Beasley Q1 Revenue Declines 16.4%

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The company was looking at strong comps in January and February of 2020 before the bottom fell out in March when the pandemic grabbed the American way of life by the throat. In January and February revenue was down 21% compared to 2020. March revenue was up 3.9% over March 2020.

As the country eases its way toward heard immunity, it’s still too soon for big events and that also cost Beasley revenue in Q1 of this year. The company also hauled in $1.7 million in political revenue in the first quarter of 2020, compared to $264,000 this year.

On the bright side, digital revenue was up 10% in the first quarter for Beasley. Digital now makes up 12% of total revenue for the company.

And Q2 is pacing up 86% over 2020. April was up 128%, May is pacing up 100% and June is already up 32%. Q2 of 2020 was the darkest days of the pandemic economic shutdown.

Beasley did receive a $10 million PPP loan at a 1% interest rate. The loan could qualify for forgiveness. With $66.2 million on hand, the company has $310 million in debt.

2 COMMENTS

  1. They are a boring media company, mostly employing re-treads in key positions. Most of their purchased CBS stations are under-performing since the purchase.Their consultants blame local managers when things go wrong and take credit when they go right (rare). Horrible power-struggle environments in Boston and Tampa while Las Vegas has no true leadership. I believe the chatter of upcoming downsizing is accurate, especially with revenue looking this terrible.

  2. Extremely interesting numbers from Beasley. The verdict is still out, regarding how much radio will “rebound” from the last year of Covid. Regarding local revenues, a very significant percentage of local businesses have closed their doors. And many other businesses now have younger managers overseeing marketing/advertising– and they are much more familiar with the digital world, than the linear world of broadcast TV and broadcast radio. Radio revenues “rebounding” could be more challenging than generally perceived, although obviously that will vary by market.
    Continuing to voice-track many dayparts – one step above (or below?) AI, not having ongoing local promotions and strong local talent, and running 12, 14, or more commercials in a row, definitely will not help local stations to convince advertisers to come back aboard.

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