Radio News

How did Univision do in Q2? The "Media Networks," housing its visual media offerings including Univision's television assets, enjoyed a revenue rebound that single-handedly swung the company from a net loss to net income. There's just one big blemish: Univision Radio's net loss widened from the COVID-19 impacted Q2 2020, due to a sizable impairment loss.

What do the NAB and the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters have in common? NABOB will host its 45th Annual Fall Broadcast Conference and 21st Power of Urban Radio Forum in October, at a casino hotel and resort with ample meeting space. There's one key difference, however, for the NABOB affair: a hybrid option is in place.

Nielsen has some happy news for those who own or manage radio stations. Listening levels are at their highest point since April 2020.  That said, were radio listening levels acceptable prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic? Here's a RBR+TVBR OBSERVATION you won't want to miss ... and will want to respond to.

With the Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus increasing worries that major media and technology conferences won't be staged, the Consumer Technology Association has made it clear that CES 2022 is moving forward — with the commitment of more than 1,000 companies. The Keynote Speakers expected in Las Vegas include the head of GM.

It's hard to imagine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Cumulus Media-owned Westwood One not having an audio content distribution partnership. Thanks to a new deal, there won't be any need to even think about such a scenario.

Add yet another twist to the ongoing saga involving FM radio stations formerly owned by Ed Stolz and his Royce International Broadcasting. The FCC has issued a pair of Notice of Violation warnings to Stolz's Palm Springs, Calif., operation for problems tied to two FM translators in the market he owns.

That's according to Audacy CFO Rich Schmaeling, and the comment was one of many offered during the company's hour-long earnings call on Friday. Schmaeling also offered an update on net leverage goals, while adding that the depth of active advertisers is significantly higher than in recent months.

"Throughout the second quarter, the resumption of advertising in key categories combined with the success of our content monetization strategies resulted in year-over-year revenue growth across all fifteen of our markets," Caroline Beasley said. What drove Beasley's Q2 success? "Healthy double-digit revenue increases" were seen in its biggest markets.

"Overall we had an extremely strong second quarter," Urban One President/CEO Alfred Liggins III said Thursday ahead of his company's earnings call. Not only was Adjusted EBITDA up 82.4% year-over-year, but the media company superserving Black consumers also surpassed its Q2 2019 pre-pandemic Adjusted EBITDA.

How much better was the second quarter of 2021 for Saga Communications than the same period of 2020? For starters, there was no $3.76 million impairment charge. Second, net operating revenue rose by 66.3%. Furthermore, CFO Sam Bush says Digital now accounts for 6% of the radio industry pure-play's total revenue.

It's the No. 2 licensee of radio stations behind iHeartMedia. Now, the parent entity of the KLOVE and Air1 Christian Contemporary Music formats is adding one more FM to its ever-growing stable of properties.

Despite some softness across July, Cumulus Media shares are poised for a full recovery. The company just reported Q2 earnings that, while not stellar, easily surpassed Street expectations — sending CMLS up 20 cents to $12.71.. A big Nashville real estate deal has also closed, giving Mary Berner and her team a sizable cash injection.

The winners will be announced that the 2021 Radio Show, a live and in-person co-production of the NAB and the RAB scheduled for early October in Las Vegas. Click here for all of the details on who is up for the prestigious industry honor!

In one of the more novel promotions to involve a radio brand in recent memory, the nation's No. 1 owner of AMs and FMs has teamed up with the Connecticut Lottery on the rollout of an instant win scratcher game that could give the lucky winner a top prize of $10,000.

A pandemic protection plan has paid off for Townsquare Media, fueling the company's return to 2019 levels with a greater quest of exceeding them. But, is Q3 falling short of the performance seen two years ago — setting up a difficult narrative for Townsquare's peers?