With growth in its first-quarter political advertising and the expectation of more midterm election ad revenue to come, Nexstar Media Group posted 8% higher total ad revenue to $451.8 million.

The company said there was “growth in nineteen of Nexstar’s top twenty-five advertising categories which more than offset continued weakness in automotive advertising.”

Automotive advertising -- for many years the leading local TV advertising category -- has been generally down since the first of the year.

National TV automotive spend was off 14.4% in April, according to iSpot.tv. Ongoing supply-chain issues have impacted the business, according to analysts.

Political advertising more than tripled -- up 340% -- to $23.7 million, which “reflects strong early mid-term election spending,” according to Nexstar.

The company's big moneymaker -- distribution revenues -- climbed 7.5% to $667.9 million.

In addition, Nexstar says there was a 19% improvement to $78.7 million in digital revenue. Results for Nexstar also include the publication of The Hill, which was acquired in the third quarter of 2021.

Nexstar company-wide revenue was up a solid 8.6% to $1.21 billion, while net income was 26% higher to $251.4 million.

Mid-day Tuesday’s stock price of Nexstar perked up 4% to $158.90.