• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, October 10, 2014

The third quarter was nothing to write home about for the radio business, judging by some of the first financial results covering most of the period. Emmis Communications reported that total revenues for its financial quarter including June, July, and August slipped 1.7% to $47.6 million, when recently acquired properties are included in the prior-year comparison.

When these new properties are excluded from the prior year, total revenues were up 18%.

The company’s results were dragged down by an 8% decrease in national ad revenue in major markets, including New York, Los Angeles, and St. Louis, offsetting a modest 1.6% increase in local radio markets. The company’s publishing revenues increased 7% to $14.1 million, due to higher advertising rates and growth in its custom publishing business.

Emmis President and CEO Jeff Smulyan tried to put a positive spin on the lackluster numbers: “The performance of the radio industry is very challenged, but there is better news on the way.”

Looking ahead, Smulyan noted that “pacings have improved, looking much stronger for the fall than the summer.” It’s worth noting that this increase should come from core advertising categories, as Emmis doesn’t usually receive a lot of political advertising, per Smulyan.

The Emmis results don’t bode well for the radio business at large, coming on the heels of two weak quarters in the first half of the year. According to the Radio Advertising Bureau, total radio advertising revenues were flat at $3.8 billion in the first quarter, and down 3% to $4.5 billion in the second quarter, for a total drop of 1% in the first half, to $8.3 billion.

Both quarters saw decreases in spot advertising, long the mainstay of the radio ad business, which was down 3% to $6.5 billion in the first half. Network advertising, the industry’s other traditional revenue source, also fell 3% in the first half to $534 million.

However, these losses were partly offset by gains in digital advertising, up 12% to $449 million in the first half, and off-air revenues, up 15% to $853 million.