Broadcasting Stocks

U.S. financial markets fell slightly on Thursday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 28.69, to 21,783.40, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 7.08, to 6,271.33. But, media stocks were largely in positive territory. Among the key gainers were Beasley Broadcast Group.

For the first time in two years, Netflix is raising its prices on its mid-range and top-tier subscription plans. Investors liked the move, sending the company's shares soaring by nearly 5.5% in trading on Thursday. Meanwhile, the "stub" of publicly traded iHeart shares was down as Cumulus stock saw a much-need climb, even if small.

Viacom reported fiscal Q4 2017 earnings today that were "OK versus expectations," says Pivotal Research Group Senior Research Analyst/Advertising Brian Wieser. But, the owner of MTV, Nickelodeon and BET provided an outlook that was worse than expected. That reset Pivotal's price target on Viacom shares, which sank to a new five-year-low.

Overall gains on Wall Street seen Wednesday failed to include many broadcast media companies, with Nexstar Media Group falling sharply on very high trading volume before rebounding slightly in immediate after-hours trading. Also sliding was Sinclair Broadcast Group.

The board of directors of The E.W. Scripps Company, which has put all of its radio stations up for sale, has declared a cash dividend for Q1 2018. This will mark the first time the company has paid a quarterly dividend in a decade.

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.

With all eyes on Entercom stock, bargain hunters swooped in to give the radio broadcasting company a much-needed gain on Wall Street. With the Closing Bell on Tuesday, ETM shares were up 6.2% from Monday. A columnist at MarketWatch may be to thank.

Artificial Intelligence-powered media attribution and analytics company Veritone Inc. has certainly seen roller-coaster like activity for its stock since an IPO in mid-May 2017. Now, the up and down activity for VERI shares has gone into a canyon again.

A detailed article appearing late Friday in The New Yorker that details alleged sexual misconduct by CBS Chairman/CEO Les Moonves continued to wreak havoc on the company's stock. One Wall Street financial house downgraded CBS shares over the matter, while CBS's Board of Directors opted to hire outside counsel for a probe of Moonves, who isn't going anywhere.

The California-based multimedia company specializing in Christian and conservative content will be rewarding stockholders with a dividend payment. It will be paid on September 28 to all Class A and Class B common stockholders of record as of September 17.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 327.23 points, to 25,379.45. Nasdaq was off 157.56, to 7,485.14. How did radio and TV issues do? Click here for more.

When it comes to the overall action on Wall Street and that of radio station owner Beasley Broadcast Group, there seems to be a bit of divergence. Early Thursday, with financial markets down sharply, Beasley was in positive territory. Then, the market started to rebound. Beasley shares promptly headed southward.

On Tuesday, Townsquare Media will present at another important investor conference in warm South Florida. But, there's something a bit different about this jaunt to the land of palm trees and reggaetón beats: Townsquare will be showing off its merits to money men and women without Dhruv Prasad.

Two of the most high-profile radio broadcasting companies lost ground on Thursday as companies such as Sinclair Broadcast Group and Gray Television report strong Q4 earnings that have propelled their stock prices skyward. What was the damage for Beasley and Entercom?

As 2019 began, Beasley Broadcast Group shares began to rise toward the $5 mark. By February, a decline was seen, with attempts of a rebound seen through March 11. Since then, BBGI has been on a steady slide, even with a target price well above its current trading level.