BALTIMORE, April 30, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sinclair, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBGI), the "Company" or "Sinclair," today reported financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2026.
Highlights:
- Total Revenue increased by 4% and Total Adjusted EBITDA by 13% year-over-year
- Total Adjusted EBITDA of $126 million
- Strong core advertising performance driven by growth in digital
- March 2026 was Tennis Channel's most-watched month ever
- Stable distribution trend due to moderating churn across key MVPDs
- Reaffirmed 2026 full year financial guidance
CEO Comment:
"Sinclair continues to execute on its core broadcast business, with both ratings and subscriber trends showing positive momentum. Broadcast's reach differentiation continues to drive record viewing levels continuing into a political- and sports-heavy 2026 for the industry. Live sports remained a key driver in the quarter, with the Super Bowl in February delivering the second-largest audience in U.S. television history and the Winter Olympics also delivering record viewing levels. Tennis Channel had its most-watched month ever in March, including four of the top-five most-watched matches in network history, and delivered record subscriber numbers for its Direct-to-Consumer product. Based on our first quarter results and current outlook, we are reaffirming our 2026 full year financial guidance."
Recent Developments:
Balance Sheet
- Retired $165 million of term loans at a discount in early April through an unmodified reverse Dutch auction, which will save approximately $12 million in annual interest expense.
- Ended the first quarter with total liquidity of ~$1.5 billion, including cash of $844 million.
Investment Portfolio
- Sinclair Ventures, LLC (Ventures) received distributions of approximately $12 million and ended the quarter with $451 million in cash.
Station Portfolio Optimization
- Closed substantial majority of our partner station acquisitions and continue to expect $30 million in annualized synergies in 2026.
Content and Distribution
- NBC affiliates delivered strong results in the first quarter as the Super Bowl was the 2nd-most watched U.S. telecast of all-time while the Winter Olympics was the most-watched Winter Games since 2014.
- Tennis Channel delivered its two most-watched women's matches of all-time in March and four of its top five most watched matches ever.
Financial Results:
Consolidated Financial Results
| ($ in millions) | Three Months Ended | Percent Change | |||||||||||||
| March 31, 2026 | December 31, 2025 | March 31, 2025 | QTQ | YOY | |||||||||||
| Total revenue | $ | 807 | $ | 836 | $ | 776 | (3)% | 4% | |||||||
| Distribution revenue | 458 | 438 | 451 | 5% | 2% | ||||||||||
| Core advertising revenue | 305 | 354 | 292 | (14)% | 4% | ||||||||||
| Political advertising revenue | 18 | 14 | 6 | 29% | 200% | ||||||||||
| Other media and non-media revenue | 26 | 30 | 27 | (13)% | (4)% | ||||||||||
| Net income (loss) attributable to the Company | $ | 20 | $ | 109 | $ | (156 | ) | (82)% | n/m | ||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA(a) | $ | 126 | $ | 168 | $ | 112 | (25)% | 13% | |||||||
n/m - not meaningful
| (a) | Adjusted EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, and non-recurring and unusual transaction, implementation, legal, regulatory and other costs, as well as certain non-cash items such as stock-based compensation expense and other gains and losses less amortization of program costs. Refer to the reconciliation at the end of this press release and the Company’s website. |
Segment Financial Results
Segment financial information is included in the following tables for the periods presented. The Local Media segment consists primarily of broadcast television stations, which the Company owns, operates or to which the Company provides services, and includes multicast networks and original content. The Local Media segment assets are owned and operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group, LLC (SBG). The Tennis segment consists primarily of Tennis Channel, a cable network which includes coverage of most of tennis' top tournaments and original professional sport and tennis lifestyle shows; the Tennis Channel International subscription and streaming service; Tennis Channel streaming service; TennisChannel 2, a 24-hours a day free ad-supported streaming television channel; and Tennis.com. Other includes non-broadcast digital solutions such as Digital Remedy, technical services, and other non-media investments. The assets of the Tennis segment and Other are owned and operated by Ventures.
| Three months ended March 31, 2026 | Local Media | Tennis | Other | Corporate and Eliminations | Consolidated | |||||||||||
| ($ in millions) | ||||||||||||||||
| Distribution revenue | $ | 402 | $ | 56 | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 458 | ||||||
| Core advertising revenue | 261 | 13 | 40 | (9 | ) | 305 | ||||||||||
| Political advertising revenue | 18 | — | — | — | 18 | |||||||||||
| Other media revenue | 20 | 1 | — | (1 | ) | 20 | ||||||||||
| Media revenue | $ | 701 | $ | 70 | $ | 40 | $ | (10 | ) | $ | 801 | |||||
| Non-media revenue | — | — | 6 | — | 6 | |||||||||||
| Total revenue | $ | 701 | $ | 70 | $ | 46 | $ | (10 | ) | $ | 807 | |||||
| Media programming and production expenses | $ | 382 | $ | 30 | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 412 | ||||||
| Media selling, general and administrative expenses | 171 | 19 | 34 | (10 | ) | 214 | ||||||||||
| Non-media expenses | 2 | — | 13 | — | 15 | |||||||||||
| Amortization of program costs | 18 | — | — | — | 18 | |||||||||||
| Corporate general and administrative expenses | 34 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 49 | |||||||||||
| Stock-based compensation | 18 | — | 3 | (1 | ) | 20 | ||||||||||
| Non-recurring and unusual transaction, implementation, legal, regulatory and other costs | 5 | — | 1 | 1 | 7 | |||||||||||
| Interest expense (net)(a) | 79 | — | (4 | ) | — | 75 | ||||||||||
| Capital expenditures | 14 | — | 1 | — | 15 | |||||||||||
| Distributions to the noncontrolling interests | 2 | — | — | — | 2 | |||||||||||
| Cash distributions from investments | — | — | 12 | — | 12 | |||||||||||
| Net cash taxes paid | — | |||||||||||||||
| Net income | 21 | |||||||||||||||
| Operating income (loss) | 35 | 15 | (10 | ) | (13 | ) | 27 | |||||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA(b) | 117 | 20 | 2 | (13 | ) | 126 | ||||||||||
Note: Certain amounts may not summarize to totals due to rounding differences.
| (a) | Interest expense (net) excludes deferred financing costs, original issue discount amortization, and other non-cash interest expense, and is net of interest income. |
| (b) | Adjusted EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, and non-recurring and unusual transaction, implementation, legal, regulatory and other costs, as well as certain non-cash items such as stock-based compensation expense and other gains and losses less amortization of program costs. |
| Three months ended March 31, 2025 | Local Media | Tennis | Other | Corporate and Eliminations | Consolidated | ||||||||||||
| ($ in millions) | |||||||||||||||||
| Distribution revenue | $ | 395 | $ | 56 | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 451 | |||||||
| Core advertising revenue | 271 | 11 | 15 | (5 | ) | 292 | |||||||||||
| Political advertising revenue | 6 | — | — | — | 6 | ||||||||||||
| Other media revenue | 22 | 1 | — | (2 | ) | 21 | |||||||||||
| Media revenue | $ | 694 | $ | 68 | $ | 15 | $ | (7 | ) | $ | 770 | ||||||
| Non-media revenue | — | — | 6 | — | 6 | ||||||||||||
| Total revenue | $ | 694 | $ | 68 | $ | 21 | $ | (7 | ) | $ | 776 | ||||||
| Media programming and production expenses | $ | 390 | $ | 27 | $ | 1 | $ | — | $ | 418 | |||||||
| Media selling, general and administrative expenses | 170 | 18 | 11 | (7 | ) | 192 | |||||||||||
| Non-media expenses | 2 | — | 9 | — | 11 | ||||||||||||
| Amortization of program costs | 19 | — | — | — | 19 | ||||||||||||
| Corporate general and administrative expenses | 37 | — | — | 15 | 52 | ||||||||||||
| Stock-based compensation | 21 | — | — | — | 21 | ||||||||||||
| Non-recurring and unusual transaction, implementation, legal, regulatory and other costs | 6 | — | — | 2 | 8 | ||||||||||||
| Interest expense (net)(a) | 139 | — | (5 | ) | — | 134 | |||||||||||
| Capital expenditures | 16 | — | — | — | 16 | ||||||||||||
| Distributions to the noncontrolling interests | 3 | — | — | — | 3 | ||||||||||||
| Cash distributions from investments | — | — | 10 | — | 10 | ||||||||||||
| Net cash taxes paid | — | ||||||||||||||||
| Net loss | (154 | ) | |||||||||||||||
| Operating income (loss) | 12 | 18 | (1 | ) | (15 | ) | 14 | ||||||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA(b) | 103 | 23 | — | (13 | ) | 112 | |||||||||||
Note: Certain amounts may not summarize to totals due to rounding differences.
| (a) | Interest expense (net) excludes deferred financing costs, original issue discount amortization, and other non-cash interest expense, and is net of interest income. Includes $68 million of non-recurring fees and expenses related to our comprehensive refinancing, which closed in the three months ended March 31, 2025. |
| (b) | Adjusted EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, and non-recurring and unusual transaction, implementation, legal, regulatory and other costs, as well as certain non-cash items such as stock-based compensation expense and other gains and losses less amortization of program costs. |
Consolidated Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Highlights:
- Total Company debt was $4,376 million, all of which is indebtedness of STG.
- Cash and cash equivalents were $844 million, of which $392 million was SBG cash and $451 million was Ventures cash. In addition, the Company has $612.5 million of available borrowing capacity under its revolver, bringing available liquidity to $1.5 billion.
- STG Credit Agreement Leverage Metrics1 were:
- First Out First Lien Leverage Ratio – 1.5x (Covenant