• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, July 30, 2012

Beasley Broadcast Group, which owns eight radio stations in the South and Southwest, said total revenues dropped 2.8% to $25 million in the second quarter of 2012 from the same period in 2011.

Despite this, operating income increased 11.6% to $10.2 million, and net income rose 37% to nearly $4 million, due partly to cost-cutting measures implemented by the company in recent years.
 
The company said local revenues were basically flat in the second quarter, while national revenue was down by single digits. Most of the declines came toward the beginning of the quarter, in April, with small increases in May and June, according to Chairman and CEO George G. Beasley.
 
Beasley also benefited from a music license fee settlement, but revealed that political revenues were weaker than anticipated. It also noted a weak performance by its stations in Fayetteville, NC. The company also faced tougher year-over-year comparisons because of a concert in Ft. Myers, FL that was not repeated in 2012.
 
Beasley is not alone in posting weak second-quarter results.

Emmis Communications saw total revenues slip 7% from second quarter of 2011 to $57 million in the second quarter of 2012, per the company. The decline was due mostly to a decline in radio revenues, from $45 million to $40 million -- an 11% drop over this period.
 
There are some positive signs. In the first quarter of the year, total radio industry revenues increased 1% to $3.8 billion, according to the Radio Advertising Bureau.