Emmis reported earnings for June, July, and August, and while the markets Emmis operates in were up 1%, according to Miller-Kaplan, Emmis was down 3.8% (from $47.6 million to $46.0 million). CEO Jeff Smulyan blamed the decline on HOT 97’s Summer Jam in New York City, which was negatively impacted by severe weather. And in Los Angeles, the company is still trying to overcome iHeartmedia’s direct format attack on Power 106. Smulyan did say his St. Louis market had a spectacular quarter, beating the market by about 12 points. Here are more details about the quarter…
Digital was the strongest business line for Emmis, up 32% for the quarter. Smulyan singled out the performance of Angie May who leads the Emmis digital division. He said it was a remarkable performance by the digital team lead by May.
National spot revenue was down 15%, local spot revenue was down 3%, and NTR was down 8%. June saw a 4% decline in revenue, July was down 7%, and August was down 1%.
Automotive is Emmis’ largest category, making up 14% of Emmis’ revenue for the quarter. That category was up 7%. Healthcare and education were also strong for the company.
Emmis’ third-quarter pacing is up slightly with September down 3%, October pacing up low- to mid-single digits, and November pacing down in the low-single digits.
