E.W. Scripps Co. (NASDAQ: SSP) reported Q4 EPS of $1.35, $0.07 better than the analyst estimate of $1.28. Revenue for the quarter came in at $591 million versus the consensus estimate of $566.4 million.

• The sale of Scripps' Stitcher business closed on Oct. 16, 2020. The business was classified as discontinued operations in our consolidated financial statements. All periods have been adjusted to reflect this presentation.
• Total revenue was $591 million compared to $423 million in the fourth-quarter 2019.
• Income from continuing operations was $114 million or $1.35 per share.
• The current-year quarter included gains from the sale of WPIX totaling $6.5 million and $2.6 million of acquisition and related integration costs.
• These items increased income from continuing operations by $2.9 million, net of taxes, or 4 cents per share.
• In the prior-year quarter, income from continuing operations was $12.9 million or 16 cents per share.
• Pre-tax costs for the prior-year quarter included $3.3 million of acquisition and related integration costs that decreased income from continuing operations by $2.5 million, net of taxes, or 3 cents per share.

Commenting on recent business highlights, Scripps President and CEO Adam Symson said:

"Having completed the acquisition of ION in early January, Scripps is now a full-scale television company and the largest holder of broadcast spectrum in the country. Our new Scripps Networks division is made up of seven powerful TV networks that each reaches nearly every American, through free over-the-air television, over the top platforms and on cable and satellite, to deliver advertisers a large, sought-after audience they often can't find anywhere else.

"Our Local Media brands have deep, long-standing relationships with audiences and advertisers in their communities. This business has strong and durable revenue streams through core advertising, political advertising and retransmission revenue.

"Several years of work set us up for continued significant value creation – acquiring high-performing local television stations to double the scale of our portfolio; selling non-core assets including terrestrial radio, Stitcher and Triton, for high returns; investing in the national media marketplace; restructuring the company and taking considerable cost out of the enterprise.

"In 2020, we were able to deliver much higher free cash flow than we expected, due to our firm financial footing, with economically durable businesses that exceeded the expectations set before the pandemic began. Our expanded local station footprint helped us realize new value in retransmission rate resets as well as political advertising revenue opportunity, and our national businesses led their industries with double-digit revenue growth for the year and significant margin expansion for the division.

"We move forward now as a high-free-cash flow television company with two highly profitable operating divisions that position us to create significant value today and capture even greater value as a leader in the future of television."

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