Christian, who founded Saga Communications back in 1986, died in August at the age of 78. During the Saga Q3 earnings call Thursday, interim CEO Warren Lada said the loss is palpable.
Lada added that Saga is stable, in good shape, and doing the right things. “The news is good and positive moving forward.”
CFO Sam Bush said of the 100 Saga earnings calls he’s been on, Thursday’s was only the second that he had done without Ed Christian. Bush has been the CFO since 1997.
Saga is expected to announce a new CEO in the coming weeks after a length search both inside and outside the company.
For Q3 net revenue for Saga increased 3.9% to $30 million. Political revenue came in at $850,000 compared to $256,000 in 2021. For the first 9 months of the year Saga’s revenue was $84.8 million, an increase of 7% over 2021. Political revenue is at $1.8 million so far, compared to $894,000 in 2021. The bulk of political revenue hits the books for most radio companies in the 4th quarter.
