Salem Media, on its way to becoming a privately held licensee of Christian-themed and conservative secular spoken word audio brands, has released with little fanfare its second quarter 2026 earnings results.
How did the company perform? A much lower net loss was seen, largely due to a decrease in Salem’s non-cash impairment charge.
The net loss improved to $3.41 million (-$0.11) from $17.59 million (-$0.55 per share), a Q2 2025 performance directly tied to a $25.21 million impairment charge taken by Salem. In Q2 2026, a $4.82 million impairment charge was logged.
General operating expenses were on the decline — a good sign in what will likely be the final publicly released Q2 report from Salem. They moved downward to $40.16 million from $51.18 million.
Alas, net revenue declined to $45.93 million from $54.15 million.
On an adjusted basis, EBITDA finished at $1.23 million, a swing from -$1.07 million in Q2 2025.
Salem’s board and shareholders have both signed off on the company’s $1.00-per-share sale to WaterStone, the Christian nonprofit foundation that Streamline Publishing’s Radio Ink first reported in May would take Salem private.
The filing confirms shareholder approval has now been secured, leaving regulatory clearance as the only remaining condition before the deal closes, which Salem still expects to happen this month.
— With reporting by Cameron Coats, in New York; and Adam R Jacobson, in Boca Raton, Fla.
