Salem Revs Rise, Entravision Drops

ArrowUp-over-MoneySalem Communications, which owns a number of radio stations with predominantly Christian and conservative opinion formats, reported that total revenues increased 6.2% to $57.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2011, due in part to growth in radio advertising.

Salem’s total broadcast revenues, derived from 96 radio stations in 37 markets around the country, increased 2.8% to $45.8 million. This increase offset losses on the publishing side, where total revenues slipped 3.1%  to $3.1 million.

The company’s Internet business was booming, with total ad revenues soaring 37.1% to $8.1 million. For the full year, total revenues increased 5.7% to $218.2 million, with broadcasting revenues up 2.2% to $178.7 million and publishing revenues up 6.2% to $12.1 million. Full-year Internet revenues increased 35.8% to $27.3 million.

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These results stand out against a general picture of stagnation or decline in the radio industry as a whole during the fourth quarter. According to the Radio Advertising Bureau, total radio ad revenues decreased 2% in the fourth quarter of 2011 to $4.5 billion.

Hispanic broadcaster Entravision, which owns or operates 48 mostly Spanish-language radio stations around the country, was one of the radio companies to suffer declines in the fourth quarter of last year. Revenues at the company’s radio division dropped 6.5% to $15.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.

The company attributed the decline to the absence of advertising revenues associated with the 2011 World Cup and political ads. For the full year, total revenues slipped 3% to $194.4 million.

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