Radio A Bright Spot for Urban One

Urban One, Inc. reported its fourth-quarter results for 2024 on Thursday. The company experienced a mixed financial performance during the last three months of the year, reflecting both strengths and challenges across its various segments.

For Q4 2024, Urban One’s net revenue reached approximately $117.1 million, marking a 2.7% decline from the $120.3 million recorded in Q4 2023. This drop was primarily driven by a significant decrease in cable television revenue, which fell to $39.8 million from $47.3 million, attributed to lower audience viewership and ongoing subscriber churn in the linear TV market. 

Despite this, the radio division shone as a bright spot, with net revenue rising to $47.7 million from $41.7 million, fueled by strong political advertising revenues. The digital segment also showed resilience, posting a solid performance with revenue increasing to $20.5 million and Adjusted EBITDA surging by 50.7% to $5.3 million from $3.5 million, despite a challenging advertising environment. However, Reach Media, the company’s national radio arm, saw a slight decline, with net revenue dropping to $9.6 million from $10.8 million.

Financially, Urban One swung to an operating loss of $1.9 million in Q4 2024, compared to an operating income of $6.8 million in the same period the previous year.

CEO Alfred C. Liggins III highlighted the radio division’s outperformance, driven by political advertising, which helped the company achieve an annual Adjusted EBITDA of $103.5 million, hitting the midpoint of its guidance. However, he acknowledged ongoing challenges in the cable TV segment, noting some stabilization in Q1 2025 delivery that could mitigate further subscriber losses. Looking ahead, Liggins emphasized cost containment and deleveraging as key focuses for 2025, with optimism about political ad revenue potentially offsetting declines in other areas. Despite the Q4 setbacks, Urban One’s diversified portfolio and strategic financial moves position it to navigate a shifting media landscape.