Tegna Inc (TGNA) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Q2 2025 TEGNA Inc. earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

您好，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 2025 年第二季 TEGNA Inc. 收益電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄音。

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

現在我想將會議交給今天的第一位發言者柯克·馮·西倫 (Kirk von Seelen)。請繼續。

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to our second-quarter conference call and webcast. My name is Kirk von Seelen, and I am TEGNA's Treasurer. Today, our CEO, Mike Steib; and our CFO, Julie Heskett, will review TEGNA's financial performance and results and provide TEGNA's third-quarter outlook. After that, we'll open the call for questions. 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.

謝謝。早安，歡迎參加我們的第二季電話會議和網路廣播。我叫 Kirk von Seelen，是 TEGNA 的財務主管。今天，我們的執行長 Mike Steib 和財務長 Julie Heskett 將回顧 TEGNA 的財務表現和結果，並提供 TEGNA 第三季度的展望。之後，我們將開始提問。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 上查看。

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. 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.

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有所不同。我們在提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件中概述了可能導致它們出現差異的因素。本報告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 指標的對帳。

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

說完這些，讓我把電話轉給麥克。

Thanks, Kirk. Good morning, everybody. Thank you for joining us. Coming up on a year as CEO here, I'm more confident than ever in what sets TEGNA apart. Our strong local brands, high-quality local journalism, loyal audiences, deep roots with advertisers, healthy balance sheet, and a terrific team puts us in a position of strength in this evolving moment for the broadcasting industry.

謝謝，柯克。大家早安。感謝您加入我們。在擔任執行長的一年裡，我比以往任何時候都更相信 TEGNA 的與眾不同之處。我們強大的本地品牌、高品質的本地新聞、忠實的觀眾、與廣告商的深厚根基、健康的資產負債表以及優秀的團隊，使我們在廣播行業不斷發展的今天佔據優勢地位。

On the regulatory front, there seems to be positive progress for the local broadcasters who are working tirelessly for the public interest. Chairman Carr now has his majority and appears to be advancing a clear and encouraging agenda to allow broadcasters more scale in local markets and across the US.

在監管方面，為公眾利益不懈努力的當地廣播公司似乎取得了積極進展。卡爾主席目前已獲得多數席位，並似乎正在推進一項明確且令人鼓舞的議程，以允許廣播公司在當地市場和美國各地擴大規模。

Importantly, the Eighth US Circuit Court of Appeals recently handed down a decision to vacate the previous FCC's top four prohibition rule, reasoning that the rule is arbitrary and capricious. The ruling will not take effect for a 90-day period while the FCC assesses whether vacating the rule would be unduly disruptive and/or clear deficiencies found by the court.

重要的是，美國第八巡迴上訴法院最近作出裁決，撤銷先前聯邦通信委員會的四大禁令，理由是該規則武斷且反复無常。該裁決將在 90 天內生效，在此期間，FCC 將評估撤銷該規則是否會造成過度破壞和/或是否存在法院發現的明顯缺陷。

However, given Chairman Carr's well-established views on this topic, we believe the ruling will likely take effect following this 90-day period. Of note, the court specifically held at the quadrennial review statute does not provide the FCC authority to tighten existing ownership rules. These developments are a significant step forward for our industry and for TEGNA's wide range of options in this evolving landscape.

然而，鑑於卡爾主席在此問題上的既定觀點，我們認為該裁決很可能會在 90 天後生效。值得注意的是，法院在四年一次的審查法規中明確指出，FCC 沒有權力收緊現有的所有權規則。這些發展對於我們的行業以及 TEGNA 在不斷變化的環境中的廣泛選擇都是重大的進步。

While we track these regulatory developments closely, we're staying focused on the work at hand, elevating TEGNA across our key priorities: number one, building a world-class team culture and company operating system that unlocks high-impact execution; number two, leveraging TEGNA's strengths across our stations to improve performance; number three, fully deploying technology, automation, and AI to supercharge our people and running more effective operations; number four, growing digital revenue by deepening engagement with our digital audience; and number five, cutting unnecessary spend in bureaucracy, ensuring time and resources are maximally focused on growing audience and growing revenue.

在密切關注這些監管發展的同時，我們仍將專注於手頭上的工作，提升 TEGNA 在我們關鍵優先事項中的地位：第一，建立世界一流的團隊文化和公司運營系統，以實現高影響力的執行；第二，利用 TEGNA在我們各個站點的優勢來提高性能；第三，全面部署技術、自動化和人工智慧，為我們的員工提供動力，並更有效地開展運營；第四，透過深化與數位受眾的互動來增加數位收入；第五，削減不必要的官僚開支，確保時間和資源最大限度地集中在增加受眾和增加收入上。

We're scaling with purpose and discipline in doing it fast as part of building a world-class team. We've named five new regional heads of content reporting to Adrienne Roark. They'll lead content strategy across the country, building centers of excellence and further strengthening TEGNA's award-winning journalism. We're delivering on our commitment to innovate and invest in our local newsrooms.

作為打造世界一流團隊的一部分，我們正在有目的、有紀律地快速擴張。我們已任命五位新的區域內容主管，向 Adrienne Roark 匯報工作。他們將領導全國的內容策略，建立卓越中心並進一步加強 TEGNA 屢獲殊榮的新聞事業。我們正在履行對當地新聞編輯室進行創新和投資的承諾。

We're doubling down in the areas that drive our future, local content and digital. Just last month, we announced a major local news expansion, adding dedicated 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM streaming programming in over 50 markets. That's more than 100 new hours of local news every single day, giving people more of the critical local news and information they need to thrive in their communities.

我們正在加倍努力推動我們的未來發展，即本地內容和數位化。就在上個月，我們宣布了一項重大的本地新聞擴展計劃，在 50 多個市場增加了早上 7:00 至 9:00 的專用串流節目。這意味著每天有超過 100 小時的全新本地新聞，為人們提供更多他們在社區中生存所需的重要本地新聞和資訊。

To support this shift, we're using automation and proprietary AI to boost productivity and speed, giving our journalists more time to do what matters most. By automating routine work, sharing resources, simplifying layers and bureaucracy, we freed up more time in dollars to invest in content. The result is better journalism, faster and at lower cost. It is a win-win, and it works in every market.

為了支持這一轉變，我們正在使用自動化和專有人工智慧來提高生產力和速度，讓我們的記者有更多時間去做最重要的事情。透過自動化日常工作、分享資源、簡化層級和官僚機構，我們節省了更多的時間和金錢來投資內容。結果是新聞報道品質更好、速度更快、成本更低。這是一個雙贏的結果，並且在每個市場都有效。

We're still early in this game, but CTV streaming is a $30 billion market growing quickly, and we are building the muscle to lead in it by overhauling our sales process, reorienting our focus towards the digital opportunity. The big picture is local wins. Catastrophic events such as the recent flooding in Texas highlight the power of local news. There is closer focus on local impact, helping communities rebuild, bringing people together, and helping fund raising for local communities.

我們仍處於這場遊戲的早期階段，但 CTV 串流媒體是一個價值 300 億美元的快速成長的市場，我們正在透過徹底改革我們的銷售流程、將我們的重點重新轉向數位機會來增強領先優勢。整體來看，本地勝利。德州最近發生的洪水等災難性事件凸顯了地方新聞的力量。我們更加關注對當地的影響，幫助社區重建，團結人們，並幫助當地社區籌集資金。

There's massive opportunity in local news and community storytelling, and we are built to meet that need. Across platforms, we reach more than 100 million people. That reach is transforming how we create, distribute, and monetize content and how we run the business behind it. We have the historical assets and the team to seize the opportunity and lead in local, digital content.

地方新聞和社區故事中蘊藏著巨大的機遇，我們就是為滿足這項需求而成立的。透過各個平台，我們覆蓋了超過 1 億人。這種影響力正在改變我們創作、分發和貨幣化內容的方式，以及我們經營內容背後的業務的方式。我們擁有歷史資產和團隊來抓住機會並引領本地數位內容。

Before we wrap, I want to take a moment to recognize our Chief Operating Officer, Lynn Beall, who'll be departing at the end of this month after more than 35 years in the industry. It's hard to capture a career like Lynn's in a few sentences. Her leadership across broadcasting has been nothing short of extraordinary. Most recently, she was honored with the 2025 Radio and Television Business Report Lifetime Leadership Award, a fitting tribute to someone who has helped shape the industry.

在結束之前，我想花點時間認識我們的營運長 Lynn Beall，她在該行業工作了 35 多年，並將於本月底離職。很難用幾句話來概括林恩的職業生涯。她在廣播領域的領導能力非常卓越。最近，她榮獲了《2025 年廣播電視商業報告終身領導獎》，這是對一位幫助塑造該行業的人的恰當致敬。

Lynn, your impact on TEGNA and the broader industry is significant and lasting. You've been integral to supporting me over the past year and helping us craft a growth strategy that is already bearing fruit. We're grateful, and we wish you the very best in your retirement. As we approach the end of my first year, I want to thank the team for their extraordinary efforts to transform the way we operate at TEGNA. Talented and motivated people with an important mission, super powered by technology, can achieve amazing things. And I'm excited for what's ahead.

林恩，你對 TEGNA 和整個產業的影響是重大且持久的。在過去的一年裡，你們給了我不可或缺的支持，並幫助我們制定了已經有成果的成長策略。我們非常感激，並祝福您退休後一切順利。在我任職第一年即將結束之際，我要感謝團隊為改變 TEGNA 的運作方式所做的非凡努力。肩負重要使命、才華洋溢、積極進取的人，在科技的強大推動下，可以取得驚人的成就。我對未來充滿期待。

With that, I'll turn it over to Julie for a closer look at our financial performance and third-quarter guidance.

說完這些，我將把注意力交給朱莉，讓她仔細看看我們的財務表現和第三季的指引。

Thank you, Mike. And good morning, everyone. Our second-quarter financial results exceeded our expectations, primarily driven by lower operating expenses, which came in better than our previously announced guidance range. We had anticipated advertising softness to persist during the second quarter.

謝謝你，麥克。大家早安。我們第二季的財務表現超出了我們的預期，主要原因是營運費用降低，比我們先前宣布的指導範圍好。我們預計第二季廣告業的疲軟態勢將持續下去。

As a result, our teams continue to take a proactive approach to advancing our broad transformation agenda which is generating top-line growth from various revenue streams. I am thankful to all of our employees for their ongoing focus and execution as we work to build a more sustainable and growth-oriented future at TEGNA.

因此，我們的團隊繼續採取積極主動的方式來推進我們廣泛的轉型議程，從而透過各種收入來源實現營收成長。我感謝所有員工的持續關注和執行，我們致力於在 TEGNA 中打造更永續且以成長為導向的未來。

I will begin today by covering our second-quarter financial results, then provide an update on our operational initiatives and capital allocation priorities before closing with a review of our guidance. Total company revenue for the second quarter decreased 5% year over year to $675 million, in line with our outlook range of down 4% to 7%. The decrease was primarily due to lower political advertising revenue, which is consistent with cyclical even-to-odd year comparisons and softer advertising and marketing services, which was expected going into the quarter.

今天我將首先介紹我們的第二季財務業績，然後介紹我們的營運計劃和資本配置重點，最後回顧我們的指導方針。第二季公司總營收年減 5% 至 6.75 億美元，符合我們預期的下降 4% 至 7% 的範圍。下降的主要原因是政治廣告收入下降，這與週期性的雙數年與單數年的比較一致，以及預計本季廣告和行銷服務將出現疲軟。

AMS revenue declined 4% year over year to $288 million in the second quarter, reflecting ongoing macroeconomic headwinds amid economic uncertainty and softening consumer confidence. Some advertisers remained cautious and delayed spending, contributing to weaker AMS performance within the quarter.

AMS 第二季營收年減 4% 至 2.88 億美元，反映出在經濟不確定性和消費者信心減弱的情況下持續存在的宏觀經濟逆風。一些廣告商仍保持謹慎並推遲支出，導致本季度 AMS 業績疲軟。

As disclosed in our 10-Q filing, Gray Media, a reseller partner of Premion, exited its equity position and shifted to a non-exclusive advertising agreement. This change is reducing Premion-related revenue and therefore negatively impacting year-over-year AMS comparisons by approximately 200 basis points, which began in the second quarter and will continue for the next three quarters. Excluding this impact, underlying AMS revenue declined 2% year over year in the quarter.

正如我們在 10-Q 文件中所揭露的那樣，Premion 的經銷商合作夥伴 Gray Media 退出了其股權地位並轉向非獨家廣告協議。這項變更減少了 Premion 的相關收入，因此對 AMS 年比產生了約 200 個基點的負面影響，這種影響從第二季開始並將持續在接下來的三個季度。除此影響外，本季 AMS 基礎營收年減 2%。

Despite near-term market pressures, we are encouraged by the continued growth of our owned and operated digital products, which delivered strong double-digit growth year over year for the third consecutive quarter. We remain focused on accelerating digital initiatives where we have a clear competitive advantage. As Mike discussed earlier, our digital strategy remains on track with our underlying business performing in line with expectations, and we believe the long-term growth opportunity ahead is substantial.

儘管近期市場面臨壓力，但我們對自己擁有和經營的數位產品的持續成長感到鼓舞，連續第三個季度實現了強勁的兩位數成長。我們將繼續專注於加速我們具有明顯競爭優勢的數位化舉措。正如麥克之前所討論的，我們的數位策略仍在按計劃進行，我們的基礎業務表現符合預期，我們相信未來的長期成長機會巨大。

Moving to distribution, distribution revenue in the second quarter was flat year over year at $370 million due to subscriber declines, partially offset by contractual rate increases. In terms of the distribution renewal cycle, approximately 35% of traditional subscribers are up for renewal at the end of this year. This comes after successfully renewing roughly 10% of our traditional MVPD subscribers at the end of the first quarter.

談到分銷，第二季分銷收入與去年同期持平，為 3.7 億美元，原因是訂戶減少，但被合約費率上漲部分抵消。從發行續約週期來看，今年底約有35%的傳統訂戶需要續約。在此之前，我們在第一季末成功續約了約 10% 的傳統 MVPD 用戶。

In 2026, we have approximately 30% of traditional subscribers up for renewal at year end. During the quarter, we reached a comprehensive multi-year agreement with FOX Corporation that renews station affiliations for six of our markets. These FOX markets cover approximately 7% of our TEGNA household, which is our smallest affiliate portfolio.

到 2026 年，我們將有大約 30% 的傳統訂戶在年底續訂。本季度，我們與福克斯公司達成了一項全面的多年期協議，續簽了我們六個市場的電台合作關係。這些 FOX 市場涵蓋了我們 TEGNA 家庭的約 7%，這是我們最小的附屬投資組合。

Moving on to cost-cutting initiatives, we continue to drive significant improvements to our cost structure. As we have highlighted in recent calls, we're aggressively deploying technology to run our stations more effectively and cutting all unnecessary spending. It's important to note these improvements focus on our core operations, allowing us to streamline processes while maintaining our high standards of execution. This enables us to provide higher-quality journalism at faster speeds and lower cost.

在削減成本措施方面，我們持續推動成本結構的重大改善。正如我們在最近的電話會議中所強調的那樣，我們正在積極部署技術，以更有效地運作我們的站點並削減所有不必要的開支。值得注意的是，這些改進集中於我們的核心業務，使我們能夠簡化流程，同時保持高執行標準。這使我們能夠以更快的速度和更低的成本提供更高品質的新聞報導。

Second quarter non-GAAP expenses finished down 3% year over year due to these operational cost-cutting initiatives primarily seen in compensation and outside services, partially offset by an increase in programming expenses driven by local sports rights. All other expenses outside of programming finished down 6% below last year, continuing the sequential improvement of structural cost reduction efforts.

第二季度非公認會計準則支出較去年同期下降 3%，原因是這些主要體現在薪資和外部服務方面的營運成本削減舉措，但被當地體育轉播權推動的節目費用增加部分抵消。除節目製作外的所有其他費用較去年同期下降了 6%，延續了結構性成本削減措施的連續改善。

We remain on track to achieve our goal of generating $90 million to $100 million in annualized core non-programming savings as we exit 2025. At the end of the second quarter, we've achieved 80% of our target. Our cost reduction program is more than just a target. It's a disciplined zero-waste, zero-based budgeting approach. We are scrutinizing every dollar we spend to ensure resources are aligned with our strategic priorities. We are reinvesting savings back into the business, but only into opportunities that, a, enhance the quality and reach of our content; or b, drive sustainable revenue growth.

我們仍有望實現在 2025 年實現年度核心非編程節省 9,000 萬至 1 億美元的目標。截至第二季末，我們已經實現了80%的目標。我們的成本削減計劃不僅僅是一個目標。這是一種嚴謹的零浪費、零基預算方法。我們仔細審查所花的每一美元，以確保資源與我們的策略重點一致。我們將把節省下來的資金重新投資於業務，但只投資於以下機會：a、提高內容的品質和覆蓋面；或b、推動可持續的收入成長。

As a result, our total adjusted EBITDA in the second quarter decreased 14% year over year to $151 million based on the previously discussed declines of high-margin political and AMS revenues partially offset by continued cost-cutting initiatives I just spoke about. Turning to capital allocation, we remain committed to returning 40% to 60% of our adjusted free cash flow to shareholders over the two-year period of 2024 and 2025. We paid $20 million in dividends to our shareholders in the second quarter.

因此，由於先前討論過的高利潤政治和 AMS 收入的下降，我們第二季度的調整後 EBITDA 總額同比下降 14% 至 1.51 億美元，但被我剛才提到的持續削減成本舉措部分抵消。談到資本配置，我們仍然致力於在 2024 年和 2025 年兩年內將 40% 至 60% 的調整後自由現金流返還給股東。我們在第二季向股東支付了 2000 萬美元的股息。

On July 2, we called $250 million par value of TEGNA's outstanding $550 million senior notes due in March of 2026 and a partial redemption with cash on hand, which leaves $300 million in par value outstanding. Cash and cash equivalents totaled $757 million at quarter end, and our net leverage finished at 2.8 times. We continue to take a disciplined approach to capital deployment to ensure we are investing for growth in all avenues we believe will create the most value for shareholders.

7 月 2 日，我們要求贖回 TEGNA 於 2026 年 3 月到期的 5.5 億美元未償還優先票據中的 2.5 億美元票面價值，並使用現金部分贖回，因此未償還票面價值為 3 億美元。季末現金和現金等價物總額為 7.57 億美元，淨槓桿率為 2.8 倍。我們將繼續採取嚴謹的資本配置方式，以確保我們在所有我們認為能夠為股東創造最大價值的管道上進行成長投資。

Now let's turn to our financial guidance elements. As we noted in our press release this morning, we are reaffirming our adjusted free cash flow guidance of $900 million to $1.1 billion over the combined two-year 2024-2025 period. You can see all of our full year guidance metrics in our earnings release. We are lowering our full-year 2025 interest expense guidance range to $160 million to $165 million, reflecting the $250 million par value partial redemption of our senior notes due in March that I just mentioned.

現在讓我們來談談財務指導要素。正如我們在今天早上的新聞稿中指出的那樣，我們重申在 2024-2025 年兩年期間調整後的自由現金流指引，即 9 億美元至 11 億美元。您可以在我們的收益報告中看到我們所有的全年指導指標。我們將 2025 年全年利息支出預期範圍下調至 1.6 億美元至 1.65 億美元，這反映了我剛才提到的 3 月份到期的 2.5 億美元面值優先票據的部分贖回。

Our financial guidance for the third quarter is as follows: we expect total company revenue to decline 18% to 20% year over year, in line with expectations, given the cyclical nature of our business, specifically the shift from an even year with significant political and Summer Olympic advertising to an odd year without those revenue drivers. We expect non-GAAP operating expenses to decline 2% to 3% year over year.

我們對第三季的財務指導如下：我們預計公司總收入將同比下降 18% 至 20%，這符合預期，因為我們的業務具有周期性，特別是從有大量政治和夏季奧運會廣告的偶數年轉變為沒有這些收入驅動因素的奇數年。我們預計非公認會計準則營運費用將年減 2% 至 3%。

Before I close, I want to take a moment to recognize an extraordinary leader, our Chief Operating Officer, Lynn Beall. As Mike already said, she is retiring at the end of the month. I have seen firsthand the commanding and lasting impact she has had, not just here at TEGNA, where she spent more than 35 years shaping our culture, operations, and success, but also across the entire industry. Her leadership, strategic vision, and countless contributions have elevated the standard for excellence in local media.

在結束之前，我想花點時間來認識一位傑出的領導者，我們的營運長 Lynn Beall。正如麥克所說，她將在月底退休。我親眼目睹了她所產生的巨大而持久的影響，不僅僅是在 TEGNA（她在這裡花了 35 年多的時間塑造我們的文化、運營和成功），而且影響了整個行業。她的領導能力、策略眼光和無數貢獻提升了當地媒體的卓越標準。

On a personal note, Lynn is the person who hired me into this industry and has been a tremendous mentor and coach for more than two decades. I am deeply grateful for her guidance, friendship, and unwavering commitment to developing those around her. On behalf of all of us at TEGNA, thank you, Lynn. We wish you the very best in your well-earned retirement.

就我個人而言，Lynn 僱用我進入這個行業，並且二十多年來一直是一位出色的導師和教練。我深深感謝她的指導、友誼以及對周遭人們發展的堅定承諾。我代表 TEGNA 全體人員向你表示感謝，Lynn。我們祝福您退休後一切順利。

In closing, our strong brands, robust local presence, a growing digital focused workforce, and industry-leading balance sheet position us well to invest in internal growth opportunities and those that arise from potential deregulation. We continue to generate results in line with expectations while investing for the future in local journalism, local content, digital development, and in our people.

最後，我們強大的品牌、強大的本地影響力、不斷增長的數位化員工隊伍以及行業領先的資產負債表，使我們能夠很好地投資於內部成長機會以及潛在的放鬆管制所帶來的機會。我們持續取得符合預期的成果，同時對本地新聞、本地內容、數位化發展和人才進行未來投資。

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

接線員，現在讓我們開始提問吧。

(Operator Instructions) Dan Kurnos, the Benchmark Company.

（操作員指示） Dan Kurnos，Benchmark 公司。

Yes, thanks. Good morning. Appreciate the color as always, guys. Mike, I guess, two. I know you did NBC last year. But obviously, they've come under some more scrutiny from Chairman Carr. And given how much they're continuing to shift exclusively on to Peacock, I just wonder if you think that anything might evolve in terms of the structure of that deal or if you're just simply locked in because of the deal that you did last year?

是的，謝謝。早安.大家一如既往地欣賞這種顏色。麥克，我想，兩個。我知道你去年在 NBC 工作過。但顯然，他們受到了卡爾主席的更多審查。考慮到他們繼續將重點轉向 Peacock，我只是想知道您是否認為該交易的結構可能會發生任何變化，或者您是否僅僅因為去年達成的交易而被鎖定？

And then secondarily, I know that you have a lot of wood to chop, and you've done a great job kind of reorganizing the business towards internal growth initiatives. I'm just kind of curious where you're headed at in terms of a sense of urgency from an M&A perspective, especially since you've got both in-market and out-of-market opportunities. You don't have quite the same duopoly portfolio that others have, and so it kind of broadens the spectrum for how you can attack the M&A landscape. So I'll just stick with those two because that's probably already a mouthful.

其次，我知道您有很多事情要做，而且您在重組業務以實現內部成長計劃方面做得很好。我只是有點好奇，從併購的角度來看，您的緊迫感如何，特別是因為您同時擁有市場內和市場外的機會。你並不擁有與其他人完全相同的雙頭壟斷投資組合，因此它拓寬了你進軍併購領域的範圍。所以我只會堅持這兩個，因為這可能已經夠拗口了。

Thank you, Dan. So I'll start with NBC. First, it's important to say that the network affiliate relationship is important and it is symbiotic, and we value our network partners. And we approach those partnerships with a constructive mindset, in particular around the preservation of the linear bundle, which has served this industry so well for such a long time.

謝謝你，丹。我先從 NBC 開始。首先，必須要說的是，網路聯盟關係很重要，而且是共生的，我們重視我們的網路合作夥伴。我們以建設性的心態對待這些合作關係，特別是圍繞線性捆綁的維護，這種捆綁長期以來一直為這個行業提供良好的服務。

I'm also grateful that Chairman Carr is so focused on the good work that local broadcasters (technical difficulty) communities and is looking to continue to help us uphold public interest to those communities. Beyond that, there's nothing to comment on in our network relationships. You saw that we had a constructive engagement with FOX this quarter, and you should expect to see us to continue to work collaboratively with our network partners.

我也很感激卡爾主席如此關注當地廣播公司（技術難度）社區的良好工作，並希望繼續幫助我們維護這些社區的公共利益。除此之外，我們的網路關係就沒什麼好評論的了。您看到我們本季與 FOX 進行了建設性的合作，您應該期待看到我們繼續與我們的網路合作夥伴合作。

Your second question -- and specifically, you asked how much urgency we feel. Forgive me for being repetitive, but I'll come back to it. First, we believe that deregulation is necessary, important, and coming. Our industry is up against big tech competitors who have absolutely no encumbrances in how they compete across the country and in our markets.

您的第二個問題——具體來說，您問我們感覺有多緊迫。請原諒我重複，但我會回來繼續說。首先，我們認為放鬆管制是必要的、重要的、而且是即將到來的。我們的行業面臨著大型科技競爭對手的競爭，這些競爭對手在全國範圍內和我們的市場上的競爭中完全沒有任何障礙。

Secondly, we believe that when (technical difficulty) create a significant profit pool for the broadcast industry, and we have every expectation that we will participate. We've told you that we are either a buyer or a seller, depending upon how the opportunities present themselves. And you've already heard in the last few weeks from some of our peers in the industry about swaps, which are great opportunities to be both the buyer (technical difficulty) parties.

其次，我們相信，當（技術難度）為廣播產業創造一個可觀的利潤池時，我們完全有信心參與其中。我們已經告訴過您，我們要么是買家，要么是賣家，這取決於機會如何出現。在過去的幾周里，您已經從我們業內的一些同行那裡聽說了掉期交易，這對於買方（技術難度）雙方來說都是絕佳的機會。

We believe that it's a great opportunity, but we also have a strong balance sheet and a great set of assets. And we are going to be disciplined in how we approach this. And so we are continuing to take that approach. We're excited about the possibilities, and the team is doing their work.

我們相信這是一個很好的機會，但我們也擁有強大的資產負債表和大量資產。我們將嚴格按照規定處理此事。因此我們將繼續採取這種方法。我們對這些可能性感到興奮，團隊正在努力工作。

Okay. Thanks, Mike. I appreciate it.

好的。謝謝，麥克。我很感激。

Craig Huber, Huber Research Partners LLC.

Craig Huber，Huber Research Partners LLC。

Yes, hi there. Thank you. I got a couple of questions. Maybe I'll start with the first one. You've spoken a lot over almost the last year now about significant cost savings at TEGNA using technology. Can you give us some of the biggest areas where you've used AI and technology to take out costs? What are some of the biggest wins you've had on taking costs out using technology, just some examples, please?

是的，你好。謝謝。我有幾個問題。也許我應該從第一個開始。在過去的一年裡，您多次談到 TEGNA 利用科技大幅節省成本。您能否向我們介紹您在哪些最大領域使用人工智慧和技術來降低成本？您在利用科技降低成本方面取得的最大成果有哪些？請舉幾個例子，好嗎？

Sure, Craig. I have some higher-level examples, but I won't for today's call, contextualize those and Julie's sort of specific cost-saving numbers that she's been sharing with you. First, I'll make an important distinction. We often think about AI's involvement in the content creation itself, and that's not where we are playing. We believe you need good journalists (technical difficulty) and we have done -- I'm sorry about that.

當然，克雷格。我有一些更高層次的例子，但在今天的電話會議上我不會將它們與朱莉一直與你們分享的具體成本節約數字聯繫起來。首先，我要做一個重要的區分。我們經常考慮人工智慧參與內容創作本身，但這並不是我們所做的事情。我們相信你們需要優秀的記者（技術困難），我們已經做到了──對此我感到很抱歉。

So let me come back to the examples. We (technical difficulty) and we are doing analysis of the workflows of every person and every business process in the company, that there are a number of activities that are sort of rote and could be automated, and we're looking for opportunities to automate those.

那麼讓我回到這些例子。我們（技術難題）正在分析公司中每個人和每個業務流程的工作流程，發現有許多活動是死記硬背的，可以自動化，我們正在尋找機會來實現這些活動的自動化。

One example is transcription. We've had a lot of journalists who finish an interview and then handwrite the interview. Another example is video editing. It takes a lot of time to edit videos, and we have found ways to deploy AI to do the video editing. Another is identifying new stories before the team gets to the office. We receive lots of e-mails from sources, and those can be summarized and presented to the team so that they can jump on the hottest opportunities.

一個例子是轉錄。我們有很多記者在完成採訪後就手寫採訪內容。另一個例子是影片編輯。編輯影片需要花費大量時間，我們已經找到了部署AI來進行影片編輯的方法。另一個是在團隊到達辦公室之前確定新的故事。我們會收到來自各個來源的大量電子郵件，這些電子郵件可以被匯總並呈現給團隊，以便他們能夠抓住最熱門的機會。

We see opportunities on the sales and go-to-market side as well, creating draft campaigns for prospects, warming up leads with new advertisers through e-mail campaigns, and others. It's not one or two or even three potential AI automation initiatives. It's a full company mindset around demanding that our people spend their time on the high-leverage activities that only good, smart people can do and have an expectation that when they can offload rote tasks, they will.

我們也看到了銷售和市場進入方面的機遇，為潛在客戶創建活動草稿，透過電子郵件活動向新廣告商預熱，等等。這不是一兩個甚至三個潛在的人工智慧自動化計劃。這是一種全公司的思維模式，要求我們的員工把時間花在只有優秀、聰明的人才能做的高槓桿活動上，並期望當他們能夠卸下機械任務時，他們就會這麼做。

One thing I would add -- Craig, this is Julie. Just on the cost side and future leveraging cost of capital coming down, both from a technology perspective as well as space is real estate. And we're finding really good progress on building, if you will, stations of the future, which is a smaller footprint from a square footage perspective, spending potentially 80% less in CapEx, utilizing the new technology and the virtual technology that is available to us, and also identifying about 50% less in operating expenses by taking advantage of these opportunities.

我想補充一點——克雷格，這是朱莉。僅從成本方面來看，未來資本槓桿成本將會下降，無論是從技術角度或是從空間角度來看，都是房地產。而且，我們在建造未來車站方面取得了非常好的進展，從平方英尺的角度來看，未來的車站佔地面積更小，利用我們可用的新技術和虛擬技術，資本支出可能減少 80%，並且透過利用這些機會，營運費用還可以減少約 50%。

Great. I appreciate that. I also wanted to ask you, can you talk a little further about your outlook for core advertising here in the third quarter year over year. What's it trending like right now, please?

偉大的。我很感激。我也想問您，您能否進一步談談您對第三季核心廣告年表現的展望。請問現在流行什麼？

Yes. Let me -- I'll touch just first on the sort of macro piece of that is, as we look at it, the economy seems to be strong but choppy and so far as first quarter was close to flat year-over-year growth. Second quarter, you saw a spike to 3% growth, and tariffs certainly played a role in all that. As we look to Q3, the blue-chip consensus was for GDP growth around 1% in the Atlanta Fed outlook based on the latest data is about 2.5%.

是的。讓我——首先我先談一下宏觀層面，從我們的角度來看，經濟似乎強勁但不穩定，到目前為止，第一季的同比增長接近持平。第二季度，成長率飆升至 3%，關稅無疑在其中發揮了一定作用。展望第三季度，藍籌股普遍預期GDP成長率約為1%，而亞特蘭大聯邦儲備銀行根據最新數據預測GDP成長率約為2.5%。

So overall, we think the economy is heading in the right direction. At the same time, and as I've shared with you all on these calls before, my experience is that uncertainty in the economy is not good for collecting advertising revenue. The advertisers tend to sit on the sidelines a little longer until they feel confident in the direction of the economy. It's also been my experience that they always come back, and you get to reclaim the dollars you didn't take when advertisers were feeling that uncertainty.

因此整體而言，我們認為經濟正朝著正確的方向發展。同時，正如我之前在電話會議上與大家分享的那樣，我的經驗是，經濟的不確定性不利於收取廣告收入。廣告商往往在場外觀望一段時間，直到他們對經濟走向有信心為止。根據我的經驗，他們總是會回來，當廣告商感到不確定時，你就可以拿回你沒有拿走的錢。

So at a high level, we sort of understand that the ad market might be a little bit softer right now, relative to our view of the macro economy. It's also been my experience that the advertisers tend to catch up with more in their pockets from the money that they kept on the sidelines in the previous quarter or quarters.

因此，從高層次來看，我們了解到，相對於我們對宏觀經濟的看法，廣告市場目前可能有點疲軟。根據我的經驗，廣告商往往會從上一季或幾季留存的資金中賺取更多的錢。

Yes, I agree with that, Mike. And I would add, Craig, another thing that is specific to TEGNA, a couple of things. One is Q3 is a tougher comp with our NBC portfolio being the largest NBC affiliate group, up against the Summer Olympics last year. So that is unique to our Q3 advertising trends. It's probably a disproportionate impact. Second thing is, as I said in my remarks, is the change of our Premion reseller partnership, which is also impacting our AMS trends going forward that began in Q2 and now it will take three additional quarters to lap that.

是的，我同意，麥克。克雷格，我想補充一點，這是 TEGNA 特有的另外幾件事。一是第三季的競爭更加激烈，因為我們的 NBC 投資組合是最大的 NBC 附屬集團，與去年的夏季奧運會相比。這是我們第三季廣告趨勢所獨有的。這可能是一種不成比例的影響。第二件事是，正如我在發言中所說，我們的 Premion 經銷商合作夥伴關係發生了變化，這也影響了我們從第二季度開始的 AMS 趨勢，現在還需要三個季度才能實現這一目標。

That was also about 200 basis points. And positive growth in digital of our owned and owned properties continues to ramp up, and our go-to-market strategy of training up on capitalizing on the digital growth area is continuing to improve on a sequential basis. And then I would say, while July and August are substantially weaker because of more of the Olympic and the trickle-down of the tariffs, I can tell you, exiting Q3 September is in a positive direction and pacing up on a year-over-year basis.

這也是大約 200 個基點。我們自有和自有物業的數位化正成長持續加速，我們利用數位成長領域進行培訓的市場進入策略也在持續改善。然後我想說，雖然 7 月和 8 月由於奧運會和關稅的涓滴效應而明顯疲軟，但我可以告訴你，9 月第三季的出口呈現積極的方向，並且同比有所回升。

So when you roll that all together, Julie, where is the overall quarter looking like advertising might end up being the core advertising? What percent change, I guess, down year over year?

那麼，朱莉，當你把所有這些綜合起來時，整個季度的廣告看起來會成為核心廣告嗎？我猜，與去年同期相比，下降了百分之多少？

Yes, so we don't guide to advertising specific. You saw the comments of total revenue is projected to be down 18% to 20%. And I would say advertising is going to be in that low doubles to mid-teens range.

是的，所以我們不針對特定的廣告進行指導。您看到的評論是總收入預計將下降 18% 至 20%。我想說廣告費用將處於低兩倍到中等十幾倍的範圍內。

Very good. Thank you.

非常好。謝謝。

Steven Cahall, Wells Fargo.

富國銀行的史蒂文·卡霍爾 (Steven Cahall)。

Thanks. So Mike, helpful comments about how you kind of think about the M&A market, and I know there's a lot of options there between being a buyer or seller. One of your peer CEOs is just saying that everybody is talking to everybody right now. So I was wondering if you could give us some perspective as to whether or not you think this is more of a buyer's market or more of a seller's market.

謝謝。所以麥克，關於你對併購市場的看法，你提出了很有幫助的評論，我知道在買家和賣家之間有很多選擇。你的一位同儕執行長剛剛說，現在每個人都在與每個人交談。所以我想知道您是否可以從一些角度告訴我們，您認為這是一個買方市場還是賣方市場。

When I kind of look at things, it seems like there are quite a few things maybe for sale, not that many with at least cash for purchasing, which may skew those conversations in a particular direction. But I just wanted to know if that's correct or if some things that maybe we've missed in that characterization. And again, I know whatever deals you do will be subject to those exact terms.

當我觀察事物時，似乎有相當多的東西可能在出售，但至少用現金購買的東西並不多，這可能會使這些對話偏向特定的方向。但我只是想知道這是否正確，或者我們是否在這種描述中遺漏了一些事情。我再說一遍，我知道無論你做什麼交易，都必須遵守這些確切的條款。

And then maybe just secondly, on reverse comp, are you seeing any sort of paradigm shifts in the way that these are done, whether it's the pricing algorithm, fixed versus variable? I know the renewal you did was relatively small in terms of your household, but just wondering if there's any trends that you've seen in reverse that you think are sort of bigger picture for the next few years. Thank you.

其次，關於反向補償，您是否看到這些做法發生了任何範式轉變，無論是定價演算法、固定定價還是浮動定價？我知道，就您的家庭而言，您所做的更新工作相對較小，但我只是想知道，您是否看到了一些相反的趨勢，您認為這些趨勢是未來幾年更大的前景。謝謝。

Thank you. On the first question, I can't answer for the market. I can only answer for the market through our perspective. And our perspective is we have a strong balance sheet and strong relative to the market, and we have great assets. It should create significant value creation opportunities for our shareholders.

謝謝。對於第一個問題，我無法代表市場回答。我只能從我們的角度來為市場回答。我們的觀點是，我們擁有強勁的資產負債表和強大的市場實力，並且擁有大量資產。它應該為我們的股東創造重大的價值創造機會。

And so we're engaged in the market, as you would expect us to be, seeking to identify the way to create the most value for our shareholders. And as we've noted, there are acquisition, swap, and sale opportunities that can benefit across the board. We have a wide aperture on this. And at the end of the day, it is our job to be dispassionate capital allocators and do what's best for the shareholders. The second question, Julie, do you want to jump on the sort of reverse retrans?

因此，正如您所期望的那樣，我們致力於市場，尋求為股東創造最大價值的方法。正如我們所指出的，存在著可以使所有人受益的收購、交換和出售機會。我們對此有廣泛的認識。歸根結底，我們的工作是成為冷靜的資本配置者，並為股東做最好的事情。第二個問題，朱莉，你想進行逆向重譯嗎？

Yes. So, Steven, I'll take that one. If you recall last year, I think we were one of the initial companies to identify a bend in the curve of what used to be a steep growth expense line item of programming fees with the networks as they come up for renewal, there are opportunities to renegotiate and have favorable terms for both parties, quite frankly, on the partnership of those deals. So that continues to play out. Our reverse comp programming fee line item continues to be flattish as we look at year-over-year trends of each of those agreements.

是的。所以，史蒂文，我接受這個。如果你還記得去年，我想我們是第一批發現節目費用曲線出現拐點的公司之一，而隨著與網絡的續約，我們有機會重新談判，並就這些交易的合作達成對雙方都有利的條款，坦率地說。這種情況仍在繼續。當我們查看每項協議的同比趨勢時，我們的反向補償編程費用項目繼續保持穩定。

Great. Thank you all for the color.

偉大的。謝謝大家的喜愛。

(Operator Instructions) Pat Sholl, Barrington Research.

（操作員指示）Pat Sholl，Barrington Research。

Hi, thank you. I just have a follow-up question on Premion. Just with the exiting of the reseller relationship, can you just maybe talk about -- just overall, how advertisers view that product. Was that kind of just focused more on the TEGNA footprint? And any just sort of broader impact that might have within, like, for national advertisers or wider political buys?

你好，謝謝。我只是想問一個關於 Premion 的後續問題。就在經銷商關係退出之後，您能否總體上談談廣告商如何看待該產品。這是否只是更關注 TEGNA 的足跡？這可能會對國家廣告商或更廣泛的政治購買產生更廣泛的影響嗎？

On Premion, something I've shared with you all before, I've spent a lot of time with our sales team and our customers on Premion. And it is a real value to local advertisers who have a relationship with our sales teams and trust our sales teams and have had that consultative partnership in helping them to reach their audience and reach their business objectives on television.

關於 Premion，我之前曾與大家分享過，我花了很多時間與我們的銷售團隊和客戶討論 Premion。這對於與我們的銷售團隊有關係、信任我們的銷售團隊並透過這種諮詢合作關係幫助他們接觸受眾並在電視上實現業務目標的本地廣告商來說具有真正的價值。

Half of the audience left the traditional linear television bundle and went to streaming. And we're able to go to those advertisers and offer them not only the reach that they've gotten historically at buying TV, because now they can buy from us both TV and connected TV streaming, but in addition, a layer of demographic, psychographic, and location-based targeting that helps them to enhance their buy and improve their return on investment.

一半的觀眾放棄了傳統的線性電視套餐，轉而觀看串流媒體。我們可以接觸到這些廣告商，不僅為他們提供過去購買電視廣告時獲得的覆蓋範圍，因為現在他們可以從我們這裡購買電視和聯網電視串流媒體，而且此外，還可以提供基於人口統計、心理統計和位置的定位，幫助他們提高購買量並提高投資回報率。

The Premion business is also highly synergistic with the efforts that we've leaned into very hard this year around our owned and operated streaming apps. It's driving significant growth in our total digital unique audience and minutes streamed every month and is creating a real and significant opportunity for us on both fronts. So we're excited about Premion. We are engaged in conversations with folks around expanding the Premion service. As you can imagine, we had a good and constructive partnership with Gray and we're keen to have more like that.

Premion 業務也與我們今年在我們擁有和經營的串流媒體應用方面所付出的努力具有高度的協同作用。它推動了我們每月數字獨立觀眾總數和串流媒體播放分鐘數的顯著增長，並在兩個方面為我們創造了真正的重要機會。所以我們對 Premion 感到非常興奮。我們正在與人們討論擴展 Premion 服務。正如您所想像的，我們與 Gray 建立了良好且建設性的合作關係，我們渴望擁有更多這樣的合作關係。

Okay. Thank you.

好的。謝謝。

Thank you. I'm showing no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn it back to Mike Steib for closing remarks.

謝謝。我目前沒有其他問題。現在我想請麥克‧史泰布作最後發言。

Well, I, just as always, thank everyone for your interest. We're a year into this journey right now. And I want to reiterate, I'm extremely proud of the team. It is difficult to change the strategic and operational and pace of execution in the way that's necessary to capture this moment of opportunity. But the gang has really stepped up, and I'm really excited about the future. So I thank everybody for your engagement, as always, and talk to you next quarter.

好吧，我一如既往地感謝大家的關注。我們現在已踏上這趟旅程一年了。我想重申，我為這個團隊感到無比自豪。很難以必要的方式改變策略、營運和執行速度來抓住這一機會。但該團隊確實已經進步了，我對未來感到非常興奮。因此，我一如既往地感謝大家的參與，並於下個季度與大家交流。

Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect.

感謝大家參加今天的會議。該計劃確實就此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。