Report: Salem Becoming a Conservative Media Giant

Radio giant Salem Media Group in March quietly disclosed the purchase of a sixth digital media company, PJ Media, for just $100,000. Salem's conservative-leaning digital arm, Townhall Media, which includes right-leaning sites like HotAir and RedState, now reaches more than 15 million unique visitors a month, and is a "nicely profitable business," says Dave Evans, who leads new media and book publishing for Salem.

David Santrella

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Salem, based in Camarillo, California, has grown in political influence by snapping up digital properties from partisans like Michelle Malkin (Twitchy, Hot Air) while adding pro-Trump radio voices like former Fox News contributor Sebastian Gorka, which may help the company compete with titans iHeartRadio (home to Rush Limbaugh) and Westwood One (featuring Mark Levin).

"We are always on the hunt for strategic acquisitions that complement the audiences that we serve," says broadcast media president Dave Santrella.

Ideologically, Salem radio hosts are simpatico with Fox News' opinion hosts, and the company similarly views itself as a counterweight to mainstream media. In the past two months, the company extended the contract of conservative hosts Larry Elder and Mike Gallagher (a Fox News contributor) through 2022 and 2023, respectively.

Phil Boyce

Consistently is key, says Phil Boyce, a Salem vice president. "Every weekday, from 6 a.m. ET to midnight, Salem broadcasts talk radio programming that fits together like a jigsaw puzzle," he says. "There is a linkage between all of the shows, and while not all stations take our entire lineup, all of them could and you would not get tired of it."

While the larger Sinclair Broadcast Group is seen as merely politically conservative, Salem offers both right-leaning talk and Christian-centric content. "The beauty of Salem is that we look at our company as serving some very distinct audiences and doing that better than anybody else," Santrella says. "Sinclair is a fantastic broadcaster, but they're still a general market broadcaster, as is iHeart or Cumulus."

Salem's digital acquisitions have turned heads, but the company's revenues primarily come from 116 radio stations in 39 markets (75 percent), with a publishing business — Regnery — also chipping in about 10 percent.