Saga Reports Q3 Net Revenue Falls 5.4%
Saga Communications reports its operating results for the third quarter of 2026 and says net revenue was $26.7 million, a decline of 5.4% from the same period in 2025. Station operating expense decreased 1.7% for the quarter to $24.2 million compared to the 
same period last year. The company notes, “For the quarter, we had an operating loss of $9.8 million compared to an operating loss of $626 thousand for the same quarter last year and station operating income (a non-GAAP financial measure) was $2.4 million compared to $3.5 million for the same period last year. For the quarter, the company recorded a non-cash impairment charge based on an evaluation of FCC license values of $9.2 million. Without the non-cash impairment charge, the company’s operating loss would have been $563 thousand for the quarter compared to an operating loss of $626 thousand for the same period last year.” Saga reports that it paid a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share on October 16, 2026. The aggregate amount of the quarterly dividend was approximately $1.6 million.
Audio Group, led by podcasting, and our Audio and Media Services Group both continued to deliver strong results and profitability. Given the accelerating adoption of audio programmatic, we believe that the continuing rollout of our AudioGraph platform has the potential to meaningfully improve the performance of our broadcast radio business, enabling us to meet the advertising community the way they want to buy advertising.” The company reports a net loss of $8.2 million for the quarter, down significantly from the $65.8 million it reported a year ago. President and COO Rich Bressler adds, “In Q3 the Digital Audio Group’s revenue was $389 million, up 13.8% vs. prior year, and our Q3 Adjusted EBITDA margins were 32.8%. While this quarter was negatively impacted by a number of factors, we believe many of our revenue challenges are addressable – and beginning in 2027, we expect to establish podcasting as a separate reporting segment, which will provide greater insight into its financial performance and make it easier to fully value all four of our segments and our entire company.”
same period a year ago. Urban One CEO and president Alfred C. Liggins, III says, “Market conditions in radio continued to adversely impact revenue in the third quarter. We were helped by net political revenue of over $0.8 million in the quarter and the acquisition of stations in our Dallas market, effective July 17th, which contributed an additional $1.9 million of net revenue in the quarter. Net political revenue for the full year is expected to be $8.8 million across all divisions. Weak demand in the Cable TV scatter market, shifted more inventory to the direct response category at lower rates in the third quarter. We saw an increase in local digital revenue in our radio markets, but large client attrition and suppressed rates in national direct digital revenue meant significant revenue declines in the overall digital segment… Management is hyper-focused on cost reductions heading into next year and has identified at least $20 million of annualized savings.”
the continued strength of our Digital Advertising platform. Third quarter net revenue of $110.9 million increased 3.9% year-over-year and exceeded our guidance range, Adjusted EBITDA of $22.6 million increased 2.7% year-over-year and was within our guidance range, and net loss narrowed by $1.5 million year-over-year to $4.0 million. These results were driven by the growth of Townsquare Ignite, our Digital Advertising business, and by political revenue that is tracking ahead of our expectations. Digital Advertising net revenue grew 12.7% year-over-year, accelerating for the third consecutive quarter, led by programmatic revenue growth of 22.5%. Our Media Partnerships business now serves 18 partners and extends our digital programmatic advertising platform to 122 markets across the United States, and we expect Media Partnerships revenue to more than double in 2026. In addition, Townsquare Interactive delivered strong profitability, with Segment Profit margins of 36% in Q3, as we rebuild and grow our sales team.”
Wilson continues, “At the same time, we want to be candid about the challenges we face. Our local clients continue to feel pressure from higher operating costs and interest rates, and they are scrutinizing every marketing dollar, particularly those spent on traditional media. Excluding political, Broadcast Advertising net revenue declined 5.2% in the third quarter. We expect those declines to deepen in the fourth quarter, partly as political advertising crowds out other inventory. In addition, while Townsquare Interactive’s profit remains strong, lower-than-anticipated sales velocity means it will not return to sequential revenue growth in Q4 2026 as we had projected.”
we are encouraged by the progress we’re making in transforming Beasley into a more diversified, higher-margin media company. Our digital and local direct spot businesses continue to build momentum, our cost structure is significantly more efficient than it was a year ago, and we remain focused on improving the quality of our revenue. We believe these initiatives are creating a stronger operating foundation and positioning the company for more consistent financial performance over the long term. At the same time, we continue to execute against the financial priorities we established at the beginning of the year. We are operating with discipline, allocating capital thoughtfully, and taking deliberate actions to strengthen our balance sheet through debt reduction, portfolio optimization, and improved financial flexibility. These efforts, combined with our ongoing operational initiatives, are designed to improve cash flow generation and create long-term value for our shareholders. Looking ahead, our strategy remains unchanged. We are focused on delivering sustainable revenue growth, expanding EBITDA through continued operating discipline and higher-margin revenue, and further reducing leverage over time. While the broader advertising environment remains dynamic, we believe the actions we are taking today are positioning Beasley to emerge as a stronger, more profitable, and more resilient company.”
company’s Digital Audio Group revenue was $364 million, up 12% over Q2 of 2025, with the podcast segment rising 21% on revenue of $162 million. iHeartMedia chairman and CEO Bob Pittman comments, “We’re pleased with our second quarter results, generating Adjusted EBITDA of $152 million, slightly above the midpoint of our previously provided guidance range. Our consolidated revenue was $977 million, up 4.7% compared to the prior year quarter and above our guidance. Our podcast revenue momentum continues, up 20.7% compared to prior year, and in addition to helping propel our growth as the #1 podcast publisher, our broadcast radio assets have also allowed us to develop and drive the new video podcast marketplace – an incremental growth opportunity for us, including on streaming video services including Netflix and Disney+ and Hulu, which we announced today. And our work in building our digital assets continues to pay off; this is the sixth consecutive quarter in which the Digital Audio Group Adjusted EBITDA is larger than the Multiplatform Group Adjusted EBITDA.”
The Radio Television Digital News Association announces the winners of the 2026 Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards. Regional winners advance to the national competition, with winners announced in August. National winners will be celebrated at the Edward R. Murrow Awards Gala on October 12 at Gotham Hall in New York City. 
a 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.”
2025. Looking at Salem’s business segments, the company reports Broadcast Programming Revenue (from local and national block programming) of $17.2 million in Q1 of 2026, while Broadcast Advertising Revenue (national & local spot, network advertising) was $9.27 million during the quarter. Meanwhile, Salem’s total digital revenue for the period was $18.1 million. Salem Media announced this week that it is in the process of being acquired by WaterStone in a stock purchase deal that will take the company private. 
adds that it recorded operating income of $7.7 million in the first quarter of 2026, compared to an operating loss of $0.3 million in Q1 of 2025. The increase in operating income was driven primarily by the sale of its Fort Myers stations. Beasley also reported net income of approximately $3.2 million compared to a net loss of $2.7 million, reported a year ago. Beasley CEO Caroline Beasley comments, “While first quarter results continued to reflect pressure in certain legacy advertising categories and an uneven pace of recovery across our markets, we made meaningful progress against the strategic priorities we outlined over the past year. Importantly, we continue to see strong momentum in digital, particularly in our owned and operated products, which grew year-over-year on a same station basis and now represent an increasingly important contributor to both revenue quality and long-term profitability. Markets with stronger digital adoption continue to demonstrate greater revenue stability, reinforcing our confidence in the long-term direction of the business.”
Audio Group continued its strong momentum, with revenues up 18% year over year, slightly ahead of our guidance, while our Podcasting revenues grew 26.9% compared to prior year, above our guidance. We are announcing a new savings initiative that will generate an additional $50 million of annualized savings, in addition to our previously announced $100 million of in-year 2026 savings, as well as now paying minimal cash taxes in 2026, which we expect will have a $150 to $200 million impact over the next 3 years. And today we are reaffirming our Full Year Adjusted EBITDA guide of $800 million and our Free Cash Flow guide of $200 million.” The company is also expecting the increase in programmatic revenue to be some $200 million (+50%) during 2026. 
a is reporting a net loss of $2.4 million for the quarter compared to the net loss of $1.6 million it reported in Q1 of 2025. Saga paid a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share on March 20, 2026. The aggregate amount of the quarterly dividend was approximately $1.6 million. With payment of this most recent declaration Saga will have paid over $145 million in dividends to shareholders since the first special dividend was paid in 2012.
change, especially at the top of the ranker where NPR’s “NPR News Now” (#1), The New York Times’ “The Daily” (#2), “Up First from NPR” (#3), NBCUniversal’s “Dateline NBC” (#4), and FOX Audio Network’s “FOX News Hourly Update” (#5) fill out the top five. Moves of note include comic Tim Dillon entering the top 20 at #19 with his “The Tim Dillon Show” and Disney’s “20/20” joining the chart at #20. 
Awards will be announced during a dinner program on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, at the Edison Ballroom the night before NAB Show New York being held on October 21 – 22. The Marconi Radio Award finalists are selected by an independent body of broadcasters and will be announced in summer 2026. All nominations must be submitted through the NAB member portal. 
2025. The company reports declines in all segments of its business; even digital revenue was off 8.3% ($33.5 million). Network spot revenue was down 25% ($33 million), and broadcast spot revenue was $67.7 million, a decline of 16.3% from Q1 of 2025. Cumulus president and CEO Mary G. Berner says, “We are pleased to report first quarter earnings. The Court’s recent approval of our reorganization plan marks a pivotal milestone in strengthening our financial foundation and positioning the company to compete in the evolving media landscape. While we await FCC approval of the plan, we remain focused on leveraging our core strengths to drive long-term value creation.”
has climbed up Triton Digital’s U.S. Podcast Ranker, finishing at #3 for the February 2026 period. Audioboom’s “Pod Save America” displaced iHeart Audience Network’s “Stuff You Should Know” for the #1 spot. Elsewhere, Salem Podcast Network’s “The Charlie Kirk Show” fell two places to #6 as did iHeart Audience Network’s “The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show,” which landed at #12. 
Hello from Las Vegas, where I am both eager and anxious for CES2026.