Radio One (NASDAQ:UONE), referred to as Urban One during its earnings call, reported lower third-quarter revenue and a wider net loss as advertising weakness affected its radio, digital and cable television businesses. Management also revised its full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance to $40 million and outlined plans to reduce costs.
Consolidated net revenue fell 5% from a year earlier to approximately $88 million for the three months ended September 30, 2026. Adjusted EBITDA declined 13.6% to $12.3 million, while the net loss widened to $119.2 million, or $26.39 per share, from $2.8 million, or $0.64 per share, a year earlier.
The results included substantial impairment charges tied to the radio broadcasting and cable television reporting units. Chief Financial Officer Peter Thompson said the company recorded $25.4 million in goodwill impairment and $62.5 million in long-lived asset impairments related to radio, as well as $40.9 million in goodwill impairment related to cable television.
Advertising Pressures Weigh on Revenue
Chief Executive Officer Alfred C. Liggins said radio market conditions continued to hurt revenue, although the company benefited from approximately $800,000 in net political revenue during the quarter. Stations acquired in Dallas effective July 17 contributed an additional $1.9 million in net revenue.
Radio broadcasting revenue rose 5.8% year over year to $36.7 million. Excluding political revenue, the segment increased 0.5%, Thompson said. Local advertising sales fell 5.1%, compared with a 9.2% decline for the market, while national sales rose 4.2% against a market decline of 2.1%, according to Miller Kaplan data cited on the call.
Liggins said radio political spending was weaker than anticipated. The company expects approximately $8.4 million in radio political revenue for the full year, compared with a budget of about $11 million. Across all divisions, it expects $8.8 million in net political revenue.
Digital segment revenue fell 24.6% to $9.6 million. Thompson attributed the decline to lower national direct revenue associated with DEI-focused spending and lower effective rates as demand weakened. Liggins said local digital revenue increased in the company’s radio markets, but national client losses and suppressed rates contributed to the overall segment decline.
Reach Media revenue declined 17.7% to $5.1 million, and the segment posted an adjusted EBITDA loss of $1.1 million. Thompson cited lower demand in the network audio marketplace.
Cable Revenue and Subscribers Decline
Cable television revenue fell 6.2% to $37.3 million. Advertising revenue declined 5.5%, primarily because of lower total day delivery, while affiliate revenue decreased 7.1% as subscriber losses were partly offset by higher subscriber rates, Thompson said.
Weak demand in the cable scatter market pushed more inventory into the lower-rate direct response category during the quarter, according to Liggins.
TV One ended the quarter with 26 million traditional linear subscribers measured by Nielsen, down from 33.6 million a year earlier. Including virtual subscribers, the total fell to 29.3 million from 35.1 million.
Costs, Debt and Outlook
Liggins said management had identified at least $20 million in annualized savings that it was working to put into effect. Operating expenses, excluding depreciation and amortization, stock-based compensation and impairment charges, declined to approximately $78.2 million from $83.7 million a year earlier. Thompson said the decrease was mainly driven by nonrecurring music license settlement costs in the prior-year period.
At September 30, the company had approximately $325.2 million in contractually outstanding debt and $17.2 million in unrestricted cash. Thompson put net debt at approximately $308.1 million and the net leverage ratio at 6.96 times trailing 12-month adjusted EBITDA.
The company completed its $22 million acquisition of Service Broadcasting Group, including Dallas stations KKDA and KRNB, on July 17. It also sold KZMJ to Fuzion Dallas LLC for $6 million on July 6, recognizing a $3.2 million gain in the third quarter.
About Radio One (NASDAQ:UONE)
Radio One, Inc., now known as Urban One, Inc. (NASDAQ: UONE), is a diversified media company focused on serving African American and urban audiences in the United States. The company operates radio stations in select U.S. markets and provides programming that includes music, news, talk, entertainment and community-focused content. Urban One has expanded beyond traditional radio through television, digital media and content production. Its businesses have included TV One, a cable network featuring entertainment, lifestyle and documentary programming; Reach Media, which produces and distributes syndicated radio programs; and One Solution, an integrated marketing and advertising platform serving brands seeking to reach multicultural audiences.
