Entercom Communications is the latest broadcaster to report its quarter finances. Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, net revenue in Q3 fell by 30 percent compared to the third quarter of 2019, down to $268.5 million. However, the company did note that compared to the second quarter of this year, net revenue rebounded by 53 percent. Net revenue has improved slightly each month in the quarter compared to the year prior, while still down from Q3 2019. Digital revenues were $47.3 million, up 41 percent compared to the third quarter of 2019.
Entercom President/CEO David J. Field stated, “I am pleased to report that Entercom continued to make significant organizational improvements in the third quarter in the face of the deeply challenging pandemic. Third quarter net revenues were up 53% from the second quarter while our continuing work on enhancing our business model yielded an 18% reduction in operating expenses versus the prior year enabling us to rebound to positive Adjusted EBITDA of $31 million. We expect further improvement in both revenues and Adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter.
“We continue to suffer from the deep impact of the pandemic which has caused many of our advertisers in businesses such as concerts and live events, tourism, gyms, nightclubs, museums, movies, theme parks, public transportation, airlines, restaurants, and others to temporarily cease or significantly curtail their operations and advertising. We look forward to welcoming them back once we emerge from the pandemic.
“We continue to build and transform Entercom into a leading multi-platform audio content and entertainment company with scaled audience reach, robust data, analytics and attribution capabilities, and a leadership position in virtually every segment of the dynamic and growing audio market, including broadcasting, podcasting, digital, events, network, music, sports and news. Entercom is strategically well positioned for future performance as our enhanced capabilities enable us to expand our customer relationships and accelerate growth.
“As an illustration of the appeal of our evolving capabilities, we recently announced a landmark six-year partnership with FanDuel which we believe is the largest advertising deal in the history of the radio business. This partnership is a powerful testament to the importance of our unrivaled audio sports business which includes most of the country’s leading sports talk stations and personalities with their deep fan engagement.”
