Urban One Sees Revenue Fall, Income Rise In Q2 2018

Q2

URBAN ONE second quarter 2018 net revenue fell 2.1% year-to-year to $115.2 million, with broadcast and digital operating income up 6.1% to $44.3 million, operating income overall doubling to $24.8 million, and net income up from $802,000 to $23.6 million (2 to 51 cents/share). Adjusted EBITDA rose 6.4% to $39 million. Radio advertising fell 6% to $52 million, and digital advertising, cable TV advertising, and event revenues all fell and political advertising (up 61,7% thanks to midterm primary season) and cable TV affiliate fees saw increases.

Radio's decline was attributed to the ATLANTA, PHILADELPHIA, RALEIGH, and ST. LOUIS markets, offset partly by growth in CLEVELAND, DALLAS, and WASHINGTON.  REACH MEDIA revenue fell by about $1.1 million due to downward pricing pressure; TOM JOYNER's "Fantastic Voyage" event occurred in the quarter and took in $9.4 million, flat from the previous year.

President/CEO ALFRED C. LIGGINS, III said, "Our Q2 radio performance was in line with expectation; after a tough APRIL, the quarter improved sequentially, and we are currently pacing approximately flat for third quarter. The decline in our TV advertising revenues improved sequentially over first quarter, and our affiliate revenues benefited from a one-time adjustment to an agreement with a major MVPD. We are launching a new network in JANUARY 2019 that will target the African-American female demographic and feature lifestyle and entertainment programming. We expect the new network to launch with at least 2 MPVD distribution partners. The addition of a second network will help us to continue to grow our TV business in the longer term, and has great potential synergy with our existing platform. REACH MEDIA held its 19th successful TOM JOYNER FOUNDATION Fantastic Voyage cruise event, and was able to deliver a 14.7% increase in Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter. Our digital segment came in below expectation for Q2, but has had a very strong start to third quarter and we remain optimistic for the back half of the year. MGM NATIONAL HARBOR continues its impressive performance, with double digit growth in gaming revenues for Q2. Overall, I remain comfortable with the full year Adjusted EBITDA guidance of approximately $140 million that was provided during our Q1 earnings call."

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