With Urban One returning to its usual earnings release schedule, broadcast radio is a stronger spot for the company as cable television prompts revenue woes. The bottom line? A net loss of $45.1 million for Q2 2024, a stark year-over-year reversal from $71.2 million.
For the quarter ending June 30, Urban One’s net revenues totaled $117.7 million, marking a 9.2% decrease from $129.7 million in Q2 2024. The broadcast and digital operating income saw a reduction – even with Connected TV and podcast growth – coming in at around $34.2 million, down 27.7% from the previous year.
Radio advertising revenue saw a minimal increase of 0.6%, moving from $45.1 million in 2023 to $45.4 million in 2024. “On a same station basis, our radio division finished Q2 -5.6% excluding political, and -3.0% with political. We saw a sequential improvement in national revenues vs. Q1, which was offset by weaker local revenues. Q3 core radio revenue is currently pacing down 6.9% on a same station basis, down 5.1% including political, and up 7.0% overall,” said Liggins.
The company reported an operating loss of around $60.4 million, contrasting sharply with an operating income of $9.7 million in the same period in 2023. Total operating expenses increased significantly to $178.2 million in 2024 from $120.0 million in 2023. Urban One’s acquisition of Cox Media Group’s Houston radio cluster added $2 million in operating expenses year-over-year.
Political advertising held at $2.1 million in the quarter. Liggins remains, “Optimistic for the remainder of the year,” seeing a political benefit for radio and digital.
Cable TV revenues fell 26.7% year-over-year to $22.2 million. Digital advertising also faced a substantial decline of 17.7%, dropping from $18.8 million in 2023 to $15.5 million in 2024.
Urban One repurchased an additional $35.5 million of its 2028 notes during the quarter and ended the period with approximately $132.4 million in cash.
Finally, Liggins reported the company is on track to finish 2024, “At the lower end of our EBITDA guide,” saying the company is, “Forecasting our digital segment to reach its budget. Our TV business is really what’s hurting us.”
