Broadcasting Stocks

Has Townsquare Media turned an important corner for its publicly traded shares? The company crossed an important threshold on Wall Street today for the first time in months, and could point to a long-term comeback for the local media purveyor, which is likely ready to refocus on AMs and FMs in the wake of poor returns from its events and festivals business.

Entercom President/CEO David Field should be smiling about his company's performance today on the NYSE. His company's shares rose 3% on Tuesday, and continued to rise in immediate after-hours trading on Wall Street. This puts Entercom stock above the $10 mark for the first time in a month. Also up today: Beasley Media Group, and The Walt Disney Co.

The week on Wall Street got off to a wonderful start for two of the biggest broadcast TV companies in the U.S. Nexstar saw its shares rise by more than 5%, while Sinclair Broadcast Group stock was up by more than 2%. Also in the green on Monday was Nielsen.

If one is looking for any long-term stock market trends, forget it. The rollercoaster-like activity on Wall Street continued again on Friday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 122.91, to 24,360.14. Nasdaq was down 33.60, to 7,106.65. Among the top performers were Viacom and Entercom.

It's been a tough 30 days for Entravision Communications. One week ago the company was making job cuts at its radio and TV stations. It's been a month since EVC shares closed above $5.05 a share. Now, it appears that a newly announced partnership between ad fraud protection and data intelligence firm Pixalate and an Entravision digital subsidiary did little to energize investors.

U.S. financial markets moved upward on Thursday to continue its topsy-turvy activity, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rebounded 293.53 to 24,482.98. The Nasdaq composite index surged ahead by 71.22 points, ending the day’s trading session at 7,140.25.

U.S. financial markets moved downward on Wednesday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 218.55 to 24,189.45. The Nasdaq composite index lost 25.27, ending the day’s trading session at 7,069.03.

U.S. financial markets moved ahead on Tuesday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 428.90 to 24,408.00. The Nasdaq composite index gained 143.96, ending the day’s trading session at 7,094.30.

U.S. financial markets moved ahead on Monday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 46.34 to 23,979.10. The Nasdaq composite index gained 35.23, ending the day’s trading session at 6,950.34.

U.S. financial markets continued their highly volatile ups and downs on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 572.46 points to 23,932.76. The Nasdaq composite index was off 161.44 points, to 6,915.11. While many media companies were swept up in the declines, two stick out as advancers: Nexstar Media Group and Emmis Communications.

U.S. financial markets rebounded once again on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 240.92 points, to 24,505.22. The Nasdaq composite was up 34.44, to 7,076.55. How did media stocks fare? The activity was mixed once again.

U.S. financial markets enjoyed a positive mid-week trading session on Wednesday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 230.94 points, to 24,264.30, and the Nasdaq composite index was ahead by 100.83 points, to 7,042.11. Important gains came from Entercom and Townsquare Media.

U.S. financial markets gyrated significantly once again on Tuesday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped ahead 389.17 points, to 24,033.36. Nasdaq gained 71.16, to 6,941.28. For media stocks, it was mostly a rebound session. However, Viacom's Class B shares suffered from more unsubstantiated reports about a reunification from CBS Corp. — this one claiming that CBS today made an all-cash offer with a valuation below its current stock price.

If you thought the snow from Dayton to Dobbs Ferry on Easter Monday morning was depressing, wait until you see how media stocks fared on Wall Street. It was a disastrous day, thanks to worries of a trade war and more chatter from the White House about Amazon and The Washington Post, which it owns. This sent the Dow sinking 1.9% -- and many media companies were caught up in the fray.

The first quarter of 2018 effectively concluded Thursday, as U.S. financial markets are closed today in observance of Good Friday and the start of Passover. RBR+TVBR reviewed the first quarter performance for several companies' stocks. For Salem Media Group, the picture is clear — Q1 wasn't so hot.