The Townsquare CEO says he’s optimistic about the year ahead. Townsquare is looking for its energy markets such as North and South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming to rebound as well as stabilization in the events industry, along with better weather. Townsquare hosts many festivals, concerts and other events throughout the year. Price said while the sentiment in the energy markets is positive, but that’s not translating to revenue yet. Here’s what he said about the events side of the business…
“We are cautiously optimistic that we will see improvements in our entertainment business in 2017 and certainly in 2018. We maintain our belief that while weather may impact results, in a particular quarter as it did in 2016, over the longer term, the impact of weather will balance itself out. We believe our music festivals are well-positioned to thrive and grow in coming years as a less crowded competitive landscape will benefit Townsquare’s festivals. Our music festivals are strong and healthy. We have leading festival brands built around a regional strategy with the benefit of marketing from our surrounding radio and digital properties. It’s still early to gauge what impact festivals will have on our results in 2017, but we are seeing positive pacing from many of our second quarter multi-day music festivals.”
Townsquare’s digital business, Townsquare Interactiv, is also growing according to Price, ending the year with approximately 10,700 subscribers, up over 30% from 2015.
