Industry News

Audacy Q2 Net Revenue Rises 1%

Audacy reports its operating results for the second quarter of 2024 and reveals net revenue of $301.6 million, an increase of 1% over the same period in 2023. After reporting a net loss of $125.8 million in Q2 of 2023, the company reports net income of $2.9 million in the second quarter of this year. Looking at Audacy’s business segments, Local and National Spot revenue was $179.6 million, a decline of almost 4% from a year ago; Digital (including podcasting) revenue was $74.4 million, an increase of 11.6%; and Network revenueim was $22.3 million, up 7% over Q2 of 2023. Audacy also breaks out revenue by radio format categories and while Sports radio revenue was $71.1 million (up 8.3% over last year), News/Talk revenue was $43 million (a decline of 2.3% from the same period a year ago). Audacy chairman, president and CEO David J. Field comments, “Audacy continued to deliver strong 2024 financial performance with Q2 Adjusted EBITDA more than doubling, up 116% vs. prior year. For the first six months of 2024, Adjusted EBITDA is up 128%. Our accelerating financial performance reflects our significant revenue share gains, low-teen growth in digital advertising, high single-digit growth in network radio, and prudent expense reductions, offsetting continued weakness in traditional ad markets. Notably, our transformational, strategic investments are emerging as a critical driver in our accelerating performance. Recent improvements in our streaming and podcasting platforms, along with further enhancements to our digital monetization and programmatic capabilities are increasing their impact on our top-line and bottom-line results. As previously announced, we received court approval of our consensual pre-packaged Plan of Reorganization in February and are awaiting FCC approval to complete the process. We continue to expect final approval and emergence to occur during the current quarter. The third quarter is currently pacing up low-single digits, and we expect another quarter of significant Adjusted EBITDA growth.”

Industry News

Saga Communications Reports Net Revenue Decline of 1.5%

Saga Communications reports net revenue of $28.7 million in the second quarter of 2024, down 1.5% from the same period in 2023. The company also reports net income of $2.5 million for the quarter compared to net income of $3.4 million for the second quarter last year. Saga notes in its report that it closed on itsim acquisition of five radio stations and one translator in Lafayette, Indiana on May 31, 2024, and that the stations were operated by Saga for one month during the second quarter of 2024. Saga paid a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share on June 28, 2024. The aggregate amount of the quarterly dividend was approximately $1.6 million. To date, Saga has paid over $132 million in dividends to shareholders since the first special dividend was paid in 2012. Saga’s balance sheet reflects $24.1 million in cash and short-term investments as of June 30, 2024, and $26.2 million as of August 5, 2024.

Industry News

Salem Media Group Q2 Net Revenue Down 7.8%

Salem Media Group reports net revenue of $60.6 million during the second quarter of 2024, a decrease of im7.8%. The company says net broadcast revenue was $47.1 million (-5.1%), while net digital media revenue was $11.9 million (+9.9%), and net publishing revenue was $1.56 million (-70.3%). It should be noted that Salem sold Regnery Publishing in December of 2023. The company reports net income of $2.3 million during the quarter, compared to that net loss of $7.1 million it reported in Q2 of 2023.

Industry News

Urban One Releases Q4 2023 and Q1 2024 Financial Reports

Urban One files its reports for the year ended December 31, 2023 and for the three months ended March 31, 2024 with the Securities and Exchange Commission after a lengthy delay due to previously reported issues with its accounting practices. For the full year of 2023, Urban One reports net revenue of approximately $477.7 million, a decrease of 1.4% from the full year of 2022. Broadcast and digital operating income was approximately $168.4 million, a decrease of 16.5% from the same period in 2022. Net income wasim approximately $2.1 million compared to net income of $34.3 million for 2022. For the first quarter of 2024, net revenue was approximately $104.4 million, a decrease of 5% from the same period in 2023. Broadcast and digital operating income was approximately $32 million, a decrease of 18.5% from the same period in 2023. Net income was approximately $7.5 million compared to a loss of $2.9 million for the same period in 2023. Urban One CEO and president Alfred C. Liggins, III states, “Our Adjusted EBITDA for FY23 came in just above the high-end of our previous guidance at $128.4 million. As expected, we suffered a drop in radio division broadcast cash flow as a result of reduced political advertising compared to Q4 2022. Other divisions performed broadly in line with expectations, although the continuing churn in cable television subscribers remains an industry-wide concern. For Q1 our national radio revenues were hit by tough comparatives on a handful of large clients plus a general softness in the market. Second quarter radio pacing’s are sequentially better, with same station core revenues down mid-single-digits and low-single digits including political… We are optimistic about political advertising revenues for the remainder of the year, which should benefit both our radio and digital divisions. During Q1 we repurchased $75 million of our 2028 notes at 88.3%, and we ended the quarter with approximately $155.7 million of cash.”

Industry News

Saga Communications’ Q1 Revenue Falls 2.5%

First quarter 2024 operating results for Saga Communications reveal net revenue of $24.7 million, a decline of 2.5% from the first quarter of 2023. The company reports a net loss of $1.6 million during theim first quarter compared to the net income of $920,000 it reported in Q1 of 2023. Saga adds that its balance sheet reflects $28.8 million in cash and short-term investments as of March 31, 2024 and $23.7 million as of May 6, 2024. The company expects to spend approximately $5.0 – $5.5 million for capital expenditures during 2024.

Industry News

Beasley Broadcast Group Reports Q1 Net Revenue Down 5.9%

The company says that net revenue for the first quarter of 2024 was $54.4 million, a decline of 5.9% from the same period in 2023, saying this was “primarily reflecting a year-over-year decline in audio advertising and other revenue due to Beasley’s Wilmington station and esports divestitures as well as ongoing softness in the commercial advertising business, partially offset by growth in digital and political advertising revenue.” Beasley reports net income of approximately $8,000 in Q1, compared to a net lossim of $3.5 million for the same period in 2023, “primarily due to the $6 million gain on the sale of an investment in BMI holdings and lower interest expense.” Company CEO Caroline Beasley states, “Beasley continues to advance our core initiatives, which are focused on driving revenue and cash flow, including our digital transformation, revenue diversification and expense management initiatives. We expect digital to account for between 20% and 25% of total revenue in 2024, driven by the ongoing growth and success of our premium content creation and digital services. On the new business front, our dedicated sales teams are leveraging the tremendous audience reach and engagement of our platform to attract new advertisers. In summary, Beasley’s underlying fundamentals – mainly, our local audio and digital platforms and audience engagement – remain strong. We are proud of our teams’ steadfast commitment to delivering exceptional content and services to our listeners, advertisers, online users and sports fans, and remain confident that the actions we are taking to transform our company and strengthen our balance sheet, are laying the foundation for future growth and success.”

Industry News

SiriusXM Reports Q1 Financial Results

Satellite and internet broadcaster SiriusXM reports its 2024 first quarter financial results and reveals revenue of $1.68 billion, a decrease of less than 1% from the same period in 2023. The company reports net income of $265 million, an increase of almost 14% over Q1 of 2023. However, the figure getting the most notice from industry watchers is the loss of 359,000 self-pay subscribers. Additionally, self-payim subscriptions to Pandora Plus and Pandora Premium services fell by 64,000. During the analyst conference call, SiriusXM CEO Jennifer Witz admitted that the focus on the company’s new streaming app has been disruptive, but she says they feel good about their goal of getting new, younger subscribers for the streaming-only service. “We are confident that our app platform relaunch and the product improvements coming in the car are putting us on the right path.” She says in a press release, “We have significantly stepped-up the pace of experimentation and innovation, a critical lever in our mission to deliver improved subscriber performance while maintaining a disciplined approach to spending in our focus on profitability.”

Industry News

Townsquare Media Reports Q4 2023 Revenue Down 4.6%

Reporting its operating results for the fourth quarter of 2023 and for the full year of 2023, Townsquare Media posts Q4 net revenue of $114.8 million, down 4.6% from the same period in 2022. For the quarter it reports a net loss of $1.9 million. Net revenue for the full year of 2023 was $454.2 million, a decrease of 1.9% from the full year of 2022. Townsquare Media CEO Bill Wilson says, “I am pleased to share that Townsquare’s fourth quarter results met or exceeded our previously issued guidance, and our full year results met the guidance that we issued at the start of 2023… Our Digital Advertising segment delivered net revenue and Adjusted Operating Income growth this year (each +7% year-over-year), offsettingim weakness in the national and network marketplace, and first-time hurdles in our Subscription Digital Marketing Solutions segment. In total, Digital now represents 51% of Townsquare’s 2023 net revenue and 55% of our 2023 Adjusted Operating Income, and maintained a 30% Adjusted Operating Income margin, consistent with 2022’s margin. The strong cash generation characteristics of our assets allowed us to produce $68 million of cash flow from operations in 2023, an increase of $18 million, or +35%, as compared to the prior year. We could not be more pleased to share that given our strong cash position, we were able to repurchase and retire approximately $27 million of our Unsecured Senior Notes at a discount during the year. In addition, we repurchased $17 million of our common stock, and paid a high-yielding dividend while also investing in our business. We also ended the year with a strong cash balance of $61 million and net leverage of 4.43x, retaining financial flexibility moving forward. Despite the lack of tailwinds at our back in 2023, I am very pleased with how the Townsquare team navigated the progressively challenging economic landscape. We outperformed competitors and gained market share due to our local focus and our digital platform. I believe that our performance over the past several years has demonstrated the efficacy of our Digital First Local Media strategy and validated our focus on local markets outside of the Top 50 U.S. cities, reinvigorating my confidence in our business model and our path moving forward.”

Industry News

Saga Communications Q4 2023 Dips 3.3%

Saga Communications reports its operating results for the fourth quarter of 2023 and for the full year of 2023. The company reports Q4 2023 net revenue of $29.1 million, a decline of 3.3% from the same period in 2022. The company adds that political impacted the quarter’s performance as for the quarter Saga had $407 thousand in gross political revenue this year compared to $1.9 million for the same period last year. Without political revenue the company’s gross revenue for the quarter would haveim increased approximately 1% compared to last year. Saga says net income for Q4 of 2023 was $2.5 million, compared to net income of $4.3 million for the fourth quarter last year. For the full year of 2023, net revenue was $112.8 million, a decline of 1.8% from the full year of 2022. Net income rose year-over-year to $9.5 million in 2023 from $9.2 million in 2022. Saga says its balance sheet reflects $40.2 million in cash and short-term investments as of December 31, 2023, and $30.4 million as of March 4, 2024. It expects to spend approximately $5 million to $5.5 million for capital expenditures during 2024. As previously announced, Saga has entered into an agreement to purchase stations serving the Lafayette, Indiana radio market for $5.3 million. This acquisition is expected to close during the second quarter of 2024. Also announced today is Saga’s paying a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.25 per share on March 8, 2024. The aggregate amount of the quarterly dividend will be approximately $1.6 million.

Industry News

iHeartMedia Q4 2023 Revenue Down 5.25%

iHeartMedia reports its operating results for the fourth quarter of 2023 and for the full year of 2023. The company’s consolidated revenue for Q4 of 2023 was $1.06 billion, a decline of 5.25% from Q4 of 2022. The company reports net income of $13.9 million during Q4 of 2023. For the full year of 2023, revenue was $3.75 billion, a decline of 4.1% from the full year of 2022. iHeartMedia reports a net loss of $1.1 billion for the full year of 2023 compared to the net loss of $262.6 million it reported for the full year ofim 2022. iHeartMedia breaks down its operations into segments and here’s what it reports for the full year of 2023: Broadcast Radio revenue was $1.75 billion (down 7% from 2022), Networks revenue was $466 million (down 7.3%), Podcast revenue was $407.8 million (up 13.8%), and Digital (excluding Podcast) revenue was $661 million (basically flat). iHeartMedia chairman and CEO Bob Pittman states, “We’re pleased to report that our fourth quarter results were in line with our previously provided Adjusted EBITDA and Revenue guidance ranges. This quarter the Digital Audio Group achieved the highest Adjusted EBITDA and margin in its history, illustrating the success of this high growth business. We view 2024 as a recovery year in which the company returns to growth mode – we expect to see our Multiplatform Group performance improve quarter by quarter throughout the year, and we expect our Digital Audio Group, including our industry leading podcast business, to continue to grow and reinforce its leadership position in the segment.”

Industry News

Cumulus Media Q4 2023 Revenue Declines 11.9%

Reporting its operating results for the fourth quarter of 2023 and for the full year of 2023, Cumulus Media Group reveals Q4 net revenue of $221 million, a decrease of 11.9% from the same period in 2022. The company posted a net loss of $54,000 in Q4 of 2022 compared to the net loss of $98 million it reports for Q4 of 2023. For the full year of 2023, net revenue was $844.5 million – a decrease of 11.4%im from the full year of 2022. Cumulus reported net income of $16.2 million for 2022, while posting a net loss of $117.9 million for the full year of 2023. Cumulus president and CEO Mary G. Berner says, “While 2023 was a tough year across the media landscape, we were able to offset some of the effects of the weak national advertising climate through strong execution in our key focus areas. Specifically, we grew our digital businesses, meaningfully reduced fixed costs, and improved our balance sheet. Looking ahead, though national advertisers are expressing interest in increasing their radio buys, as of yet, ad demand remains choppy, reducing our visibility into the rest of 2024. That said, our industry-leading performance during similarly weak macro environments gives us significant confidence in our ability to navigate through this one and rebound strongly when the advertising market improves.” Looking at Cumulus’ business segments, the digital segment to which Berner refers was up 5% in Q4 of 2023 to $39.6 million, but total broadcast revenue during the quarter was down 18.2%. Spot revenue declined 18.3% and network revenue was off 17.9% in Q4 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.

Industry News

Beasley Broadcast Group Q4 2023 Revenue Down 8.75%

Today Beasley Broadcast Group releases its operating results for the fourth quarter of 2023 and the full year of 2023. For Q4 of 2023, the company reports net revenue of $65.7 million, a decline of 8.75% from the same period in 2022. For the full year of 2023, net revenue was $247.1 million, a decline of 3.6% from the full year of 2022. While Beasley reports net income of $6.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2023 (compared to the $24.5 million net loss it posted in Q4 of 2022), the company reveals a net loss of $75.1 million for the full year of 2023, compared to the net loss of $42.1 million it reported for the full year ofim 2022. Beasley CEO Caroline Beasley says, “Beasley’s fourth quarter and full year financial results reflect the impacts of cyclical political revenue and ongoing advertising market softness, partially offset by the continued success of our revenue diversification strategy and cost management initiatives. Net revenues for the 2023 fourth quarter and full year decreased by $6.3 million and $9.3 million, respectively. Excluding the impacts from a decrease in political advertising and the company’s dispositions of WWWE-AM, WJBR-FM and the Houston Outlaws in 2023 and WWNN-AM imand KDWN-AM in 2022, partially offset by the company’s acquisitions of KXTE-FM and Guarantee Digital in 2022, revenues would have decreased by $0.2 million and $1.3 million in the 2023 fourth quarter and full year, respectively… For the better part of the year, we continued to execute on our successful growth agenda for our digital business that capitalizes on the value of our strong local brands, unique local business relationships and proven marketing capabilities. While macroeconomic pressures held fourth quarter digital revenue flat compared to the prior year, Beasley delivered meaningful full-year digital revenue growth, up 11.4% year-over-year. Our digital business represented 18.4% of full year 2023 revenue. We remain laser focused on prioritizing the growth of our digital platform as a means to diversify our revenue in a cash flow positive manner, and we expect digital revenue to account for between 20% and 25% of total revenue in 2024. Our dedicated sales teams also continue to leverage the tremendous audience reach and engagement of our local multi-platform content to attract new advertisers, resulting in fourth quarter and full year new local business revenue growth of 52% and 20%, respectively. Additionally, the actions we have taken to reduce costs drove a year-over-year decline in operating expenses of 3.3% in the fourth quarter and 2.3% for the full year.”

Industry News

SiriusXM Reports Q4 and 2023 Full Year Financials

Satellite and digital broadcaster SiriusXM reports its operating results for the fourth quarter of 2023 and the full year of 2023. For Q4, the company reports total revenue was basically flat at $2.28 billion compared to the same period in 2022. For the full year of 2023, total revenue was $8.9 billion, down just a half percent from the full year of 2022. For Q4, SiriusXM reports net income of $350 million, a decline of 3.5% from Q4 of 2022. For the full year of 2023, net income was $1.25 billion, up 3.7% over the netim income of $1.21 billion reported for the full year of 2022. The company says, “SiriusXM added approximately 131,000 new self-pay subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2023. For the full-year 2023, self-pay subscribers decreased by 445,000 and we ended 2023 with approximately 34 million total subscribers.” SiriusXM CEO Jennifer Witz comments, “In 2023, SiriusXM laid the groundwork for future growth through the successful launch of our next-generation platform and the new SiriusXM app. Our commitment to growth was also demonstrated by strategic content investments that expanded our reach to new listeners and by staying true to our identity as a hub for curated, live and on-demand audio experiences. As we look to 2024, our guidance reflects substantial efforts and investments to enhance the value proposition of our subscription and advertising businesses, which we believe will strengthen our long-term growth profile.”

Industry News

Urban One Files Q1 and Q2 2023 Reports

Urban One has been late with its last few quarterly reports due to issues with its former independent accounting firm’s assessment of the company’s sale of its interest in the MGM Harbor Casino. Now, months after obtaining a new independent accounting firm, the company files 10-Q reports with theim Securities and Exchange Commission for the periods ended March 31, 2023 and June 30, 2023. Briefly, the company’s net revenue for Q1 2023 was $110 million, down 2% from the same period in 2022. The company posted a net loss of $2.7 million for the first quarter. For Q2 of 2023, net revenue was $129.7 million, an increase of 9.2% over the same period in 2022. The company posted a net income of $71 million for that period.

Industry News

Townsquare Media Third Quarter Revenue Declines 5%

Townsquare Media reports its financial data for the third quarter of 2023 and says net revenue for the period was $115 million, a decrease of 5% compared to the third quarter of 2022. The company reports a net loss of $36.5 million, compared to the net income of $2.8 million it reported in the third quarter of 2022. Townsquare reports operating results by segment. It’s Broadcast Advertising segment reportsim revenue of $54 million, a decline of 8.6% year-over-year. It’s Subscription Digital Marketing Solutions segment revenue was $20 million, down 12.6% from Q3 of 2022, and its Digital Advertising segment revenue was $39 million, up 5.5% year-over-year. Townsquare Media CEO Bill Wilson states, “The strong cash generation characteristics of our assets allowed us to produce $39 million of cash flow from operations in the first nine months of 2023, an increase of $7 million as compared to the prior year. We could not be more pleased to share that given our strong cash position, we were able to repurchase and retire approximately $14 million of our Unsecured Senior Notes at a discount during the third quarter, bringing our year-to-date total bond repurchases to $27 million. In addition, we repurchased approximately 94,000 Class A shares in the third quarter (in total, we’ve repurchased 1.7 million shares in 2023), and continue to pay a high-yielding dividend while also investing in our business. We also ended the quarter with a strong cash balance of $38 million and net leverage of 4.49x, retaining financial flexibility moving forward.”

Industry News

Saga Communications Reports Q3 Revenue Down 2.8%

Saga Communications issues its Q3 2023 operating results and says net revenue for the period was $29.2 million, a decrease 2.8%. Station operating expense increased 2.1% for the quarter to $22.8 million compared to the same period last year. For the quarter, operating income was $3.5 millionim compared to $1.1 million for the same quarter last year and station operating income (a non-GAAP financial measure) decreased 14.7% to $7.6 million. Saga reports a net income of $2.7 million for Q3 2023 compared to the net loss of $104,000 it reported a year ago. The company’s balance sheet reflects $41.7 million in cash and short-term investments as of September 30, 2023. Saga also announces that it is paying a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share on November 3, 2023 to shareholders of record as of October 11, 2023. The aggregate amount of the quarterly dividend will be approximately $1.5 million.

Industry News

SiriusXM Q3 Revenue Flat

The third quarter 2023 revenue for SiriusXM was $2.27 billion, basically flat from the same period in 2022. The satellite and internet broadcaster reports net income of $363 million for the quarter. SiriusXMim noted that it lost about 96,000 self-pay subscribers during the quarter and states that its current total subscribers stands at 34 million. SiriusXM CEO Jennifer Witz says, “We are very excited to unveil SiriusXM’s next-generation platform on November 8th, a key component of our long-term vision for the company’s consumer offerings. Our content portfolio continues to differentiate us in the audio marketplace with exclusive access to live sports, talk, music and one-of-a-kind content.”

Industry News

Cumulus Media 2023 Q3 Revenue Falls 11%

Cumulus Media Inc is the first audio group to report third quarter 2023 operating results in a year that’s been challenging for all media reliant on advertising. Today’s Q3 report reveals net revenue of $207 million, a decline of 11% over the same period in 2022. Cumulus reports net income during the quarter of $2.7 million, down 68% from a year ago. However, for the first nine months of 2023, the company reportsim a net loss of $19.8 million. Cumulus reports in segments, and for the Q3 period total broadcast radio revenue was $146 million, down 17.4% from a year ago. Spot revenue was down 15.2% while network revenue declined 22.8% from Q3 of 2022. Cumulus’ digital segment reports revenue of $37.2 million, an increase of 6.6%, year-over-year. Cumulus CEO Mary G. Berner states, “Third quarter revenue and Adjusted EBITDA finished in line with expectations with results reflecting the continued dichotomy between local imand national business lines. Despite the challenging environment, we maximized performance by continuing to focus on areas we can control, including growing each of our digital businesses, reducing costs, and improving our balance sheet through non-core asset sales and debt reduction. These actions have further improved the company’s revenue growth profile, operating leverage, financial flexibility, and strategic optionality and, collectively, position us to rebound when the advertising environment improves. While we are continuing to see weakness in national markets, as companies are starting to set their 2024 marketing budgets, we are seeing some initial indications from key national advertisers in several categories that sentiment is improving for next year. That tone, combined with the anticipation of a robust political spending cycle, gives us cautious optimism that we may be seeing the early signs of a market recovery.”

Industry News

Urban One Files Preliminary Q1 2023 Financial Results with SEC

Relative to the preceding story, on Friday (9/29) Urban One filed an 8-K Form containing its preliminary financial results for the first quarter of 2023. The company reports consolidated revenue of $109.9 million, a decrease of 2% from the same period in 2022. Urban One breaks down its report into segments and states that its broadcast radio division brought in revenue of $35.2 million, an increase of 11.7% over the same period in 2022. For the first quarter of 2023, Urban One reports a net loss of $1.5 million compared to the net income of $16.5 million it reported in the first quarter of 2022.

Industry News

Salem Media Group Second Quarter Revenue Declines 4.2%

Salem Media Group total revenue for the second quarter of 2023 was $65.8 million, a decrease of 4.2% from Q2 of 2022. The company reports an operating loss of $4.1 million compared to operating income of $7.3 million reported in Q2 of 2022. Salem posts a net loss of $7.1 million for the second quarter of this year, compared to a net income of $9.1 million reported for Q2 of 2022. Looking at the company’s operating results by segment, Netim Broadcast revenue decreased 5.3% to $49.7 million from $52.5 million; Station Operating Income decreased 43.5% to $6.2 million from $10.9 million; Same Station net broadcast revenue decreased 5.8% to $49.4 million from $52.4 million; and Same Station operating income decreased 37.7% to $6.8 million from $10.9 million. Digital Media revenue increased 0.5% to $10.9 million from $10.8 million, and Publishing revenue decreased 3.5% to $5.2 million from $5.4 million. Salem reports that as of June 30, 2023, the company was not in compliance with its fixed charge coverage ratio. On August 7, 2023 it signed a forbearance whereby the bank agreed not to exercise remedies on the default during the month of August. Additionally, the notional amount of the revolver was reduced from $30 million to $25 million with a minimum availability of $1 million. The interest rate associated with the revolver increased by two percentage points effective July 1, 2023 through the date of the forbearance amendment.

Industry News

Saga Communications Revenue Dips 2.2% in Second Quarter

Net revenue for the second quarter of 2023 for Saga Communications, Inc was $29.2 million, a decrease of 2.2% over the same period in 2022. Operating income for the quarter was $4.3 million compared to $5.4 million for the same quarter last year – a decline of 20.1%. Saga posted a net income of $3.4 million for the quarterim compared to net income of $3.8 million for the second quarter last year – a decline of 12.3% – although it should be noted that Saga is the only radio company thus far to report net income – as opposed to a net loss – during the second quarter. Saga Communications stock pays dividends and during Q2 of 2023 it paid a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share on June 16, 2023. The aggregate amount of the quarterly dividend was approximately $1.5 million. To date Saga has paid over $109 million in dividends to shareholders since the first special dividend was paid in 2012. Saga’s balance sheet reflects $34.4 million in cash and short-term investments as of June 30, 2023. The company carries no long-term debt.

Industry News

Cumulus Media Second Quarter Net Revenue Falls 11%

Cumulus Media Inc is the first radio company to report its financial results for the second quarter of 2023 and post Q2 net revenue of $210.1 million, a decrease of 11.2% over the same period in 2022. The company also posts a net loss of $1.1 million for the quarter, compared to the $8.6 million in net earnings it reported for Q2 of 2022. Breaking down the company’s revenue by segment, digital is the only segment that didn’t report a double-digit decline ($37.5 million, down 0.7%). Spot revenue was $107.1 million (down 15.7%) and network revenue was $39.7 million (down 18.5%). Cumulus notes that its total debt as of June 30, 2023 was $680.9 million.im Cumulus president and CEO Mary Berner comments, “Despite continued challenges in the overall market, our second quarter revenue performed in-line with expectations while Adjusted EBITDA exceeded them. As in prior quarters, we generated strong revenue growth in our digital marketing services business, implemented meaningful cost reductions, and further improved our balance sheet by generating cash from operations and reducing our total and net debt to the lowest levels in more than a decade. Additionally, we executed a highly accretive and opportunistic tender offer, which resulted in the retirement of approximately 10% of our shares outstanding. Our proven track record of strong operational and financial execution in adverse conditions gives us unwavering confidence in our ability to optimize results in the current weak ad market and rebound strongly when the environment improves. In the meantime, we will continue to invest in our digital businesses, further enhance our operating leverage through additional cost reductions, and execute on our strategy to opportunistically deploy capital to maximize long-term shareholder value.”

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Saga Communications Q1 Net Revenue Rises 1.3%

First quarter 2023 operating results for Saga Communications reveal net revenue of $25.3 million, an increase of 1.3% over the same period in 2022. Net income fell from $1.2 million in Q1 of 2022 to $920,000 in the first quarter of this year. The company says, “Station operating expense increased $1.1 million for theim quarter to $21.7 million compared to the same period last year. A significant part of the increase in station operating expense for the quarter was due to a $272 thousand increase in our self-insured health care costs and a $446 thousand increase in employee compensation, including payroll taxes at the station level. After a number of years of holding the company’s compensation expenses flat, we decided that adjustments in our employee compensation were warranted in consideration of the economic times and inflationary environment.”

Industry News

Beasley’s 2023 First Quarter Net Revenue Rises 3.7%

Reporting its operating results for the first quarter of 2023, Beasley Broadcast Group (parent of Beasley Media Group) announces net revenue of $57.8 million, an increase of 3.7% over the same period in 2022 that the company says reflects “a year-over-year increase in digital revenue, local spot revenue and network revenue, partially offset by a decrease in national spot revenue, related to continued softness in the national agency business.” Beasley reports operating income of $400,000 in Q1 of 2023, compared to the operating loss of $2.7 million reported in Q1 of 2022. The company also reports a reduced net loss of $3.5 millionim compared to the net loss of $3.7 million in Q1 of 2022. Beasley CEO Caroline Beasley states, “Beasley’s strong first quarter financial operating results highlight our continued local audio leadership and the ongoing success of our digital transformation and revenue diversification initiatives which are driving top-line and SOI (station operating income) growth. Despite ongoing challenges related to the economy and softness in the national spot market, Beasley generated healthy growth across its digital, local audio, and network revenue sources, as reflected by the 3.7% increase in first quarter net revenues to $57.8 million. Top-imline growth was the primary factor contributing to an impressive 21% year-over-year increase in SOI to $7.1 million. Our digital strategy delivered first quarter digital revenue growth of 27.8% year-over-year and accounted for 17.3% of total first quarter revenue. Similar to recent quarters, strong digital revenue performance was driven by Beasley’s organic content creation initiatives and the roll-out of our tailored web services. Beasley continues to see accelerating demand from consumers for our innovative digital content, with our unique digital users more than doubling over the prior year quarter, resulting in a more than 90% year-over-year increase in sellable digital impressions. We believe we remain on path for this revenue source to reach 20% of total revenue by 2023 year-end.” Total outstanding debt as of March 31, 2023 was $290 million, and first quarter interest expense slightly declined to $6.6 million. Beasley had $35.9 million of cash and cash equivalents on hand at quarter end. We intend to keep our cash on the balance sheet in order to maintain our strong liquidity position, while we monitor the economic environment.”

Industry News

Townsquare Media Q4 2022 Net Revenue Up 8.8%; Full Year Up 10.8%

Townsquare Media reports operating results from the fourth quarter of 2022 and for the full year. Net revenue for Q4 of 2022 was $120.3 million, an increase of 8.8% over the same period in 2021. For the full year of 2022, net revenue was $463 million, an increase of 10.8% over the full year of 2021. While net income was up over 100% in Q4 of 2022 over Q4 of 2021, net income for the full year 2022 was $14.4 million, down 23.4% over the full year 2021. While Broadcast Advertising net revenue for the full year 2022 was up 3.8% over the full year 2021, Townsquare is upbeat about its Digital segment. CEO Bill Wilson says, “I am proud to report that Townsquare’s transformation into a Digital First Local Media Company allowed us to deliver record results in 2022 despite a progressively challenging economic landscape… 2022 was a significant inflection point for our company. It marked the first year where radio no longer comprised the majority of our revenue and profit, further separating Townsquare from our local media peers, and placing a spotlight on our world-class team and our unique and differentiated strategy, assets, platforms and solutions. Our growth engine has been and will continue to be our digital solutions, which were the primary driver of our 2022 growth. Total digital revenue increased +16% year-over-year (and +12% in the fourth quarter) to $231 million, and total digital Adjusted Operating Income increased +12% year-over-year to $69 million, representing a 30% profit margin. We believe Townsquare’s ability to drive profitable, sustainable digital growth is a key differentiator for our company, and we reaffirm our expectation that our digital revenue will grow to at least $275 million by 2024. We are uniquely positioned as a Digital First Local Media Company focused principally on markets outside of the Top 50 in the United States, with a resilient digital growth engine supported by both a recurring subscription digital marketing solutions business, with a large addressable market and limited competition, and a highly differentiated digital advertising technology platform. We believe that our business model and strategy position us to weather the current economic environment better than most… Our success has been and will continue to be the result of the Townsquare Team focusing on what we do best: creating high quality, local original content for our audiences and delivering creative and cost-effective marketing solutions for our local clients with strong return on investment.”

Industry News

Saga Communications Q4 2022 Revenue Up 3.3%; Full Year 2022 Up 6%

Reporting its operating results for the fourth quarter of 2022 and for the full year, Saga Communications reports net revenue increased 3.3% to $30.1 million for Q4 of 2022, compared to $29.2 million for the same period a year ago. It says net revenue increased 6% to $114.9 million for the full year of 2022 compared to $108.3 million for the full year of 2021. Although net income rose almost 16% to $4.27 million in Q4 of 2022, Saga’s net income dipped 17.5% to $9.2 million for the full year of 2022. The company adds, “Despite strong underlying performance the results were impacted by one-time payments during the 3rd quarter related to the passing in August of our founder Ed Christian. As a result of Ed Christian’s passing, the company was required to make several payments to his estate as outlined in his employment agreement. Without these expenses operating income would have increased 12.3% to $16.9 million, free cash flow would have been approximately flat with last year at $13.6 million and net income would have increased 16.8% to $13 million.”