Broadcasting Stocks

The audio media company led by President/CEO Mary Berner on Wednesday (5/26) initiated actions designed to pay down $175 million of debt. And, it is doing so by using cash on hand.

With its stock in recovery mode and forward momentum at its secular spoken word AM radio stations, Salem Media Group is gearing up for appearances at a pair of investor conferences. The first of the two events is scheduled for Thursday morning.

Urban One may have had an explosive day on Wall Street, but other broadcast media companies also found themselves seeing strong gains on Thursday. Among them: Salem Media Group, and The Walt Disney Company.

On May 14, the Board of Directors of Audacy, the company formerly known as Entercom Communications, approved a restatement of three specific company plans and/or policies. An SEC filing made following Wednesday's Closing Bell on Wall Street explains what transpired.

Why did Townsquare Media, with a stock price that is at its highest price in nearly six years, reveal in a SEC filing that one of its board members on Friday -- one who chairs the Compensation Committee -- resigned? The explanation is a simple one.

U.S. stock markets fell on Monday, with the Dow Industrials dipping 54.34 to 34,327.79. The Nasdaq composite index was down 50.93 to 13,379.05. How did media issues fare to start the week? AT&T was off 2.6%, while Discovery Inc. shares finished the day with a 5% decline.

The value of iHeartMedia shares continues to reach new heights. On Friday, IHRT gained another 3% to finish at a fresh post-bankruptcy high. The bigger news: IHRT is up 236% from exactly one year ago.

The Walt Disney Company has ended its fiscal second quarter of 2021 with 103.6 million Disney+ subscribers. Uh-oh. Disney+ in early March said it surpassed 100 million subscribers for the first time, and it appears the excitement over the over-the-top platform is slowing down.

Shares of Black consumer-centric Urban One improved by 27 cents, to $4.87, on a day when nearly every media company stock price dipped -- swept up in inflation fear worries. The Dow Industrials were down by 2%, to 33,587.66. The Nasdaq index was down by 2.7%, to 13,031.68.

Urban One is the next media company to present its first quarter earnings report. And, it hosts a conference call Wednesday at 10am Eastern to share its performance with analysts and shareholders.

General indices declined on Tuesday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped by 1.4% to 34,269.16 and the Nasdaq slipped by just 0.09%, to 13,389.43. How did radio and TV industry stocks fare? Action was mixed. Aside from Saga's big surge, Townsquare Media and iHeartMedia were softer. Nexstar grew again.

It's an upsized debt offering from a company pivoting from direct broadcast satellite-delivered cable TV services to a major 5G wireless internet connectivity conveyor. DISH Network has priced an offering of an aggregate principal amount of its Senior Notes due 2029. It is higher than what DISH thought it would be when it announced the offering.

The offering is part of the financing for the proposed business combination of Grupo Televisa with Univision's businesses, announced on April 13.

Three radio station owners released their third quarter earnings reports following Thursday's Closing Bell on Wall Street. One saw digital prowess while its recovery across its streaming and broadcast radio assets came in ahead of expectations: iHeartMedia. In response, its stock soared on Friday. In contrast, Audacy was down on downbeat earnings.

Cumulus Media's first quarter 2021 results, and its sequential improvements, appear to have gotten the seal of approval from some in the investment world. The company's shares were up significantly on Thursday.