DORAL, FLA. — The nation’s largest Spanish-language audio content creation and distribution company that is certified Hispanic-owned returned to profitability in 2024, following the return to day-to-day leadership of President/CEO and founder Raúl Alarcón Jr.
According to an SEC filing, Spanish Broadcasting System reversed a $40.7 million net loss from the prior year. The result marks a turning point in the efforts of Alarcón, who returned as the Hispanic broadcaster’s President in February 2024 and later named Hispanic advertising industry icon Gene Bryan as Chief Revenue Officer.
SBS’s net revenue remained mostly flat year-over-year, shifting upward to $155.1 million in 2024 compared to $154.6 million in 2023. The bigger story, however, is how the Miami-headquartered company executed significant cost reductions that drove a sharp swing in operating performance.
Operating expenses dropped from $175.3 million in 2023 to $121.2 million in 2024. This is largely due to a steep decline in impairment charges and lower corporate and operational costs. These improvements helped SBS swing from a $20.6 million operating loss in 2023 to $33.8 million in operating income in 2024.
Compute the numbers, and SBS’s net income finished at $1.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. This is a big shift from a $40.6 million net loss in 2023.
Despite the improved earnings, the company flagged ongoing risks to its financial stability, particularly related to its $310 million in 9.75% Senior Secured Notes maturing in March 2026. Management acknowledged it does not currently have sufficient cash or committed financing in place to repay the debt and cannot assure that refinancing will occur in time. SBS amended its $15 million revolving credit facility in February 2025, extending the maturity date to August 29, 2025. As of year-end 2024, the company had drawn $4.9 million on the facility, which it uses to support working capital needs.
Looking ahead, SBS said it will continue evaluating strategic acquisitions and dispositions to build scale in key U.S. Hispanic markets, while relying on existing cash flow and its credit facility to meet operating obligations. It partly hopes to achieve these goals through the divestment of its Mega TV network and related assets within the next year. In 2023, SBS terminated a $64 million sales agreement with Voz Media after the buyer failed to close. A subsequent lawsuit was settled in 2024.
Sources close to the matter tell RBR+TVBR that monetization of Mega TV continues and that Upfront discussions will focus on programming agreements with Caracol TV of Colombia, bring distribution of some of its shows to U.S. audiences via SBS’s broadcast and MVPD-distributed network.
— With reporting by Cameron Coats, in New York
