For the third quarter, Saga’s net operating same-station radio revenue dropped slightly from $27.8 million in 2015 to $27.6 million in 2016. For the first nine months of 2016, Saga’s same station net revenue for its radio stations was up about $1 million. The company took in $529,000 in political radio revenue in Q3 and has booked $1.9 million in political radio revenue for the year so far.
Saga CEO Ed Christian said national is still the problem child, with the radio industry unable to hold rate on that inventory. Christian said at one point in time national made up 18% of his business, it now makes up 11-12%. He said local is the backbone of what we do and he emphasized new categories such as recruitment seminars where he’s seeing hundreds of thousands of dollars flow into the company. Saga has also started holding micro-concerts for 40 to 50 people at their triple A stations, which brings sponsorship opportunities.
Read the full earnings press release HERE.
