Sinclair, Inc. says it is raising its advertising forecast for the third quarter (Q3) of the year after seeing a stronger-than-expected uptake in political ad buys.
The television broadcaster now says it expects political advertising revenue for Q3 to come in between $140 million and $145 million, up from the $113 million to $128 million that the company had previously forecasted.
The increase in political advertising revenue will help offset lower-than-expected revenue from general, non-political advertising, which is forecast to come in between $285 million to $293 million, lower than the earlier forecast of $288 million to $300 million.
Sinclair said the lower general advertising revenue was due to “crowd-out” from a higher uptake in political advertising, which competes for the same inventory on its broadcast and digital media properties.
Overall, Sinclair said its local media advertising business should come in between $425 million to $438 million during Q2, up from the prior forecast of $401 million to $428 million that was offered in early August.
Full-year political revenue is now expected to come in between $442 million to $469 million, Sinclair said.
Sinclair will reveal its Q3 earnings in early November.
