好處？謝謝。

Hey, David. Our view is that the FCC has the opportunity to drive change here in the duopoly rules and the national cap and the UHF discount. But in fairness, I wasn't hired because I'm the world's leading expert on this. I think among the folks on this call, you all will form sort of more informed opinions on that.

嘿，大衛。我們的觀點是，聯邦通訊委員會有機會推動雙頭壟斷規則、國家上限和超高頻折扣的變革。但公平地說，我沒有被聘用，因為我是這方面的世界領先專家。我認為參加這次電話會議的人都會對此形成更明智的意見。

Secondly, on the question of sports, we love that these sports rights have become available to us. I mean, as you all know, the RSNs have not been able to deliver the economics and increasingly the reach. And with these teams, there are two things that really matter to them. One, they want the rights dollars coming in the door. But secondly, they need to reach as large an audience as possible to also drive ticket sales and jersey sales for many years to come.

其次，關於體育問題，我們很高興我們能夠獲得這些體育權利。我的意思是，正如你們都知道的那樣，RSN 未能實現經濟效益並擴大影響範圍。對這些團隊來說，有兩件事對他們來說真正重要。第一，他們希望版權資金進來。但其次，他們需要吸引盡可能多的觀眾，以推動未來許多年的門票銷售和球衣銷售。

And so broadcast seems to be emerging and re-emerging, if you would, as an important component of these local sports rights. We like these opportunities because keeping your engagement with the audience, live content is perfectly suited for linear television. It also will open the doors to a lot more advertiser accounts.

因此，如果你願意的話，廣播似乎正在不斷出現並重新出現，作為這些當地體育版權的重要組成部分。我們喜歡這些機會，因為直播內容非常適合線性電視，可以保持與觀眾的互動。它還將為更多廣告商帳戶打開大門。

All that said, I think embedded in your question is, do you run out and do a bunch of rights deals that lose money, hoping you'll make it up in some other way? I'd sort of refer back to the framework I gave on M&A. Anything we do in the company is an investment whose job is to deliver cash flow returns -- and cash flow returns that clear our shareholders and our company's cost of capital. So when we look at these rights, we are looking at ways to get these sports rights to make money.

綜上所述，我認為你的問題的核心是，你是否耗盡精力並進行了一系列虧損的版權交易，希望你能以其他方式彌補？我想回顧我給的關於併購的框架。我們在公司所做的任何事情都是一項投資，其作用是提供現金流回報，而現金流回報可以消除我們的股東和公司的資本成本。因此，當我們審視這些權利時，我們正在尋找透過這些體育權利賺錢的方法。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. And this does conclude today's Q&A session. I would like to now turn the call back to Mike for closing remarks. Please go ahead.

謝謝。今天的問答環節到此結束。我現在想把電話轉回給麥克，讓他發表結束語。請繼續。

Well, thanks, everyone, for the questions, for your support of the company. And I can't tell you how excited I am to be here working with this fantastic team, this important mission, and with this very special collection of assets. So talk to you all.

好的，謝謝大家提出的問題，也謝謝大家對公司的支持。我無法告訴你，能夠與這個出色的團隊、這項重要的使命以及這些非常特殊的資產一起工作，我感到多麼興奮。所以跟大家聊聊。

And folks who have questions, we'll talk to you today. And we'll be back here next quarter and look forward to working together. Thanks, everybody.

對於有疑問的朋友，我們今天將與您交談。我們將在下個季度回到這裡，期待共同合作。謝謝大家。

Thank you for participating in today's conference call. You may now disconnect.

感謝您參加今天的電話會議。您現在可以斷開連線。