The radio network business was the drag in Q2 as Citadel Broadcasting reported that revenues for its radio stations were up 5.3%. But revenues for the network side were down 5.4%, so overall revenues rose only 3.3%.
“The Company’s continued focus on profitable programming and the improvement in the overall economic environment in the radio industry has resulted in increases to revenues in the first half of the year. The higher revenues were primarily driven by an improvement of approximately 5.4% at our Radio Markets segment. In addition, the Company has been able to simultaneously reduce operating expenses, resulting in an EBITDA growth of over 24% for the first half of 2010,” said CEO Farid Suleman in the company’s earnings release for Q2.
Citadel has not yet listed its stock on an exchange for trading since emerging from Chapter 11 reorganization on June 3rd, but the warrants for the new stock have been trading on the “pink sheets” since the last trading day of July. The thinly traded warrants, which are a 1:1 proxy for the common stock, have ranged in price from $19 to $28 in recent weeks.
For Q2, Radio Markets revenues rose 5.3% to $164.5 million, while segment operating income gained 17.3% to $72.1 million.
Radio Network revenues were down 5.4% to $31.2 million. However, profitability improved, with segment operating income more than doubling (+132.9%) to $5.7 million.
For all of Citadel, Q2 revenues were up 3.3% to $194.4 million and segment operating income rose 21.7% to $77.8 million. EBITDA rose 24.1% to $72.5 million.
RBR-TVBR observation: Focusing on more profitable network programming at Citadel Media appears to be working. Revenues were down, but operating income for the network side was up – a lot.
