Beasley Media Group CEO Caroline Beasley made it a point to speak about the iHeartMedia and Cumulus bankruptcies, and how they affect the radio industry, yesterday on the company earnings call. Here’s what she had to say…
Beasley said on one hand it’s business as usual at her company due to Beasley’s “great stations, great brands, great local programming and moderate leverage which is addressable.” On the other hand, she said, “you have to believe that with the leading companies suffering the way that they have, it had to have an impact on the industry. We are rooting for these companies to get healthier as we are likely to see an industry where leaders better advocate for the product, its reach and effectiveness, which we hope elevates the value of our inventory and creates a more rationalized market for advertising.”
Beasley noted that there was a higher level of excitement than she’s seen in years, about the radio business, at the recent NAB show in Las Vegas, especially with the two biggest radio company’s “about to get healthy.” She also said the CBS radio stations changed hands last year and she expects “those stations to improve under Entercom’s ownership.”
Beasley said her company is always on the lookout for strategic acquisition, clearly signaling that she’d like to continue to grow the company. “If it’s right (an acquisition) we would stretch our leverage to 5X or lower.”
Caroline Beasley is the co-chair of Radio Ink’s Forecast 2019 this November in New York City
Ms. Beasley should get her head out of that dark place. Beasley is highly leveraged and increases in revenue hardly put a dent in desperate company health.
I’ll always remember Alan Greenspan’s warning against “irrational exuberance”. I think I’ll stick with cautiously optimistic. In this business, it’s easy to steal enough chain to sink yourself, especially when your only escape is to swim across the river with the chain.
It’s nice to hear comments from real radio people.
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