Industry News

Cumulus Reports Q1 Net Revenue Declines 2.7%

The company reports net revenue of $200.1 million in the first quarter of 2024, a decrease of 2.7% from the same period in 2023. Cumulus CEO Mary Berner states, “While our Q1 revenue was in line with guidance and a marked improvement from 2023 trends, it is also reflective of the uncertainty thatim continues to weigh on advertisers. With the advertising environment still unsettled, these new terms (spelled out in the preceding story) provide us additional time and flexibility to execute against our key business priorities – accelerating digital growth, reducing fixed costs, and continuing to de-lever our balance sheet – each of which is foundational to our ability to build long-term shareholder value.” The company took a net loss of $14.2 million in Q1, but it was far less than the net loss of $21.5 million it reported in Q1 of 2023. Cumulus breaks out its revenue in segments and the total broadcast revenue for Q1 of 2024 was $139.7 million, down 5.6% from Q1 of 2023. Spot revenue was $90.5 million (down 7.3%) and network revenue was $49.2 million (down 2.3%). The company’s digital segment reports revenue of $34.5 million, up 7.3% over the first quarter of 2023.

Industry News

Cumulus Issues Preliminary Q1 Operating Results

Cumulus Media releases preliminary operating results for the first quarter of 2024 (January 1 – Marchim 31). The company says it expects to report net revenue in a range of $199 million to $201 million – change of between 3.3% and 2.3%. It also expects to report a net loss in a range of $(14.9) million to $(13.4) million and Adjusted EBITDA in a range of $7.65 million to $9.15 million. The company will report its actual first quarter 2024 operating results on Friday, May 3.  

Industry News

Salem Media Group Releases 2023 Annual Report

Salem Media Group’s total net revenue for the full year of 2023 was $258.6 million, a decrease of 3.1% from the full year of 2022, according to its just-released annual report. The company saw operating expenses rise from 2022 to 2023 and took a considerable impairment charge on its long-term assets that factored heavily into it reporting a net loss of $43.3 million in 2023, compared to the net loss of $3.2 million it posted in 2022. Salem operated three business segments: broadcast, digital, and publishing.im The company states, “Net broadcast revenue decreased 3.7%, or $7.6 million, principally due to a $7.3 million decline in national and local spot advertising revenue. Spot advertising revenue has been declining in the industry due to reduced time spent listening, particularly on AM radio stations. Also, the political revenue decreased $3.6 million, or 61.5% to $2.3 million from $5.9 million. This decrease was partially offset by an increase in our broadcast digital revenue which increased $1.5 million or 4.1% due to increases from Salem Podcast Network, Salem News Channel and digital marketing services through Salem Surround. On a Same Station basis, net broadcast revenue decreased 4.0%, or $8.2 million, which reflects these items net of the impact of stations acquisitions and dispositions.” On the digital side, the company reports, “Net digital media revenue increased 0.7%, or $0.3 million. Net digital advertising revenue decreased due to Facebook algorithms that limit political content, the growing use of browsers that block third-party cookies limiting advertising, and the overall state of the economy that has weakened demand for advertising resulting in a lower number of advertisements and a reduction in rates.” Salem’s 2023 annual report can be found here.

Industry News

Audacy Files Final 2023 Fiscal Report with SEC

Audacy filed its 10-K annual report with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday (3/22) as it prepares to emerge from Chapter 11 reorganization. The company is waiting on FCC approval. Inim reporting is operating results for 2023 it reveals net revenue of $1.16 billion, a decrease of 6.75% from the full year 2022. The company was hampered by an impairment loss of $1.3 billion in 2023, compared to the impairment loss of $180 million reported in 2022. That and other factors led to total operating expense soaring to $2.5 billion, compared to the total operating expense of $1.32 billion in 2022. The company posted a net loss of $1.13 billion in 2023, compared to the net loss of $140 million reported for 2022.

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

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

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

Audacy’s 2023 Q3 Net Revenue Down 5.6%

Reporting its operating results for Q3 of 2023, Audacy says net revenue for the period was $299.2 million, down 5.6% from the same period in 2022. The company reports a net loss of $234 million, up from the net loss of $141 million it reported in Q3 of 2022. The company reveals that local spot revenue was down 3%, national spot revenue declined 15% and network advertising revenue was down 5%. Digital revenue was $64.8 million, up 3% compared to the third quarter of 2022. Audacy also reports broadcast radio revenue by format and notes that news/talk format revenue was $43.35 million, a decline of 10.8% year-over-year. Sports talk revenue was basically flat at $72 million. Music format revenue wasim $145.7 million, down 7.1% year-over-year. Audacy president and CEO David J. Field states, “Audacy’s third quarter net revenues declined 5.6%, in-line with our quarterly guidance as ad market conditions have remained challenging, particularly on national business. Cash operating expenses were down 2%. We gained revenue share in the quarter, most significantly in radio in which we have achieved accelerating share growth since the start of the year. We also delivered solid gains in radio ratings share and digital audience metrics while making important progress on our tech roadmap and meaningful expense savings to improve our current and future business model. Fourth quarter is currently pacing down 9% on an as reported basis and down 4% on a same-station, ex-political basis. We expect Q4 total revenues to decline by high single digits and costs to decline by high single digits. As noted in our recent public filings, we remain in constructive conversations with our lenders to recapitalize the company’s balance sheet to establish a strong financial footing and position the company to capitalize effectively on our growth opportunities. Notwithstanding current challenges, Audacy has established a strong position as a scaled, leading multi-platform audio content and entertainment company distinguished by our exclusive premium content and top positions across the country’s largest markets. We salute our team for their strong work delivering solid growth against our key performance metrics and serving our listeners and customers with excellence.”

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

Beasley Media Group Q3 Net Revenue Falls 5.8%

Reporting its operating results for the third quarter of 2023, Beasley Media Group says net revenue was $60.1 million, a decrease of 5.8% over the same period in 2022. The company also reports a net loss of $67.5 million compare to the net income of $500,000 it reported in the third quarter of 2022, due largely to non-cash impairment losses.  Beasley CEO Caroline Beasley comments, “Beasley’s third quarter financial results reflect the well-publicized economic challenges and continued advertising market softness which we outlined in the prior quarters. Similar to recent quarters, Beasley delivered strongim digital revenue growth of 9.1% year-over-year, with digital revenue representing 18.6% of total third quarter revenue. Our continued strong digital revenue growth has moved us to within a few basis points of reaching the bottom end of our goal of digital revenue accounting for 20% to 30% of total revenue, and we remain laser focused on this initiative as a means to diversify our revenue in a cash flow positive manner. Our dedicated sales teams continue to leverage the tremendous audience reach and engagement of our local multi-platform content to attract new advertisers, resulting in a 22% increase in new local business revenue growth for the third quarter. Additionally, the actions we have taken to reduce our cost structure resulted in third quarter operating and corporate expenses decreases of 2.7% and 12.5%, respectively. In summary, we believe our third quarter financial performance demonstrates that our digital transformation and revenue diversification strategies continue to gain momentum and our initiatives focused on lowering operating expenses and reducing debt are positioning Beasley to generate increased and more diversified cash flows in future periods. Looking ahead, as has always been the case for non-election years, we expect fourth quarter revenues to be somewhat impacted by the absence of cyclical political advertising. While we plan to offset some of this expected softness through continued growth in digital and new business, we are hopeful that the overall advertising environment will improve in the fourth quarter and continue to closely monitor the economy.”

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

Townsquare Media Q2 Net Revenue Off 0.6%

Townsquare Media, Inc reports its financial results for the second quarter of 2023 and says net revenue for the period was $121.2 million, a decline of 0.6% from the same period in 2022. Breaking the company’s revenue down by segment, Broadcast Advertising net revenue decreased $3.3 million, or 5.8%, and Subscription Digital Marketing Solutions net revenue decreased $1.7 million, or 7.5%, compared to the same period in 2022. These revenue declines were largely offset by Digital Advertising net revenue which increased $4 million, or 10.6% from Q2 of 2022. Townsquare reports a net loss of $2.7 million in Q2 of 2023 compared to the net income of $4.9im million reported in Q2 of 2022, primarily due to a $16.8 million increase in non-cash impairment charges to the company’s FCC licenses and investments, partially offset by an increase in other income, net due to a $5.2 million gain on the sale of one of the company’s investments and an increase in the effective tax rate for the current period. Townsquare CEO Bill Wilson says, “I am pleased to share that Townsquare’s digital growth engine continued to drive results in the second quarter, demonstrating its strength and resiliency, as we delivered second quarter net revenue and Adjusted EBITDA that met our previously issued guidance… With its differentiated and sophisticated products and solutions, our Digital Advertising segment was once again our largest driver of growth, increasing second quarter net revenue by 11% year-over-year… The strong cash generation characteristics of our assets allowed us to produce $31 million of cash flow from operations in the first six months of 2023, an increase of $8 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 nearly 9% of our total shares outstanding, repurchase and retire approximately $13 million of our Unsecured Senior Notes at a discount, and pay a high-yielding dividend to our shareholders during the first six months of the year. We also ended the quarter with a strong cash balance of $50 million and net leverage of 4.36x, retaining financial flexibility moving forward.”

Industry News

iHeartMedia Second Quarter Revenue Down 3.6%

Reporting its operating results for the second quarter of 2023, iHeartMedia reveals net revenue of $920 million, a decline of 3.6% over the same period in 2022. The company reports an operating loss of $897 million compared to the operating income of $82.9 million it reported in Q2 of 2022. After posting a net income of $15.1 million in the second quarter of 2022, the company reports a net loss of $882.9 million in Q2 of 2023. Looking atim iHeartMedia’s financial by segment, broadcast radio revenue was $429 million, a decline of 7.2% over Q2 of 2022. Network radio was $122 million (down 4.2%), digital revenue (excluding podcast) was $164 million (down 1.6%), and podcasting revenue was $96.7 million (up 12.9%). iHeartMedia chairman and CEO Bob Pittman says, “We are pleased to report that our second quarter 2023 results reflected Adjusted EBITDA slightly above the midpoint of the guidance range, and more than double the Adjusted EBITDA we generated in the first quarter, and our consolidated revenue were above the guidance range. The continued positive performance of our Digital Audio Group, led by our Podcasting business, and the significantly improved relative performance of our Multiplatform Group during this soft advertising period, are encouraging metrics for us, and we’re seeing indications of improving macroeconomic trends which we expect to have a positive impact for us in the second half of the year, with most of that impact in Q4.”

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

Audacy Q2 2023 Net Revenue Falls 6.6%

On Friday (8/4), Audacy reported its operating results for the second quarter of 2023. Net revenue for the period was $298.5 million, down 6.6% from the same period in 2022. The company posted an operating loss of $135.3 million, compared to operating income of $23.3 million reported in Q2 of 2022. Audacy reports a net loss of $125.8 million, compared to the net loss of $773,000 it reported for the second quarter of 2022. Breaking down the company’s revenue streams, Spot revenue (local and national) was $187.1 million (down 3.7%), whileim Network revenue was $20.8 million (down 4.4%). Digital revenue was $66.7 million (down 4%). Audacy also reports revenue based on radio format and says revenue from sports stations was $65.6 million (up 1.2%), while revenue from all-news and news/talk was $44 million (down 14.8%). Revenue from music-formatted stations was $ 145.3 million (down 8.3%). Audacy chairman, president and CEO David J. Field comments, “Second quarter net revenues were down 6.6% in line with our quarterly guidance, imreflecting challenging ad market conditions. During the quarter, we saw accelerated growth across certain of our key performance metrics including radio revenue share, station audience ratings, and digital platform usage. We also made meaningful progress on our ad tech and ad product roadmap as we work to develop important new pools of digital demand and growth… We have initiated discussions with our lenders to enhance our balance sheet and establish a strong financial footing to enable the company to capitalize on its growth opportunities. Notwithstanding current challenges, Audacy has established a prominent position as a scaled, leading multi-platform audio company distinguished by our exclusive premium content, top positions across the country’s largest markets, and unrivaled leadership in news and sports radio. We continue to invest in our people, platform, content, technology and capabilities and serve our listeners and customers with excellence. Ad market conditions remain challenging but have stabilized entering the third quarter. We are pacing down 4% with local spot considerably stronger than national spot. We expect Audacy’s Q3 revenues to decline by mid-single digits.”

Industry News

Beasley Media Group Reports Q2 Revenue Decline of 2.1%

Reporting its financial operations for the second quarter of 2023, Beasley Media Group says net revenue for the period was $63.5 million, a decline of 2.1% over the same period in 2022. The company reported an operating loss of $4.5 million – the same as in Q2 of 2022 – and a net loss of $10.4 million, which was a smaller net loss than the $14.5 million loss it reported in Q2 of 2022. Beasley CEO Caroline Beasley comments, “Despiteim ongoing challenges related to the economy and softness in the national spot market, Beasley’s successful digital transformation, continued local audio leadership and revenue diversification initiatives, combined with our proactive initiatives to reduce expenses, resulted in net loss declining by more than $4 million in both the quarter and year-to-date periods, compared to the same periods in 2022, as well as quarterly adjusted imEBITDA growth of 16.8% and 2023 year-to-date Adjusted EBITDA growth of 28.1%. During the quarter, we made additional progress with reducing leverage and strengthening our balance sheet as we repurchased another $3 million of our debt at a discount and lowered quarterly interest expense which support our goal to drive cash flow growth. We are generating cash from operations, and we expect to continue to generate positive cash flow for the full year. Our digital strategy delivered second quarter digital revenue growth of 14.8% year-over-year and accounted for 19.4% of total second quarter revenue. Our digital revenue is primarily derived from our owned and operated assets, with our proprietary content creation driving the largest increase with the best margins and third-party products that come with a higher cost. Our talented sales teams have been able to combine our over-the-air and digital platform offerings to create marketing campaigns and brand solutions that provide great results for our clients. Our continued strong digital revenue growth has moved us to within a few basis points of reaching the bottom end of our goal of digital revenue accounting for 20% to 30% of total revenue and we remain laser focused on this initiative as a means to diversify and complement revenue in a cash flow positive manner.” Beasley reports its total debt as of June 30, 2023 was $287 million.

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.”

Industry News

Urban One Files 2022 Q4 and Full Year Operating Results

If you’ve been following this story, you are aware that Urban One is late with this Securities and Exchange Commission filing because of accounting issues related to the valuation of its investment interest in MGM National Harbor, which the company sold for cash proceeds of approximately $136.8 million on April 21, 2023. Re-evaluation of the accounting required adjustment to the company’s filings for the four quarters of 2021 andim Q3 of 2022. For the fourth quarter of 2022, net revenue was approximately $132.6 million, an increase of 1.6% from the same period in 2021. The company reports operating income of approximately $14.3 million for the period, compared to approximately $20.3 million for Q4 of 2021. Broadcast and digital operating income was approximately $47.6 million, an increase of 7.9% from the same period in 2021. Net income was $856,000 compared to approximately $5.3 million in net income for the same period in 2021. The company has yet to file its operating results for Q1 of this year, but its preliminary results from the quarter show same station radio segment revenue up 2.0% on a same station basis.

Industry News

Audacy First Quarter Revenue Falls 5.7%

The company reports net revenue for the first quarter of 2023 was $259.6 million, a decrease of 5.7% over Q1 of 2022. Audacy reports that total operating expenses increased 1.9% and it is reporting an operating loss of $12.2 million compared to the operating income of $8.5 million it reported in the first quarter of 2022. Theim company posts a Q1 2023 net loss of $35.9 million, an increase of 225% compared to Q1 of 2022. Audacy chairman, president and CEO David J. Field states, “First quarter revenues were down 5.7% with local sales significantly outperforming national as challenging ad market conditions persisted. Cash operating expenses were up 3% during the quarter but are expected to be below prior-year levels for the remainder of 2023. Notwithstanding the difficult economic headwinds, we remain steadfastly focused on delivering significantly higher future levels of Adjusted EBITDA, capitalizing on our multiple growth drivers and our differentiated premium competitive position in the dynamic audio market. We are making progress on each of our drivers, including our podcasting and digital marketing solutions businesses, our reinvented streaming audio platform, our emerging ad tech and ad products, and our enhanced national enterprise business development efforts. In addition, we are encouraged to see some positive signs in our auto business as we continue our vigorous work to weather the storm and await future improvements in market conditions.”

Industry Views

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

Cumulus Media Q1 Net Revenue Down 11%

Cumulus Media’s net revenue for the first quarter of 2023 was $205.6 million, a decline of 11% over the same period in 2022. The company’s net loss ballooned to $21.4 million from the net loss of $905,000 it reported in Q1 of 2022. Breaking down Cumulus’ revenue by segment, total broadcast revenue was $148 million – down 12.5% year-over-year – led by network revenue (-22.9%), and followed by spot revenue (down 6%). Digital revenue was $32 million, up just 0.6% over the first quarter of 2022. Cumulus Media president and CEO Mary G. Berner comments, “Extending our track record of strong operational and financial execution duringim challenging times, in the first quarter, we grew our digital marketing services revenue by more than 23%, completed the sale of WFAS-FM, continued to repurchase shares and retire debt at a discount, and have now executed $10 million of additional annualized cost reductions. That said, the impact of the considerable macro-driven weakness in the national advertising market, as well as the unfavorable prior year political and WynnBET comparisons, ultimately resulted in total revenue and Adjusted EBITDA declines. Though the difficult national market trends persist, we have confidence in our ability to successfully navigate adverse environments such as this one. Specifically, since 2019 through the COVID-impacted years, we have had best-in-class performance in terms of fixed cost reduction, Adjusted EBITDA margin recovery, Adjusted EBITDA to free cash flow conversion and net debt reduction. With our current liquidity profile and solid balance sheet, we believe that we are not only well-positioned to weather the current storm but will rebound strongly when the market eventually recovers.”

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.”

Uncategorized

iHeartMedia Q4 2022 Net Revenue Rises 6%; Full Year Up 10%

iHeartMedia reveals operating results from the fourth quarter of 2022 and for the full year of 2022. The company says net revenue for Q4 was $1.12 billion, an increase of 6% over the same period in 2021, and full year net revenue for 2022 was $3.9 billion, up 10% over the previous year. The company reports net income of $80.6 million for Q4 of 2022 and a net loss of $262 million for the full year. iHeartMedia breaks its results into three segments. The Multiplatform Group (including broadcast stations, networks and sponsorships & events) reports Q4 revenue of $732 million – a 0.9% increase over Q4 2021. Broadcast revenue grew $3 million, while Networks declined $5.5 million (4.1%). Revenue from Sponsorship and Events increased by $8.1 million (12.1%). The Digital Audio Group reports revenue of $301 million in Q4 of 2022 – up 10.2% over Q4 of ’21. Podcast revenue increased by $16.4 million (16.9%). The Audio & Media Services Group reports Q4 2022 revenue of $94.5 million – an increase of 44.3% over the same period in 2021. iHeartMedia chairman and CEO Bob Pittman says, “We are pleased to report another quarter of solid operating results for iHeart in consumer usage, revenue, and earnings growth. The fourth quarter was our best quarter for Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA – and on a full-year basis, in 2022 we generated the highest revenue and the second highest Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow year in iHeart’s history. Even in this continuing challenging and uncertain economic environment, we continue to make strong progress in our transformation of iHeart into a true multiplatform audio company – driven by innovation, supported by data and technology, and powered by the largest sales force in audio – and we are positioning iHeart to take advantage of the coming economic recovery.”

Industry News

Cumulus Media Q4 2022 Revenue Dips; Up 4% for Full Year

Reporting its operating results for the fourth quarter of 2022 and for the full year, Cumulus Media says Q4 net revenue was $251 million, a decline of 0.4% over the same period in 2021. For the full year of 2022, net revenue was $953.5 million, an increase of 4% over all of 2021. While Cumulus reported a small loss for Q4 of 2022 ($54,000), the company is reporting net income of $16.2 million for the full year, a decline of 6% from the full year of 2021. For the full year of 2022, Cumulus’ broadcast radio revenue was basically flat (-0.1%) at $709.6 million and its digital revenue was $142.3 million, an increase of 12.2%. Breaking down the broadcast radio segment, spot revenue was $479.8 million – up 4.9% over 2021 – but network revenue was off 9% for the year at $229.7 million. Cumulus president and CEO Mary G. Berner says, “Despite considerable economic turbulence, we delivered fourth quarter financial performance in the upper half of our guidance range, continuing a multi-year period of significant accomplishments. Operating through a series of difficult macroeconomic environments, including the pandemic, we successfully executed a strategic plan under which we developed and drove new areas of growth, right sized the balance sheet, improved the company’s operating leverage and returned capital to shareholders. As a result, we have delivered consistent revenue growth, built several digital businesses to a $150+ million revenue run-rate, reduced our net leverage to its lowest level in more than a decade, and boosted our liquidity to give ourselves optionality regarding capital allocation.” Looking ahead to 2023, we continue to face substantial economic headwinds. However, our battle-tested skill in performing during challenging times, as well as our very strong financial position, gives us substantial confidence in our ability to not only weather this depressed ad environment but take full advantage of opportunities that may arise over the coming quarters.”

Industry News

Beasley Reports Q4 2022 Revenue Up 1.8%

Beasley Broadcasting Group issues operating results for the fourth quarter of 2022 and for the full year. Net revenue during the three months ended December 31, 2022 increased 1.8% to $72 million, primarily reflecting a year-over-year increase in digital revenue, political revenue and other revenue, partially offset by a slight decrease in audio revenue related to softness in the national agency business. For the full year of 2022, Beasley reports net revenue of $256.4 million, an increase of 6.2% over 2021. The company also reports a net loss of $25.8 million in Q4 of 2022, compared to a net income of $10.6 million in Q4 of 2021. Beasley says, “Operating loss, net loss and net loss per diluted share for the three months ended December 31, 2022 include $44.2 million of non-cash impairment losses related to FCC licenses, goodwill and franchise rights. Operating loss, net loss and net loss per diluted share for the 12 months ended December 31, 2022 include $54.7 million of non-cash impairment losses related to FCC licenses, goodwill and franchise rights.” Beasley CEO Caroline Beasley comments, “Beasley’s 2022 fourth quarter and full-year financial results reflect the ongoing success of our digital transformation and revenue diversification strategies, which drove year-over-year increases in revenue and SOI for both the three- and 12-month periods. Throughout the year, Beasley largely offset ongoing challenges related to the economy and softness in the national spot market, as we generated healthy growth across all of our digital, local audio, political and other revenue sources, as reflected by the 6.2% increase in full year net revenues to $256 million. This top-line growth was the primary factor contributing to a 2.8% year-over-year increase in full year SOI to $43.1 million. While economic uncertainty remains, Beasley initiated several actions throughout the year that we believe will strengthen the long-term position of our business. First, our digital strategy continues to deliver strong results with fourth quarter digital revenue growth of 13.2% year-over-year, representing nearly 17% of total fourth quarter revenue. Digital revenue has consistently outpaced national spot advertising revenue over the past several quarters due to a combination of organic growth and contributions from the second quarter acquisition of our white label digital agency business, Guarantee Digital. With accelerating demand from consumers and advertisers for our local content and multi-platform marketing solutions, we are solidly on the path for this revenue source to reach 20% of total revenue. Second, we remain focused on monetizing our premium audio and digital content through new local business development, revenue diversification and maximizing political revenue opportunities. As a result, in the fourth quarter, we delivered $5.1 million in net political revenue, with stronger than expected gains in Las Vegas, Philadelphia, and Detroit, as well as year-over-year total revenue increases across nearly all of our markets and in our esports business. Our radio brands remain dominant in Nielsen Audio ratings, where Beasley currently has the highest average cluster share when compared to the major radio broadcasters in PPM. Finally, we implemented a cost reduction program in the second half of 2022, with the majority of cost cuts occurring in October.”

Front Page News Industry News

Wednesday, November 9, 2022

Townsquare Media’s 2022 Third Quarter Net Revenue Soars 8.4%. Third quarter net revenue was $120.6 million – an increase of 8.4% over the same period in 2021. Townsquare Media reveals in its 2022 Q3 financial report that net income for the quarter decreased $10.1 million to $2.8 million, as compared to $12.9 million in the same period in 2021, primarily driven by non-cash impairment charges to the company’s FCC licenses of $10.3 million. Townsquare Media breaks its financial reports in to three operating segments. For the third quarter of this year, Digital Advertising net revenue increased $6.5 million, or 21.3%; Subscription Digital Marketing Solutions net revenue increased $2.1 million, or 9.7%, as compared to the same period in 2021 due in part to the addition of approximately 850 additional net subscribers during the third quarter of 2022; and Broadcast Advertising net revenue increased $2 million, or 3.4%, compared to Q3 of 2021. Townsquare CEO Bill Wilson comments, “I am proud to report another record setting quarter of results that clearly demonstrate the undeniable success and differentiation of Townsquare’s transformation into a Digital First Local Media company. The Townsquare team reached all-time Q3 highs with net revenue growth of 8% year-over-year, and Adjusted EBITDA growth of 6% year-over-year, meeting our Q3 guidance. In addition, net leverage declined to an all-time low of 4.54x as we continue to make progress towards our 4x net leverage target. Our growth engine has been and will continue to be our digital solutions, which were the primary driver of our third quarter growth, accounting for half of Townsquare’s total revenue and total profit. Total digital revenue increased 17% year-over-year in the third quarter, and trailing 12-month digital revenue grew to $225 million. As a uniquely positioned Digital First Local Media Company focused principally on markets outside of the top 50 in the United States, Townsquare has 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.”

Ramsey Solutions to Give Free Finance Course to 1,000 Veterans in Recognition of Veterans Day. In honor of Veterans Day this Friday (11/11), Dave Ramsey announces that he is giving away access to his company’s Financial Peace University for 1,000 veterans on “The Ramsey Show.” Ramsey Solutions says the nine-lesson digital personal finance course has helped millions take control of their money for 30 years. Veterans who enter their information on the company’s website and are selected, will be able to join a class in-person or go online to watch videos on-demand as they learn the fastest way to pay off debt, save for emergencies and invest for the future. Military members list financial troubles among their top stressors. In the first 90 days of working the FPU plan, the average household pays off $5,300 of debt and saves $2,700 for emergencies.

KFI, Los Angeles Set to Begin 12th Annual Pastathon with SoCal Wendy’s Restaurants Joining the Cause. The annual KFI Pastathon charity event that encourages listeners to donate money, pasta, and sauce to benefit Caterina’s Club gets underway on Tuesday (11/15) and includes new partner Wendy’s restaurants in Southern California. The iHeartMedia news/talk station says that Caterina’s Club provides more than 25,000 nutritious meals every week to children in need in Southern California. The charity also helps families get back into stable home environments and teaches teens the skills they need to work in the hospitality industry. This year, all 168 Wendy’s restaurants in Southern California will offer their customers a donation option from November 16 through December 4.  In addition, on November 29, ‘Giving Tuesday,’ these Wendy’s will also donate $1 from every Frosty sold to the KFI PastaThon. With the help of listeners, local businesses, and the continued partnership with Smart & Final stores and Barilla Pasta, the 2021 event raised a record-breaking $1 million dollars and 115,000 lbs of pasta and sauce. Since 2010, the KFI PastaThon event has raised over $4.6 million and 700,000 pounds of pasta and sauce for children in need in the community. KFI program director Robin Bertolucci states, “We are so delighted to have Wendy’s partner with us on our efforts to feed Southern California kids. Because of generous partners like Wendy’s, Chef Bruno is feeding over 25,000 kids every week. As we embark upon our 12th annual KFI PastaThon we know the need is bigger than ever but so are the hearts of our listeners and partners. Our goal this year is to once again raise over a million dollars.  Thank you to Wendy’s for helping us make that dream a reality!”

Radio and Podcast Power Session Being Made Available for Colleges & Universities. The Library of American Broadcasting Foundation (LABF), in partnership with Benztown, the University of Maryland and the Broadcast Education Association (BEA), are creating a produced 90-minute, on-demand recorded Zoom video session focused on radio and podcasting for colleges and universities utilizing the LABF collection. The LABF Radio and Podcasting Power Session initiative, led by LABF board members Dave “Chachi” Denes – Benztown president – and BEA executive director Heather Birks, features University of Maryland reference specialist Michael Henry hosting a virtual walk-through of the library, followed by an insightful conversation about the vast collection highlighting incredible moments in U.S. history captured through the eyes and voice of television and radio broadcasters. Additionally, industry professionals from across different disciplines of the podcasting and radio business, including radio executive Mike McVay along with Benztown’s R Dub! from “Sunday Night Slow Jams”, Darren Silva and MJ Bloch, Tom Green, Susan Aksu, Beasley Media Group chief revenue officer Tina Murley and other experts speak to the students about the many career opportunities available to them in the industry. Denes says, “Everyone involved with this program is passionate about radio and podcasting. It’s an absolute honor to be able to share our knowledge with students that will someday be leading the industry.” The initiative initially launched as a semester-long course with Clark Atlanta University in 2021. The school is the first to utilize the 2022 90-minute abridged class-offering. It will be available to colleges and universities.

TALKERS News Notes. A new deal between Cumulus Media’s news/talk WLS-AM and Motor Racing Network will have the station airing the NASCAR Cup Series beginning in 2023. This three-year pact comes on the heels of the news that the City of Chicago has signed a three-year deal with NASCAR as the home of the first-ever Chicago Street Race. The unprecedented 12-turn, 2.2-mile Chicago Street Race will take the Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series past and through many of Chicago’s most renowned downtown landmarks during Fourth of July Weekend, July 1-2, 2023. WLS program director Stephanie Tichenor says, “We are thrilled to be the new Chicago radio home of NASCAR and we look forward to growing this new partnership as we gear up for the first-ever Chicago Street Race next summer – and what promises to be an unforgettable Fourth of July weekend.”…..SiriusXM announces the launch of a new original comedy channel, Team Coco Radio. Executive produced by Conan O’Brien, the channel will feature exclusive audio content as well as select Team Coco podcasts, including the popular “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend.” The channel debuts on November 15. Subscribers can hear the biggest interviews and the funniest stand-up moments from Conan’s iconic TBS show, as well as select Team Coco podcasts, including “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend,” plus “Inside Conan” and “Conan O’Brien Needs a Fan.” Fresh commentary from Conan will also be weaved throughout the programming, as he recalls funny behind-the-scenes stories and other entertaining and insightful anecdotes.

Midterms/Trump’s 2024 Aspirations, The Economy, China COVID Lockdowns, Meta Layoffs/Twitter Chaos, January 6 Cases, Russia-Ukraine War, Powerball Jackpot, and Tropical Storm Nicole Among Top News/Talk Stories Yesterday (11/8). Tuesday’s midterm elections, the battle for control of Congress combined with former President Donald Trump’s expected announcement he’ll run in 2024; inflation and fears of a recession; the COVID lockdowns in China and their effect on the global supply chain; Facebook parent Meta to lay off 11,000 workers and Elon Musk’s mercurial leadership of Twitter; the trials of Oath Keepers for seditious conspiracy relative to the January 6 Capitol attack; Russia’s attack on Ukrainian infrastructure; a ticket for the record $2 billion Powerball jackpot sells in California; and Florida braces for Tropical Storm Nicole were some of the most-talked-about stories on news/talk radio yesterday, according to ongoing research from TALKERS magazine.

Front Page News Industry News

Tuesday, November 8, 2022

Audacy Third Quarter Net Revenue Falls 4%. The company reports Q3 net revenue of $317 million – a decline of 4% over the same period in 2021. Additionally, Audacy reports an operating loss of $151.9 million compared to operating income of $29.3 million in Q3 of 2021. The company reports a net loss of $141 million for the third quarter of 2022 compared to the net loss of $4.76 million it reported during the third quarter of 2021. Breaking down Audacy’s revenue by segment, it reports local and national spot business was $205 million, a decline of 7.2% over the same period in 2021. Digital revenue (including podcasting) was $62.7 million, an increase of 2.1% over Q3 of 2021. Network revenue was $23.7 million, up 0.9% over the third quarter of 2021. Audacy chairman, president & CEO David J. Field comments, “Our third quarter revenues declined 3.8% as advertising headwinds impacted company performance. Solid double-digit growth in streaming audio and digital marketing solutions were offset by declining radio revenues. Our radio revenues were negatively impacted by our concentration in the country’s largest markets as small to medium market radio outperformed large market radio by 8% during the quarter. We remain deeply focused on executing our action plan to navigate the storm and emerge healthy and strong. We completed the sale of $56 million in real estate to enhance our financial position with additional sales in the pipeline. We launched the next generation of our Audacy streaming platform with innovative features including segment chaptering of live spoken-word radio shows. Since launch, digital listeners are up 25% while registrations have increased 15% and we have high expectations for the impact of the new platform on our future growth. We also continue to make progress on core strategic growth drivers such as national enterprise business development and our ad tech product roadmap to open important pools of demand and accelerate future performance. Looking beyond the challenging current macro environment, Audacy has been transformed into a leading, scaled multi-platform audio content and entertainment company, better able to serve listeners and customers than ever before. We are excited by the opportunities ahead and are deeply focused on continuing to best position the company to compete for significant growth in the dynamic audio market.”

Audio Pros Gather at FOX News for Reception. Pictured above are (from l-r) “FOX Across America” host Jimmy Failla, Westwood One SVP, head of operations Tim Seymour, FOX News Audio account manager, affiliate sales & marketing Tamara Karcev, and TuneIn chief content officer Kevin Straley at FOX News headquarters in New York as FOX hosted the reception to showcase its collection of radio and podcast offerings with media pros in town for the NAB Show New York last week. FOX News Audio vice president John Sylvester along with hosts Brian Kilmeade, Guy Benson, and Jimmy Failla spoke during the cocktail reception.

Talk Host Austin Petersen Joins Missouri’s ‘Real Talk’ Network. Former KWON, Jefferson City, Missouri morning drive talk host Austin Petersen – a former Libertarian candidate for president and U.S. Senate – joins Ellis Broadcasting & Media LLC’s “Real Talk” format as host of the 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm show. The programming airs on a
number of Missouri radio stations including: KXEN-AM, St. Louis; KRTK-FM, Hermann; KVMO-FM, Vandalia; and KRTE-FM, Steelville. Petersen says, “I can’t wait to take on this new challenge and get the chance to talk about the big issues with the good people in the St. Louis region. It’s a huge opportunity and I couldn’t be more grateful. You can expect hard-hitting interviews, freedom rants, and plenty of jokes and fun. I love gold, guns, freedom and my smokin’-hot, redheaded wife. We’ll look at the issues from all angles. We’ll think outside the box, avoid groupthink, and declare our independence from the tyranny of big government. Most of all, we’ll make freedom fighting fun again!” The network is owned and operated by the husband and wife team of Rick and Tracy Ellis. Tracy Ellis says, “When Rick and I started the ‘Real Talk Radio Network’ it was always important to us to make sure our listeners were kept up to date not only on local news and politics, but throughout the state of Missouri. We have followed Austin Petersen for some time and with his home base in Jefferson City, we felt he was the perfect fit to the puzzle at ‘Real Talk.’ Many local politicians came to us directly and spoke highly of Austin and how much they enjoyed being on his former show and would love to hear him on our stations.”

TALKERS News Notes. Announcing its coverage of the midterm elections, SiriusXM says it is presenting programming on its original political channels – Patriot, P.O.T.U.S. and Progress – with team coverage that extends from its regular daytime schedule into new live primetime and overnight programming. Additionally, on SiriusXM Triumph, starting at 9:00 pm ET Megyn Kelly will host a special live, commercial-free edition of her program on which she’ll share her perspective and analysis of election results as they come in, and will speak with leading experts and political observers. The Urban View channel, which focuses on issues affecting the African-American community, will also be live with special programming from 8:00 pm – 12:00 am ET…..PodcastOne is partnering with original “Friday Night Lights” cast members Zach Gilford, Scott Porter and self-proclaimed “Friday Night Lights” superfan Mae Whitman for an exclusive podcast and vodcast, “It’s Not Only Football: Friday Night Lights and Beyond” that debuts on Thursday (11/10). Each week, the trio will break down an episode of “Friday Night Lights,” giving listeners and viewers exclusive, behind-the-scenes stories and the latest going on in their lives. Episodes will feature guests that range from fellow cast members to close friends and colleagues…..Virtual News Center adds Flagler Broadcasting’s WBHU, St. Augustine Beach, Florida to its growing list of affiliate radio stations. Virtual News Center will provide local newscasts anchored by Amy Cherry with daily reporting from Rich Petschke.

Midterm Elections/Trump in 2024, The Economy, Elon Musk & Twitter, Russia-Ukraine War, January 6, Powerball Delay, and Subtropical Storm Nicole Among Top News/Talk Stories Yesterday (11/7). Today’s midterm elections that will determine control of the House and Senate for the next two years and former President Donald Trump’s teasing his bid for the White House in 2024; inflation and fears of a recession; the uncertain state of Twitter in Elon Musk’s second week as owner of the social media platform; Ukrainians and Europeans brace for a long, cold winter as Vladimir Putin continues his war; the Oath Keepers on trial for seditious conspiracy related to the January 6 Capitol attack; the record $1.8 billion Powerball jackpot drawing is delayed due to “security protocol issue”; and the development of subtropical storm Nicole were some of the most-talked-about stories on news/talk radio yesterday, according to ongoing research from TALKERS magazine.

Front Page News Industry News

Monday, November 7, 2022

Beasley Broadcast Group Q3 Net Revenue Rises 1.5%. Financial data from Beasley Broadcast Group’s third quarter of 2022 reveals net revenue of $63.8 million – an increase of 1.5% over the same period in 2021. The company reports operating income of $4.7 million in the third quarter of 2022 compared to $4.9 million in the third quarter of 2021. It says this slight decrease was driven by a $1.2 million increase in corporate expenses related to investments in its digital business as well as severance expense, partially offset by a year-over-year increase in Station Operating Income (SOI, a non-GAAP financial measure). Beasley reports net income of $500,000 compared to the net loss of $1.6 million it reported during the same period a year ago. Station operating income increased by 5.1% to $12.3 million in the third quarter of 2022, up from $11.7 million in the third quarter of 2021. The company says the increase is primarily attributable to higher net revenue, which more than offset higher operating expenses. Chief executive officer Caroline Beasley says, “Beasley delivered another strong period of operating and financial performance, reflecting the ongoing success of our digital transformation and revenue diversification strategies. Top-line growth was the primary factor contributing to a 5.1% year-over-year increase in SOI to $12.3 million and was driven by continued strength in local audio advertising and impressive growth in our digital business. Regarding the economic environment, like many companies, we are managing through some challenging market conditions with a focus on what we can control. We continue to experience increased volatility in national spot advertising, which accounted for approximately 15% of our third quarter net revenues. The ongoing strength of our digital and local audio advertising revenues is helping us to partially offset these declines. We are also taking actions on the expense side, and have implemented approximately $10 million in expense reductions, of which roughly half were from a reduction to headcount. Digital remains a key component of our revenue diversification strategy. Digital revenue increased 23.1% year-over-year representing 16% of total third quarter revenues, while our digital margin improved. Our digital performance benefitted from a first full quarter contribution from the white label digital agency we acquired in late June, which we believe will continue to accelerate our digital revenue growth and provide meaningful synergies with our growing digital platform. In both the second and third quarters, digital revenue accounted for a larger share of our revenue than national advertising, and we expect this revenue source to continue offsetting national spot weakness in the coming quarters. Total outstanding debt as of September 30, 2022 was $290 million. In summary, we believe these results demonstrate the strength and relevance of our industry-leading audio and digital content, as well as our teams’ extraordinary efforts to serve our listeners, customers and communities through challenging circumstances. And while we cannot control how the economic situation evolves in the coming months, we have already taken decisive steps to mitigate the impact of near-term headwinds and drive continued progress against our long-term growth strategy. Looking ahead, we will continue to focus on maximizing our growth opportunities, managing our expenses and capital structure, serving our audiences and advertisers and delivering results for our stockholders.”

Monday Memo: Your Podcast ‘Bones.’ Like your on-air work, your podcast is a show. And consultant Holland Cooke figures that “as a professional broadcaster, you enter the on-demand audio arena advantaged over others…BUT…” In this week’s column, HC cautions that – given the way podcasts are consumed – your format is critical. Read it here.

 

Greg Renoe Promoted to Market Manager for Cumulus Columbia/Jefferson City. The company promotes Greg Renoe from his general sales manager position with the Columbia and Jefferson City, Missouri clusters to vice president and market manager. The station groups consist of news/talk KFRU, Columbia and news/talk KLIK, Jefferson City plus five music brands. Cumulus Media SVP of operations Mark Sullivan says, “Greg’s long-standing relationships with our staff, key advertisers, and civic leaders, together with his deep knowledge of the market and effectiveness as a leader, have earned him this promotion. I look forward to his continued success with our organization in Middle Missouri.” Renoe adds, “I’m excited to have the opportunity to lead the Cumulus team here in Middle Missouri. I’m looking forward to the challenges ahead and sharing in many successes with my co-workers. There is no end to what we can accomplish together with our collective vision for these incredible assets.”

iHeartMedia Names Doug Hall Digital PD for LA and SF. Digital media pro Doug Hall is named regional digital program director for iHeartMedia’s Los Angeles and San Francisco clusters. Hall has been serving with the national iHeartRadio team as a senior digital director out of the Nashville headquarters. In this new role, Hall will be responsible for the strategy, audience growth, and maximizing iHeartMedia’s digital platforms in these markets. Hall will report to John Peake, SVP of programming for iHeartMedia Los Angeles. Peake says, “Our iconic Los Angeles audio brands and on-air talent are the engines that are driving unprecedented digital growth. I’ve watched Doug grow and evolve from his time in promotions to leading winning teams in San Francisco, Miami and Nashville. We are fortunate to have him leading our LA digital efforts and rejoining the team in San Francisco.” Hall comments, “I’m excited for this full circle moment, coming back to Los Angeles, where it all started. I can’t wait to dive in and help both our Los Angeles and San Francisco markets continue to grow and innovate in the digital space.”

Megan Marcus Returns to Paramount as VP of Podcast Editorial. Producer and journalist Megan Marcus is named vice president of podcast editorial at Paramount where she will oversee content for CBS News’ slate of podcasts. In this new role, Marcus will oversee the full creative slate for CBS News podcasts in addition to working on editorial across all Paramount global podcasts. This marks a return to CBS News for Marcus, who produced the first two seasons of Mo Rocca’s award-winning podcast “MOBITUARIES” and also worked closely with the CBS News team. Paramount EVP of podcasting and audio Steve Raizes says, “Megan is a dynamic producer and leader in the podcasting field. She did an incredible job guiding ‘MOBITUARIES’ to the top of the podcast charts and is already at work on our current and future slate of CBS News Audio properties.”

Broadcasters Foundation of America Launches Year-End Giving Campaign. The Broadcasters Foundation of America is launching its annual year-end giving campaign. The appeal asks for tax-deductible donations to provide financial assistance to people in broadcasting whose lives have been shattered by debilitating illness, accident, or catastrophe. BFoA president Tim McCarthy says, “Our grantees are your colleagues. They are hard-working men and women who through no fault of their own need our help. Requests for aid continue to increase every year. We cannot turn our backs on those in our industry who need our help.” This year, the Broadcasters Foundation will award close to $2 million in monthly and one-time emergency grants. Since 2017, monthly grants have increased 70% and more than 600 emergency grants have been awarded. Over the past 20 years, the Broadcasters Foundation has distributed more than $15 million to broadcasters in need. Broadcasters Foundation board of directors chairman Scott Herman adds, “Disaster often strikes without notice and extreme circumstances can deplete a life’s savings quickly. We need everyone in radio and TV to spread the word about the Foundation’s charitable mission across their station and company, in case they or someone they know needs our help.” More information, including how to make a personal or corporate donation or apply for aid is available at www.broadcastersfoundation.org, and by contacting the Foundation at 212-373-8250 or info@thebfoa.org.</p

Midterm Elections/Trump in 2024, The Economy, Russia-Ukraine War, Elon Musk & Twitter, Daylight Saving Time Controversy, Astros Win World Series, and Powerball Jackpot Among Top News/Talk Stories Over the Weekend. Tuesday’s midterm elections and the battle for control of the House and Senate, combined with expectations that Donald Trump will announce his bid for the 2024 Republican nomination shortly; inflation and concerns about a recession; Russia’s targeting of Ukraine’s infrastructure as the war grinds on; Elon Musk’s mercurial leadership tactics as owner of Twitter; the debate over Daylight Saving Time and whether to make it permanent in the U.S.; the Houston Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series; and the now $1.9 billion Powerball jackpot were some of the most-talked-about stories on news/talk radio over the weekend, according to ongoing research from TALKERS magazine.