Urban One finished 2025 just inside its guidance range, but CEO Alfred Liggins was measured in his optimism on the company’s Q4 earnings call, pointing to a slower-than-expected start to the new year while defending the company’s decision to hold its 2026 outlook steady.
“Q1 started off a bit slower than we’d hoped,” Liggins said. “Current radio pacings are down about 5%.” Still, he pushed back on any suggestion that a guidance revision was imminent, citing political revenue expected later in the year, operational changes already underway, and what he described as “significant improvements in our ratings at our cable television unit.”
The quarter’s net loss came in at $54.4 million, up sharply from a $35.7 million loss in Q4 2024. A significant driver was $55.3 million in impairment charges, primarily to the broadcaster’s cable television segment.
The clearest win Liggins claimed was off the income statement. In December, Urban One closed a private tender exchange on more than 97% of its 2028 senior secured notes, buying back $185 million of debt at 60 cents on the dollar, issuing new notes due 2030 and 2031 in exchange. Combined with open-market repurchases earlier in the year, the company reduced its long-term debt balance from roughly $584 million to $363.4 million by year end, and has since knocked it down further to $359.1 million.
Liggins framed it as the foundation for whatever comes next. “We put the company in a much more stabilized position in terms of its capital structure,” he said, “to allow us to continue to focus on delivering the business and to try to take advantage of any offensive opportunities, particularly as it relates to regulation in the radio business.”
Still, he was careful to keep expectations grounded. “Any transactions that we would look to do would be transactions that were also delivering,” he said.
CFO Peter Thompson walked through numbers that illustrated just how much pressure the radio segment is under. Broadcasting revenue fell 26.5% year-over-year in Q4 to $35.1 million; a decline of 10.1% even after stripping out the absence of political dollars. Local ad sales were down 19% against markets that fell 12.6%. National was down 40.1% “against a market that was down 29.2%.”
A few categories offered relief. Services were up 18.1%, Thompson noted, “primarily due to legal services.” Financial was up 15.7%, healthcare up 3.5%. But he was clear: “all of the other major categories were down.”
TV One revenue dropped 16.8% in Q4, with advertising revenue down 21.8% and prime delivery declining “approximately 20% from the third quarter for persons 25-54.”
Liggins pointed to the ratings trajectory as a reason for patience on the 2026 guidance. “We’re starting to see some significant improvements in our ratings at our cable television unit,” he said, “and a number of these factors are playing into our decision to hold on to the 2026 guidance update.”
Digital revenue fell 19.6% in Q4 to $14.7 million. Thompson pointed directly at advertiser behavior, “driven by a decrease in direct revenue streams as a result of the DEI money, lower political, and lower client spending in general.”
