Sinclair Rides Record Political Ad Wave to $893 Million Quarter

Sinclair booked $136 million in political advertising revenue during the July-to-September quarter, a 55 percent gain over the comparable 2022 midterm period, and the surge carried the broadcaster to better-than-expected third-quarter results reported Wednesday. The political category alone accounts for more than 15 percent of the company's $893 million quarterly revenue. Campaign finance, it turns out, remains a reliably renewable resource.

How large was the political windfall?

The numbers deserve their own ledger. Full-year 2026 political ad spending reached an all-time record of $455 million at Sinclair, surpassing even the 2024 presidential cycle haul of $405 million. The previous full-year high for a midterm cycle stood at $333 million in 2022, according to the company's results.

The broader financial picture improved in step:

• Total revenue increased 16 percent from the prior-year quarter, reaching $893 million
• Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) more than doubled to $213 million
• Earnings per share came in at 60 cents, swinging to profit from a 2-cents-per-share loss a year earlier

What does the spending pattern reveal?

CEO Chris Ripley said that while more quarterly results are yet to be reported by rival companies, local TV stations as a sector appeared to maintain market share levels from prior political cycles. Live sports continued to pace the overall linear landscape, and some political campaigns opted for national broadcast buys rather than local stations, given the comparative expense profiles.

That arbitrage produced an odd spectacle. East Coast sports fans found themselves watching PAC-funded spots backing Senate candidates in Texas or Iowa. The advertising market, indifferent to geography, delivered Iowa to Philadelphia.

Where does Sinclair now stand politically?

The company's history in this arena is well documented. In 2015 and 2016, as Donald Trump rose to dominance, Sinclair played a key role in his unforeseen triumph over Hillary Clinton, and the broadcaster was known at the time for expressly right-of-center programming and "must-run" editorials. A decade later, following Democrats' stinging rebuke of Trump in the midterms, the climate has shifted.

Sinclair nonetheless remains one of the primary local players, though it now operates as the No. 2 station group behind market leader Nexstar. Political advertising, evidently, is a business of few convictions beyond rate cards.

Who funded the record spending?

Third-party war chests paced the record levels, including nearly half a billion dollars from Elon Musk. Money, however, did not always purchase outcomes. Texas Governor-Elect Gina Hinojosa soundly defeated incumbent Greg Abbott despite his outspending her by a roughly 10-to-1 margin. The correlation between expenditure and result proved, at minimum, imperfect.

What does management expect for 2028?

Rob Weisbord, chief operating officer and president of local media for Sinclair, told Wall Street analysts on the earnings call that the political haul this year "bodes well for the upcoming 2028 election cycle, which will be here before we know it."

Weisbord pointed to a structural reason for optimism. "Notably, 2028 will present a dual open primary for both parties, for the presidential nominations. So we expect early and aggressive spending as both parties will want to introduce themselves nationally," he said. He added that Sinclair's footprint is well positioned throughout many battleground states, and that the entire broadcast sector did well during the election cycle.

Management commentary at rival companies, together with industry forecasts, provides evidence "of local broadcast television being a key delivery platform of political advertising," Weisbord said.

Is the broadcast model vindicated?

For a sector routinely pronounced obsolete, the quarter reads as a reprieve with an expiry date. Political advertising arrives in dependable two-year intervals, funded by donors whose enthusiasm appears resistant to diminishing returns. Sinclair converted that enthusiasm into a doubling of adjusted EBITDA and a comfortable swing to profitability.

The open question, as ever, concerns the years in between. A business model that requires record-breaking partisanship to post record results has, one might observe, an interesting relationship with stability. For now, the ledger is favorable, and 2028 is already circled.