Townsquare Q3 Net Revenue Fell 15.3% to $95.4 Million

RADIO ONLINE | Monday, November 9, 2020

Townsquare Media

Townsquare Media reported third quarter net revenue fell 15.3% to $95.4 million from $112.6 million in 2019. Advertising net revenue was down 17.2% to $77.1 million and Live Events decreased 98.2% to $0.1 million. Adjusted EBITDA declined 37.8% to $17.5 million from $28.1 million. The company posted a net income of $1.3 million as compared to $7.3 million in the year-ago period. Net income from continuing operations decreased $7.2 million to $1.3 million, as compared to continuing operations of $8.5 million.

"Third quarter net revenue improved to a decline of -15.3%, as compared to the third quarter of the prior year, which was up from a decline of -34.5% in the second quarter. This translated to a strong increase in Adjusted EBITDA from $2.1 million in the second quarter to $17.5 million in the third quarter. Our better than anticipated third quarter results were due to gains in both our Townsquare Interactive and Advertising segments," commented Townsquare CEO Bill Wilson. "Townsquare Interactive, our digital marketing subscription business, has delivered net subscription revenue and subscriber growth each and every month of 2020, demonstrating its recession-resistant characteristics and proving to be valuable and a tremendous resource to local businesses.

"In the third quarter, Townsquare Interactive's net revenue increased 14.5% over the prior year period, at an Adjusted Operating Income margin in excess of 30%, and added approximately 1,150 net subscribers, marking the 10th consecutive quarter of 850 (or more) net subscriber additions and the most quarterly net subscriber adds in nearly six years.

"Improvement across our Advertising segment was broad based, as revenue declines improved from -37.5% in the second quarter to -17.2% in the third quarter, each as compared to the prior year. Broadcast advertising net revenue sequentially improved throughout the quarter, with and without political revenue, and digital advertising net revenue returned to growth in the third quarter, driven by positive net revenue growth from Townsquare Ignite (+10% year over year), our digital programmatic advertising solution, and AMPED (+9% year over year), advertising revenue associated with our owned and operated local websites.

"In total, our digital net revenue exceeded 44% of our total net revenue in Q3 2020, and we remain confident that Townsquare Interactive and Townsquare Ignite will each generate $100 million of annual net revenue in two to three years."