Emmis Fiscal Q2 Radio Revenues Down, NextRadio in Jeopardy

RADIO ONLINE | Thursday, October 11, 2018

Emmis Communications

Emmis Communications reported radio net revenues for the second fiscal quarter were $30.7 million, down from $41.8 million in the prior year. The company said sales of KPWR-FM (Power 106) in Los Angeles in August, 2017 and four radio stations in St. Louis on April, 2018 rendered it reported results not comparable year-over-year. Pro forma for all radio station sales, Emmis Q2 were down 7% in markets that were down 4%. Its underperformance is mainly due to weather-related issues for New York's Summer Jam in June, which led to Emmis' June revenues declining 16% for the month.

"Emmis' radio revenues were up 2% in both July and August, and Emmis' third quarter is off to a strong start with September revenues up 1% and October pacing up double digits, which would be our strongest month in four years," said Emmis Chairman/CEO Jeff Smulyan. "Ratings remain strong in New York and continue to improve in Indianapolis. Austin has rebranded KGSR as Austin City Limits Radio, the result of a multi-year licensing agreement with Austin City Limits Enterprises, LLC, creating an eclectic format sure to connect with Austin listeners."

He continued, "For the past several months, Emmis and other companies in the radio industry have been working diligently to form a consortium that would own and operate the NextRadio and TagStation businesses. The participating companies envisioned using their collective scale and resources to build an attribution platform for the radio industry that would have provided the common language and measurement that radio advertisers are demanding."

"Unfortunately, the consortium has not been formed and these efforts appear to have been unsuccessful. Because Emmis is unwilling and unable to continue to fund the NextRadio and TagStation businesses as they are currently structured, we plan to dramatically reduce the operations of these businesses and explore other means of eliminating the operating losses from these businesses in the coming months," Smulyan concluded.