Urban One has reported its second-quarter financial results, and the company shared that it was down in a variety of avenues.
During the quarter, Urban One saw its revenue decline 22.2%, down to $91.6 million from the $117.7 million it featured in the same window last year.
Operating losses for the organization essentially doubled, growing to $120.7 million compared to the $60.4 million it saw during April, May, and June 2024. It also saw its net loss drop to $77.9 million for the quarter.
The Adjusted EBITDA finished the quarter at $14 million, dropping 51.6%.
Radio-related revenue at the company dropped 12.6% to $36.7 million. Reach Media’s revenue fell 72%, which the company attributed to a change in the schedule for the annual Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyage, which will take place during this year’s fourth quarter compared to last year’s second.
Additionally, digital revenue dropped to $10.3 million. That figure represents a 27% decrease year-over-year. The cable television division of Urban One saw a 7.4% drop in total revenue, down to $40.1 million. CEO Alfred Liggins stated that the advertising revenue only slipped by 4.2%, while affiliate and subscriber fees were down nearly 12%.
“Our Digital business experienced a combination of lower advertising demand and reduced streaming CPM’s compared to the second quarter of 2024,” Liggin said. “Core radio advertising finished down 11.8% excluding digital, as we continue to experience double-digit declines in national radio advertising demand. Core radio pacings for the third quarter are currently (8.3)% or (5.6)% excluding political, with local pacing flat year-over-year, so we are seeing some sequential improvement in radio.
“Based on the broad economic headwinds being experienced, we are reducing our full-year guidance to $60.0 million in Adjusted EBITDA,” continued Liggins. “In a challenging marketplace, our focus remains on controlling costs, managing leverage, and retaining our strong liquidity position. During the second quarter of 2025, we repurchased $64.0 million of our 2028 Notes at an average price of approximately 51.8% of par, reducing our outstanding debt balance to $492.3 million.”
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