Industry News

Urban One Q1 2026 Net Revenue Down 15.8%

Urban One reports its operating results for the first quarter of 2026 and states that net revenue for the period was approximately $77.7 million, a decrease of 15.8% from the same period in 2025. The company reports an operating loss of approximately $2.2 million in Q1 of 2026, compared to operating income of approximately $2.1 million during the same period imga year ago. Additionally, Urban One reports a net loss of approximately $3.1 million for the period, compared to the net loss of $11.7 million it reported in Q1 of 2025. Urban One CEO and president Alfred C. Liggins, III states, “First quarter revenue was soft across all divisions, with TV down 18.5%, Digital down 33.5%, Radio down 6.4% and Reach Media dropped by 17.0%. We had budgeted for a down-quarter in our Radio and TV divisions, but not at Reach Media and Digital… In Radio, our Miller Kaplan local Radio revenues were down 5.5% year-over-year vs the market down 7.1% and national was down 8.2%, vs the market down 6.7%. Including local digital, first quarter Radio revenue was down 2.8%. We did approximately $1.0 million in gross political advertising in the first quarter and have another $1.0 million on the books for the second quarter. Radio second quarter is pacing down 2.6%. We are in a turnaround situation at Reach Media, where we continue to be impacted by a weak marketplace, key client attrition and sales team re-building. Digital also had a soft first quarter, driven by weak advertiser demand but second quarter is forecasted to be up, and there is optimism for the back half of the year based on the current sales pipeline.”