Ad weakness plagues radio station company

NAPLES — Beasley Broadcast Group says weakness in some of its markets and an impairment charge pushed the radio operator to a quarterly loss.

The Naples-based operator of 52 stations posted a net loss of $738,000 on revenues of $26.3 million in the quarter ending Sept. 30. That compares with net income of $2.5 million on revenues of $24.5 million in the same quarter one year ago.

Beasley says the company posted weak advertising sales in markets such as Charlotte, N.C., Las Vegas, Fayetteville, N.C. and Wilmington, Del. The company also took a $3.5 million impairment charge related to the value of its Wilmington station.

Beasley's 7% quarterly revenue growth came from two Southwest Florida markets: Fort Myers and Tampa-St. Petersburg, the company says.

“Looking forward, we remain focused on operating our station clusters to match or exceed their market's revenue performance while further strengthening our balance sheet,” the company says in a statement. “We believe our ratings and programming are in great shape and look forward to benefiting from the integration, programming, personnel, cost-efficiency and operating changes put in place over the last year.”

Founded in 1961, Beasley owns and operates 52 stations (34 FM and 18 AM) located in 12 markets in the United States.