Sinclair attributed the double-digit increase to broadcast revenue, which increased 19.3% from $133 million to $158.7 million over the same period.
Sinclair President and CEO David Smith said the ad rebound covered "nearly all of our major core advertising categories, with the largest growth coming from the automotive sector, which was up 46% year-over-year." Services, its second-largest category, was up 9.1% in the quarter.
However, Sinclair was quick to temper these buoyant results with a more cautious outlook for the rest of the year, with CFO David Amy warning: "We do not expect to see that same level of core percentage growth in the back half of the year."
Currently, the third quarter is pacing up about 9% over last year -- a very respectable rate of growth following several years of declines.
"Broadcast television advertising continues to grow, an indicator that the economy is showing signs of recovery," stated David Smith, Sinclair president-CEO.
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Sinclair is not alone in reporting substantial revenue growth in the second quarter. Also on Wednesday, CBS Corp. said its radio division saw total revenues increase 6.1% to $340.9 million. In previous weeks, Cumulus said broadcast revenues increased 5.6% to $68.7 million in the second quarter, Beasley said total revenues increased 5.6% to $24.9 million in the second quarter, and Entercom said total revenues increased 4% to $105.8 million.