Plenty of radio companies are featuring a digital focus these days. Saga Communications CEO Chris Forgy believes that digital will make up a large portion of his company’s revenue by the time 2030 rolls around.
While speaking at the Noble Capital Markets Emerging Growth Virtual Equity Conference, Forgy shared that Saga is in the midst of a cultural shift to focus and prioritize its digital offerings.
“Our business units are now called media groups,” said Forgy. “Our sellers are media advisors. And our program directors and on-air talent are directors of content and content creators.”
With a focus on increasing its business in the search and display markets locally, Saga Communications believes it can increase its digital revenue to 67% of its total by 2030.
In its most recent financial results, 16% of the company’s total revenue is in the digital space. That is a 3% increase compared to the prior quarter. In the short term, the organization hopes to reach 20-25% of revenue coming from the digital sector.
In the coming years, Forgy explained that the expectation would be that 33% of total revenue will come from radio, 33% from search, and 33% from display ads.
Forgy said that Saga Communications will stop shy of the “digital first” moniker used by other radio ownership groups like Townsquare Media and Beasley Media Group, however.
“You have to have radio to make it work,” Forgy said. “Radio gets (advertisers) wanted. Search gets (advertisers) found. Display gets (advertisers) chosen.”
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