Salem Posts Strong Numbers

By comparison to the almost-flat figures being posted by some other radio companies, Salem Communications put up pretty positive numbers for its fourth quarter and year.
For the year, net broadcasting revenue increased 9.1% to $170.5 million.
President/CEO Edward G. Atsinger III said that on a same-station basis, its fourth-quarter station operating income growth of 26.1% “matches the best quarterly financial performance we have achieved since going public in 1999. This is especially significant given the difficult year that the radio industry experienced in 2003.”
He said Salem enjoyed revenue growth of 12.8% in the quarter, to $45.8 million, with its growth fed by start-up and developing stations.
“In particular, our contemporary Christian music stations grew robustly, achieving 30% revenue growth and 197.1% growth in station operating income.”