Headlines

U.S. Representative Leonard Lance of New Jersey introduced a bill to Congress on Tuesday to fight illegal pirate radio operators. The PIRATE Act, ‘‘Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement Act’’ calls for an increased penalty of up to $2,000,000 for anyone convicted of operating a pirate station across the nation.

On a same-station basis for the first quarter of 2018, Saga's net revenue increased 0.3% to $26.2 million. CEO Ed Christian said both the automotive and medical categories were disappointing in the quarter. He said three months ago he felt was queasy about Q1 but "we were able to move the needle up a little."

The medium- and small-market operator reported an increase in net revenue of 6.6% or $5.8 million to $94.2 million in the first quarter of 2018. Townsquare executives on the Tuesday morning earnings call were very pleased with the results, including Co-CEO Bill Wilson...

It's clear Entercom wants a bigger piece of the national revenue pie and will soon make an extra effort to make that happen. On Tuesday, Entercom announced it will launch the Entercom Audio Network on July 1.

Salem's Q1 net broadcast revenue increased 0.5% to $48.1 million (from $47.8 million). Same-station revenue increased 0.4% to $47.3 million from $47.1 million. Salem owns 118 radio stations and a network.

The Compensation Committee of iHeatMedia's Board of Directors has approved the terms for 2018 quarterly bonuses for CEO Bob Pittman, COO Richard Brsller and General Counsel Robert Walls. The bonuses that total about $4 Million must still be approved by the bankruptcy court.

eMarketer has just come out with a positive report on worldwide ad spending. The research firm says ad spending across the globe will increase 7.4% to $628.63 billion in 2018.

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...

This report will certainly add fuel to the fire for those in radio who believe there should be more deregulation so radio can better compete with the big digital companies. Or those who want the government to regulate the digital giants.

The $1.4 million increase reflects the inclusion of WBZ-FM Boston, partially offset by the disposition of WMJX-FM Boston and the Greenville-New Bern-Jacksonville stations. The company says revenue at the company’s other clusters was "comparable" to net revenue in the same period of 2017.