As far as Townsquare Media CEO Bill Wilson is concerned, the company’s third quarter results aren’t a surprise: net revenue and adjusted EBITDA came in right on target, based on the guidance the “local first” media company previously shared. Wilson applauded the hard work executed by employees “in the current macroeconomic environment.”
Alas, Townsquare Media, with more than half of its revenue across the first three quarters of 2025 coming from Digital sources, swung to a net loss. A non-cash impairment charge is reflected in these results. But is there something more to take note of?
That’s perhaps a question being asked by key institutional investors including Beck, Mack & Oliver; American Century Companies; and MSD Capital, among others.
For Q3, a net loss of $5.5 million (-$0.36 per diluted share) was seen, swinging from net income of $11.34 million ($-0.63). Reflected in these results is a non-cash impairment charge of $3.1 million, from $2 million. Expenses for Q3 were lowered by 6%, to $78.76 million from $83.8 million.
On an adjusted basis, net income came in at $855,000 ($0.05 per diluted share), moving from $6.08 million ($0.35 per share) in Q3 2024. That beat the estimate one analyst offered to Yahoo! Finance, putting his earnings per share prediction at $0.03.
Consolidated net revenue came in at $106.76 million, declining from $115.31 million. Unfortunately, that fell short of the estimates from two analysts polled by Yahoo! Finance. They pegged Townsquare Media’s revenue to come in between $107.5 million and $108.47 million.
Townsquare offered differing guidance, and Wilson expressed confidence that the 4.5% year-over-year dip in net revenue, ex-political, was anticipated. So was a 2% year-over-year adjusted EBITDA decline, ex-political, moving to $21.87 million from $22.31 million.
Adjusted EBITDA with political included came in at $22.02 million, shifting from $25.45 million.
TOWNSQUARE MEDIA Q3 2025 BY SEGMENT
- Digital advertising slipped by 1.5%, moving to $40.23 million from $40.86 million
- Subscription Digital Marketing Solutions revenue declined by 2.3%, to $18.65 million from $19.08 million
- Broadcast advertising, which remains the biggest dollar generator for Townsquare among its three segments, slid by 13.8% in a non-political quarter, moving to $47 million from $54.53 million
Since refinancing in February, Townsquare has chipped away $17 million in debt, including $6 million in discounted term loan repurchases during Q3.
“Since the refinancing, we have applied our cash flow towards organic investment in our digital growth engine and debt repayment, while also maintaining our high-yielding dividend,” Wilson said. “Looking forward, we remain confident in our ability to build shareholder value for our investors through long-term net revenue, Adjusted EBITDA and cash flow growth, net leverage reduction, and future dividend payments.”
Ahead of his company’s customary 8am Eastern earnings call this morning, Wilson applauded the efforts of CFO Stu Rosenstein and the rest of the leadership team for “strong expense management” while saluting “the strong performance” of Townsquare’s Direct Digital Advertising revenue streams — including the direct sales of the company’s owned and operated digital properties and its programmatic offering. In Q3, these dollars increased 7% in Q3.
Yet, this growth could only partially offset what Wilson calls “the significant short-term headwinds we are currently facing” due to “the deterioration in online audience trends.”
On a positive note, the performance of Townsquare Interactive is a highlight, as it delivered segment profit growth of 21% in the third quarter, rising by $1.1 million.
“Looking forward, we remain confident in our ability to build shareholder value for our investors through long-term net revenue, Adjusted EBITDA and cash flow growth, net leverage reduction, and future dividend payments,” Wilson said.
For shareholders, a quarterly cash dividend of 20 cents per share is on the way. The dividend is payable February 2, 2026, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on January 26, 2026.
What can Townsquare Media investors expect to see from the company with radio stations in markets ranging from Fort Collins, Colo., and Trenton, N.J., to Buffalo and Albany as it completes 2025? For the fourth quarter, net revenue is expected to be between $105 million and $109 million, and Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $21.5 million and $23.5 million. For the full year 2025, net revenue is expected to be between $426 million and $430 million, and Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $88 million and $90 million.
