5-3-2012
It was a far cry from a statement he made three months ago. Radio One CEO Alfred Liggins, who is now running the Radio division after the departure of Barry Mayo, said Thursday, "We feel really good about our business." It was 90 days ago Liggins said he was "shocked by his company's performance" and "we had an awful 4th quarter." What a difference a quarter makes. Thursday Liggins said, "May is pacing off the charts, up 20%." It's really the first positive sign coming from a public radio company so far in 2012.
With CBS's radio division down 2%, Journal up 1.5% and Beasley up 1/1% so far, Radio One's 6.4% gain over Q1 2010 is the first sign the industry has an advertising pulse this year. Clear Channel will report tomorrow at 9AM. Liggins says the strongest categories for Radio One in the first quarter were retail, financial and health care. Surprisingly, automotive was down. Liggins says, as many others have, that national spending is down. He believes national ad dollars are moving to the Internet. When asked about Q2 and where the additional revenue was coming from, Liggins said, "It's across the board."
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