After taking in comments from executives from a number of radio companies reporting Q4 2014 financial results, Macquarie Securities thinks it has a handle on where business is headed during Q1 this year.
In addition, MS gave a shout out to Townsquare Media for outperforming peers during the last quarter.
For those of us who kept hearing about a sluggish January and spent much of February shoveling snow (which usually dampens business), MS’s conclusion is a little surprising.
MS said, that during Q$ the radio industry “…was an underwhelming flat vs last year. Management teams noted overall weakness in local ad trends with minimal spillover from TV. Townsquare managed to buck this trend due to its presence in hyperlocal markets and innovative digital strategy.”
As for pacing in the new year, MS boiled down its rationale to the comments from Cumulus, iHeart and Entravision. Cumulus is said to be down low-single-digits, iHeart up low-single-digits, and Entravision is said to be enjoying high-single-digit gains.
MS mixed, stirred and came up with a projected 2% gain for radio as a whole, give or take.
