Broadcasting Stocks

On June 11, shares of  Veritone Inc., which is rapidly expanding its business relationships with radio and TV broadcasting companies, reached $23.06 after a series of ups and downs seen across the first half of 2018. So far, the second half of 2018 looks quite ominous for shareholders. A 3% on Monday puts the AI-powered attribution company's stock at a new 52-week low.

On December 1, 2016, Beasley Broadcast Group shares were at $6.15, and on the rise after being at $3.84 on April 1 of that year. With less than an hour to go in Friday's trading on Wall Street, nearly two years of gains in Beasley shares have been wiped out, with BBGI back where it was 23 months ago.

The woes on Wall Street continued on Thursday, as the Nasdaq composite index fell 92.99 points to 7,329.06, following a steep dip on Wednesday fueled by strong losses among tech industry stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 2.1% of its value, falling 545.91 points to 25,052.83. How did media issues fare?

As Hurricane Michael lashed Panama City Beach, Fla., and towns to the east of this onetime Spring Break haven, lower Manhattan was swept up in a wave of sell-offs in the technology and internet sector. The Nasdaq index sank by more than 4%. Impacted by the big dip: Veritone Inc., among other companies.

U.S. financial markets were relatively quiet on Tuesday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 56.21 points to 26,430.57. Nasdaq was up 2.07 points, to 7,738.02. For media stocks, activity was also mixed, with Nexstar slipping below $80 and Pandora inching toward $9.

On New Year's Day 2018, Beasley Broadcast Group shares were riding high at just under $14 — record territory for the company. Beasley's stock was largely above the $10 mark for 6 1/2 months. Then came a steep dip that sent BBGI tumbling into the $6 range. Is the addition of Greater Media stations in key markets including Boston and Detroit indirectly tied to the stock swoon?

U.S. financial markets finished the first week of Q4 2018 on a downbeat note, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 180.43 points, to 26,447.05. Nasdaq was off 91.06 points, to 7,788.45. Media shares were mostly on the decline.

Among the media companies that have struggled of late on Wall Street, Salem Media Group is perhaps one of the more notable operators. On Thursday, the owner of conservative talk and Christian-themed radio stations saw its shares drop to a level that brings its perilously close to a new five-year low.

In mid-August 2017, before a remarkable surge and slide of Veritone Inc. shares seen across the following six weeks, the AI recognition company's stock was hovering in the low-$8 range. Veritone stock soared to $65.91 by the end of September, only to wither by early November 2017 -- the last time VERI saw a close above $30. Now, Veritone is heading in the wrong direction on Wall Street.

Don't look now, but Spanish Broadcasting System shares are back to where they were in early December 2017. That's not good news, with shares now below 15 cents in value. On Tuesday, a 39% decline in value raised eyebrows.

The fourth quarter of 2018 is only two days old, and it is already proving to be a bruising one for Veritone Inc. Meanwhile, Salem Media Group shares swooned and are now at their lowest levels since early May.

The company behind an AI-powered media attribution application that tracks the efficacy of advertising in broadcast radio and TV returned from the 2018 Radio Show in Orlando to a rocky Q4 start on Wall Street. Shares began to tumble southward after 1pm Eastern. This led to a 8.4% dip in Veritone Inc. stock -- and perilously close to its all-time low.

The third quarter of 2018 is officially over Sunday, but most businesses are tallying up their final numbers this afternoon. For Nexstar Media Group, Q3 is one for the record books — at least if one were to look solely at its performance on Nasdaq.

Fresh off of co-CEO Dhruv Prasad's appearance at Pillsbury's Broadcast Finance 2018 breakfast as part of the Radio Show in Orlando, the Townsquare Media executive will be jetting off to the Valley of the Sun to present at a conference focused on leveraged finance.

The post-Les Moonves era at CBS Corporation entered another new chapter on Wednesday, as Dick Parsons — the former head of Time Warner — has been named Interim Chairman of the company's Board of Directors.