On Wednesday, the company reported that revenue from its radio division was down less than 1% compared to Q1 2017. Urban One saw revenue growth in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Philadelphia, and Richmond offset by declines in Atlanta, Raleigh, and St. Louis. CEO Alfred Liggins said there are two big markets that are pretty much dragging the revenue down.
Those two markets are Atlanta and Richmond. Overall radio revenue in those two markets are down big and Liggins says there’s no clear explanation why. The company did outperform the overall market in both Atlanta and Richmond but not enough to push the company into positive revenue growth for the quarter. Overall radio revenue is also down in Houston (-1.3%) and Washington DC (-2.5%). Radio One was up in Houston and down 2.5% in Washington DC. Liggins says he’s proud of his radio management team, “Despite a tough market, we outperformed.”
Liggins did say Urban One’s underperformance in its radio division the last two-and-a-half years was due to competitive formats that were launched in three Urban One markets. He said those battles have cost the company $15 million in cash flow.
Urban One is pacing down in the single digits in Q2. April was weak. June is pacing significantly better.
Reach Media decreased $1.1 million for the quarter due to “weaker demand.”
Net revenues for Urban One’s digital segment increased 47.9% compared to the same period in 2017, primarily due to an increase in direct revenues and due to performance from a digital acquisition.
And finally, the company expects $6.7 million in revenue from its MGM Grand investment, which is $600,000 more than last year.
