LBI Media optimistic, despite another down quarter

0

With its launch of Estrella TV as a new Hispanic challenger in the national television network business, LBI Media Holdings (Liberman Broadcasting) has been investing in the future even as it deals with the gradually easing recession. For Q3, LBI reported that net revenues declined 9.7% to $27.5 million. Adjusted EBITDA for the entire company was off 16% to $10.7 million.


Radio revenues were down 3.9% to $16.5 million, which was attributed primarily to an advertising decline in the Los Angeles market. Adjusted EBITDA declined 9% to $7.7 million.

Television revenues fell 17.2% to $11 million. That was attributed not only to softness in LA, but also Dallas and Salt Lake City. Adjusted EBITDA was off 30% to $2.9 million.

“Our third quarter financial results were impacted by the continued economic downturn and challenging advertising environment. Despite the difficult conditions, we continued to execute our strategy of capitalizing on our high-quality programming and the strong value proposition we deliver to our advertising partners. While we have seen some improvement in the third quarter with respect to broadcast revenue performance as compared to the first and second quarters of this year, there are markets like Southern California that remain very challenged. The challenges facing broadcasters before a market turnaround are still considerable. However, we remain optimistic for the future.

Commenting on the company’s earnings results,” said President and CEO Lenard Liberman.

He is upbeat about prospects for the company’s new TV network.”The much-anticipated launch of our national television network, EstrellaTV, took place on September 14th. The launch has been successful and the network is performing in line with our expectations. During the third quarter, we signed an affiliation agreement with Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. for a television station in Las Vegas, Nevada, the 22nd largest Hispanic market in the country. Combined with our six owned and operated stations and our affiliated stations, we now have distribution in 24 markets covering over 67% of U.S. Hispanic television households. We have several affiliation agreements pending and are pursuing additional distribution partnerships in Hispanic markets throughout the US,” Liberman said.

“Looking at the performance of our other stations, we continue to deliver strong ratings in our markets and our diverse programming has captured dedicated audiences. Our programming lineup and ratings performance has improved as a result of the positive reception of our newly introduced shows, including ‘Tengo Talento, Mucho Talento,’ a celebrity-judged talent show that began airing in early October. This show has garnered a ratings increase of over 150% year-over-year in a very competitive time slot. While we are taking concerted steps to strengthen our programming, we also remain focused on containing our operating costs and are actively promoting cost-saving measures across our operations,” he said.

“Moving forward, we remain committed to strengthening our programming lineup, driving ratings gains across our radio and TV properties, as well as delivering strong national network ratings, and monetizing our growing audience. Given our strong market position, our attractive radio and TV broadcasting assets, and our recently launched EstrellaTV network, we believe we will be in position to generate growth when the economy recovers.,” Liberman concluded.