BOCA RATON, FLA. — It’s a question that is likely on the minds of many market observers, and it was asked of Townsquare Media CEO Bill Wilson during his company’s third quarter earnings call on Monday morning by the 18-year Director of Research at Noble Capital Markets.
Addressing the ongoing core advertising decline in the broadcast sector, Michael Kupinski wants to know when stabilization will be seen? The answer: not anytime soon.
Kupinski, who also serves as South Florida-based Noble Financial’s Media & Entertainment Senior Research Analyst, specifically asked Wilson what it will take to reverse a downtrend that persists even without political crowd-out, which was seen in the third quarter of 2024.
In response, Wilson addressed the decline at broadcast radio and how it is similar to that of television, down in the low-single-digit range across the industry. For Townsquare Media, the -8% performance, ex-political, for core advertising is exactly what the company forecast, and is similar to the prior two quarters of 2025.
While the weak core advertising data is not necessarily welcome news for broadcasters, Wilson emphasized across the Townsquare Media earnings call that it should not come as a surprise to investors. Did they react? By 10:30am Eastern, the company’s NYSE-traded shares were down by 4.25% to $5.85 to a fresh year-to-date low; “TSQ” is down by roughly one-third of its value since the start of 2025.
A SLOW, STEADY CLIMB
Looking ahead to the fourth quarter and into 2026 and 2027 brings a little bit of cheer. But, it’s just a smattering of hurrahs — for now.
Wilson said there are slight pacing improvements in Q4, as Kupinski genially took note of the “healthy margins” seen at Townsquare. Indeed, the profit margin as Wilson pointed to is presently 28%. That’s up from 25% in 2024, and three basis points is meaningful given the macroeconomic challenges impacting both radio and TV in the mid-decade financial environment.
Before moving on to other questions and commentary, Wilson took a moment to play up the power of Broadcast Radio. While it no longer serves as a core revenue generation engine for Townsquare Media — and may never will again — the chief executive took pride in the “traditional cash cow” and how it is directly helping to fuel the digital revenue growth at the company.
