Salem Communications’ CFO discusses his company’s multi-pronged approach to amassing income, including its dual radio income streams, it’s reliance on cash to make acquisitions, and the source of his sense of humor. Hint: “And stop calling me Shirley.”
Current company: Salem Communications Corporation
Position: Chief Financial Officer
Location: Camarillo, CA
Place of Birth: New Brunswick, NJ
Date of Birth: 7/3/1971
Personal info: I have been married to my amazing wife, Christy, for 21 years. We have four kids, ages 18, 15, 9 and 6.
College: Cal Poly (formally, California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo)
Favorite band or artist: Steven Curtis Chapman, Big Daddy Weave
Favorite movies: As a kid, I used to watch the movie Airplane! all the time, which probably explains a bit about my sense of humor. My favorite recent movie is God’s Not Dead.
Favorite books: To be honest, I do not have a lot of time to read for pleasure other than reading the Bible or devotions. But if I did have time, I would read anything published by Regnery Publishing, which is owned by Salem. 🙂
Sports Team Preferences: Los Angeles Dodgers
Hobbies/Passions: Spending time being dad!
Causes/Charities: We are very passionate about adoption as we adopted our nine year old from China when she was a baby. It was one of the greatest experiences of our lives!
Questions:
1. How did you get started in the business?
I started as Salem’s Controller almost 15 years ago and have been blessed with the opportunity to serve with some amazing people.
2. For those of us for whom the position of CFO is a bit mysterious, what does the job entail, particularly for broadcasters?
Some days, it is a mystery to me as well! I interface externally with investors, analysts and bankers, and I interface internally with the accounting and finance teams, general managers, board of directors, CEO and COO. In other words, I have a lot of meetings and phone calls. If I did not have a great team, I would be lost.
3. What types of financing does Salem typically use for acquisitions and how hard is it to find?
Lately, we have been using our free cash flow to fund our acquisitions rather than taking on new debt. Our goal is to reduce our debt leverage ratio from its current level of 5.6 to under 4.0. In order to accomplish this, it will require a disciplined approach to acquisitions.
4. How is Salem’s dual radio income stream, featuring leased time and standard advertising, working out these days?
The block programming that we air from Christian ministries continues to provide a solid foundation for us, in particular at a time when it is getting more challenging to sell traditional advertising.
5. Salem is a leader in adding digital properties to its portfolio – what are the best ways to monetize this aspect of the business?
One big advantage we have as a niche broadcaster is that we are able to drive our listeners to national websites such as Christianity.com, BibleStudyTools.com and TownHall.com. Driving our radio listeners to our local and national websites increases page views and revenue. We continue to look for additional digital opportunities that target the same audience as our radio listeners.
6. We keep hearing bad things about print – how is that aspect of Salem’s business doing?
The most exciting aspect of our publishing business has been the recent acquisition of Regnery Publishing. Regnery is an iconic publisher of conservative books. Some people are concerned about the decline of printed books but people are still reading books. The sales are just shifting to e-books.
Our two most recent releases, America by Dinesh D’Souza and Blood Feud by Ed Klein, each hit number one on the New York Times Bestseller List. We are finding that we are able to help drive book sales by using our radio, our network and Internet properties.
7. Is there any question you’d like to answer that we forgot to ask?
How I am surviving with my oldest child in college? Surprisingly, I have been fine with it and have not shed a tear (but I truly miss her a lot)!
