That’s compared to Q3 of 2019. When compared to Q2 of 2020, Entercom’s quarterly revenue increased 53%, showing signs that month-by-month, things are improving. However, the big unknown now is how the recent rise in COVID-19 cases, and the new President’s plan to slow down the virus, will impact revenue going forward.
Excluding political Entercom’s revenue declined 31% year-over-year. CFO Rich Schmaeling said, “Although we have seen five months of sequential improvement since April, an examination of our advertiser base makes clear that many of our local and national – spot advertising clients remain highly disrupted by COVID-19.”
Local revenue makes up about 70% of Entercom’s spot advertising revenue. Schmaeling said 44% of Entercom’s top local 2019 accounts were still off the air in September, versus about 55% of such accounts in the month of June. Digital and podcasting lead the way for Entercom in the second quarter, growing 41% over prior year. Political revenue came in at $5 million for the third quarter, up from $1.7 million in the third quarter of last year, but less than what the company was expecting.
Political revenue for the 4th quarter came in at $16.5 million. For the full year, political revenue is expected to come in at about $30 million versus $29 million in 2016 and $25 million in 2018.
Entercom CEO David Field said, ” Ad sales continue to suffer from the deep impact of the pandemic, which is caused many of our advertisers in businesses such as concerts and live events, tourism, gyms, nightclubs, museums, movies, theme parks, public transportation, airlines, restaurants and others, to temporarily cease or significantly curtail their operations and advertising.”
