That’s the damage the coronavirus inflicted on the company and it pretty much happened in one month, the month of March. Cumulus was rolling along nicely in January and February, until a national lockdown was put in place in March to flatten to curve, which is when the bottom fell out. Radio needs the conomy to open back up.
The cancellation of the NCAA’s Final Four basketball tournament was a big reason for the revenue decline, making up half of the ad dollars lost for the quarter. Cumulus’ same station revenue came in at $226.5 million, down from $255 million in the first quarter of 2019.
Political ad spending was strong for Cumulus in Q1 thanks to the deep pockets of Michael Bloomberg. Cumulus took in nearly $5 million in political, compared to less than $1 million in Q1 of 2019.
As she looked ahead to Q2, CEO Mary Berner said pacing is now unreliable and added business is off about 40%. Berner said the highlights inthe quarter were digital and podcasting.
