CC POSTS REVENUE DIP, TSL GAINS Tony Sanders – Billboard The good news is much better than the bad news. Clear Channel radio revenues dropped 4.3% during the third quarter (ended Sept. 30) but the company's radio stations managed to keep listeners in three different demos tuned in longer, according to the company’s own analysis of Summer ratings results for 30 Arbitron markets.
Those TSL (time spent listening) gains were especially good among younger listeners, aged 18-34, according to CC president/CEO Mark Mays. These recent TSL gains in Summer follow on similar good news from the prior Spring survey period.
During the company's earnings conference call, Mays told analysts and reporters that for an “average [CC-owned] station” in the 30 markets for which there is complete Arbitron Summer survey data available, TSL was up 15.5% among listeners aged 18-34. TSL was up 6.1% for listeners 25-54, he said, and it was up 5.8% for the broadest demographic, persons 12+.
Mays also said that CC has completed its Less Is More spotload reduction campaign, and that there would not be any further reductions in the future. That effectively means spot inventory loads are at a fixed number, and bolsters the argument that programming content is now attracting listeners back to radio.
Taking up that point, Clear Channel Radio president John Hogan pointed to the group’s on-air content, rather than the reduced spotloads, as an important driver in the TSL gains.
As Hogan put it, “the one constant is the reduced clutter, so we know we’re on the right track with this.” He tipped his hat to the programming side of the equation and said that it would be “overreaching to say it’s all attributable to Less Is More.”
Arbitron share results were also up for CC in those 30 markets, Mays said. In a Summer-to-Summer comparison, Mays said his stations were up 4% for the 12+ demo, up 6.1% for 18-34 and up 4% for 25-54.
As far as money is concerned, the 4.3% revenue drop during Q3 translates to about $41 million; it was down from last year’s $960.1 million to this year’s comparable $919.2 million.
Two bright spots in the radio revenue picture, said Mays, were the performance of the group’s Premiere Radio Networks and Clear Channel Traffic divisions. Hogan said that “the growth in traffic [revenues] is a response to increased choice and increased opportunities.” He said “the number of traffic reports has really grown as individual stations have seen the value of increasing the number of traffic reports” aired during the broadcast day. Premiere’s gains, Hogan said, were attributable to "outstanding clearances” on more stations for various program offerings. |