2-20-14
CEO Alfred Liggins was upbeat on Radio One's fourth-quarter earnings call Thursday, saying, "We feel good about our Q4 core radio business." Net revenue from radio and Reach Media was down 2.2% due to political comp; excluding political, radio and Reach were up 5%, to $66.4 million, from $63.2 million in Q4 2012. Overall, Radio One's net revenue in the fourth quarter was up 5.4%, to $111.6 million from $105.9 million in the same quarter in 2014. Liggins said on the call, "We feel good about our ability to grow our radio cash flow again in 2014."
Radio One's station operating income in the quarter was approximately $39.1 million, up 9.9 percent from Q4 2012, with operating income of $17.5 million, compared to $14.6 million a year before. Net loss was $16.4 million (35 cents per share), compared to a net loss of $17.2 million (34 cents)
Liggins said that Reach Media and the Interactive One Internet division "took nice leaps" during the quarter, with Reach's net revenue coming in at $12.3 million, up from $11.1 million a year before, and the Internet business bringing in $8 million, up from $5.2 million.
Asked about the impact of Q4's severe weather on the radio division, Liggins said, "We haven't tried to drill down and quantify it. It's difficult." Even after the weather problems, with Radio One and its advertisers being closed at times during the quarter, he said, "Our plus-3 was probably not that far off from what we were forecasting."
Asked about Radio One's possibly taking a similar approach to Cumulus Media's NASH initiative in country, Liggins said, "I think we already are doing what they want to do." He went on, "They've got a country brand called NASH, we've got an urban brand called One," with a cable network and a big online business. He said, "I find it really interesting to see Clear Channel rebrand as a media and entertainment company, and Cumulus Media has got their strategy -- well, this has been our strategy for the last 10 years, and it's paying off."
Liggins also said radio broadcasters should be able to participate in the "renaissance" of streaming radio: We've got most of the revenue, we've got most of the talent." He said, "If the differential is that [pureplay streamers] have 100 engineers creating a unique user experience, it would seem to me that's something radio could tap into." He pointed to Radio One's own BlackPlanetRadio, which partners with Songza for its music. He added, "Our digital strategy needs to be as much about how people listen to our radio station and as much about how they interact with our websites and the content we deliver to them there."
