Excluding political advertising, revenue declined 3% in what is typically radio’s best quarter of every year. CEO Mary Berner blamed the flat quarter on national revenue which Cumulus has a lot of exposure to with its large market stations and the Westwood One Network.
The company reported $252.3 million in revenue for Q4. Digital revenue was up 8%, streaming revenue was up 21%, podcasting revenue was up 2%. Network revenue dipped 10.9%. Berner said several large advertisers are going dark for awhile which is the main reason the company is seeing lower ad dollars in the national column.
For the year, Cumulus increased revenue by 4% to $953.5million. Digital revenue now makes up 15% of Cumulus’ total revenue and increased in 2022 by 12% to more than $142 million.
In a prepared statement, Berner said, “Despite considerable economic turbulence, we delivered fourth quarter financial performance in the upper half of our guidance range, continuing a multi-year period of significant accomplishments. Looking ahead to 2023, we continue to face substantial economic headwinds. However, our battle-tested skill in performing during challenging times, as well as our very strong financial position, gives us substantial confidence in our ability to not only weather this depressed ad environment but take full advantage of opportunities that may arise over the coming quarters.”
