• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, August 11, 2009

A slew of radio broadcasters reported their second-quarter results this week, with little cause for celebration. Led by Clear Channel Communications, the radio groups all posted double-digit declines, although some pointed out that these were smaller than in previous quarters.

Clear Channel Communications -- which owns Clear Channel Radio and most of Clear Channel Outdoor -- said total revenues fell 21% in the second quarter compared to the same period in 2008, from $1.77 billion to $1.4 billion. Total radio revenue fell 20% to $717.6 million, while outdoor tumbled 24% to $692.1 million.

Clear Channel -- which carries over $20 billion of debt from its acquisition by Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners last year -- has been aggressively cutting costs during the recession, which has brought a steep downturn in radio ad spending. Nonetheless, industry observers speculate that its lenders are trying to drive it into bankruptcy to get at its assets.

Westwood One said Monday that second-quarter revenues fell 16.7%, from just over $100 million to $83.7 million -- and blamed this on a drop in automotive spending at its network division, along with drops in auto, retail, and telecom at the local level.

Like other radio groups, Westwood has maintained "strict discipline of expense control," according to Rod Sherwood, Westwood's president and chief financial officer, leading to a 15.3% decrease in operating expenses in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, Citadel Broadcasting's revenues fell 18% from $229 million in the second quarter of 2008 to $188 million this year, according to its quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Including an asset impairment charge of $985.7 million, it posted operating expenses of $1.13 billion and an operating loss of $944 million. Total interest expenses were $44.5 million; Citadel carries a debt of just over $2 billion.

Finally, Salem Communications said total revenues decreased 12.8%, from $57.5 million to $50.1 million. Like other broadcasters, it has assumed impairment charges to reflect the declining value of assets, driving an overall increase in operating expenses. Excluding the impairment charge, second-quarter operating expenses fell 14.6%.