Audacy has reported its first quarter financial results for 2021, the last quarter the company was known as Entercom before its rebranding. Net revenues for the quarter were $240.8 million, down 19 percent compared to $297 million in the first quarter of 2020. However, digital revenues were $49.8 million, up 17 percent compared to a year ago. The company’s operating loss for the quarter was $8.2 million, which included a non-cash impairment charge of $0.6 million.
Audacy President/CEO David J. Field said, “The year has gotten off to an active start as we successfully completed the rebranding of the company to Audacy, reflecting our transformational progress into a leading, multi-platform audio content and entertainment company with scaled audience reach and a leadership position in virtually every key segment of the dynamic and growing audio market.
“We are in the midst of a strong, albeit uneven, advertising recovery reflecting the nature of our business mix. First quarter digital revenues grew 17% and national revenues rebounded to prior year levels, but local ad revenues remained behind as many of our customers continue to be impacted by the pandemic. Because the local radio advertiser base is weighted toward later-stage recovery categories including restaurants, concerts and entertainment, movies, travel, and theme parks, we anticipate a strong recovery of local advertising across these businesses during the third and fourth quarters.
“Our second quarter pacings are up more than 60% over 2020 reflecting massive improvements across all segments of our business from the depressed levels of the prior year. In another strong sign of recovery, our average local customer spending levels are now exceeding their average 2019 spending levels. Total local ad spending is down because of a decline in the number of customers with a significant majority of those inactive accounts concentrated in later-stage recovery business categories.”
