Beasley Expects Drop in Fourth Quarter

Industry people watch quarterly financial reports to get a sense of how the radio business is doing.
This week, Beasley Broadcast Group checked in. Company head George Beasley said third-quarter revenue benefited in particular from continuing improvements in the Miami, Las Vegas and Ft. Myers market clusters, but he said market conditions continue to be “challenging … at our Fayetteville market cluster, which is located near several military bases.”
Beasley said the ad climate in the company’s 10 markets remains “somewhat unpredictable.” The company also has been eliminating what it considers marginally profitable NTR events and selling stock to reduce outstanding credit balances.
For the third quarter, Beasley’s net revenue at its 41 stations was up 2% to $29.4 million compared to the same quarter last year. Year to date, net revenue increased a fraction of a percent to $82.3 million.
The company said it expects to see a revenue drop of up to 5% in the fourth quarter due in part to the suspension of an annual promotional event in Philadelphia and the absence of political ad revenue.