The newly minted ninth-largest broadcast company in the U.S. had a great third quarter, its last without the company’s just-acquired Greater Media stations.
Automotive, retail and political dollars are up, helping to contribute to the gains.
But there’s one key reason why Beasley Media Group experienced such a strong three-month period ending Sept. 30.
The answer comes in three letters: CBS.
Beasley is finally seeing the financial rewards from its December 2014 swap with CBS Radio of five of its stations in Philadelphia and Miami-Fort Lauderdale for 14 CBS properties in Tampa-St. Petersburg, Charlotte and Philadelphia.
Speaking to investors and analysts on Wednesday morning, following the early-morning release of its Q3 numbers, interim CEO (and permanent CEO as of Jan. 1) Caroline Beasley said that the CBS station integration was a key reason for the positive momentum.
VP/Finance Marie Tedesco broke it down by market, and Beasley clusters in each of its markets enjoyed a 7.8% year-over-year increase, compared to a 2.6% year-over-year climb, according to Miller Kaplan revenue estimates used by Beasley.
Tedesco said Station Operating Income (SOI), and net revenue, were paced by the company’s Charlotte and Tampa Bay stations, in addition to “legacy market” Fayetteville, N.C.
In Tampa, where Beasley’s stations are comprised of Classic Hits WRBQ “Q105,” Country WQYK-FM, Tropical WYUU-FM, Rhythmic Top 40 WLLD “Wild 98.7”, Bubba The Love Sponge-helmed Rock WBRN-FM, and financial talker WHFS-AM 1010, year-over-year revenue soared by 17%. The market as a whole grew by 4%.
Strong ratings play a role in the cluster’s success, as Nielsen Audio quarter-to-quarter results for adults 25-54 during the 6 a.m.-7 p.m. “prime” time frame show flat movement while year-over-year ratings gains of 8.7% were seen across the Tampa Bay stations.
While “tough comps” hurt Las Vegas’s ratings (-1.9%) when looking at adults 25-54 in prime hours quarter to quarter, in all PPM markets ratings increased 3.6% quarter-to-quarter.
Additionally, Beasley benefited from a lower borrowing cost, with a 20% decline in its year-over-year interest expense.
Asked by an analyst how much political dollars impacted Beasley’s Q3 results, Tedesco said that the company saw $400,000 in the quarter and, as of Nov. 1, some $2.2 million in political ads had been booked across all of its stations. She did not clarify if the bookings excluded the Greater Media stations now included in Q4 2016 financials and all future earnings statements.
Looking ahead, Caroline Beasley says she is “very, very excited to run” the Greater Media stations and that 2017 looks better as a result of their integration into Beasley Media Group. “The outlook for growth remains attractive,” Caroline Beasley says.
