Those were the words of Townsquare CEO Bill Wilson on the company’s first quarter earnings call Monday. Townsquare saw over $4 million in advertising cancellations in March, resulting in a 10% revenue decline for that month, an 18 point swing after the month began up 8%.
Net revenue for the quarter was $93.4 million. Wilson stated that, “Although this streak won’t continue in Q2 given the COVID-19 crisis, it is worth noting that Q1 was our 9th consecutive quarter of pro forma net revenue growth. It is also very much worth noting that in Q1 over 40% of our net revenue was digital revenue. This clearly differentiates Townsquare from other local media companies.”
In April, Townsquare took over $16 million in Q2 advertising revenue cancellations. As a result, April net revenue finished down -36%, with broadcast revenue down -52%, digital revenue -6%. Live events revenue is down 100% with no live events taking place. Townsquare Interactive grew 11% in April.
Advertising categories impacted the most by restrictions took the biggest hit in April and May. Auto suffered the largest revenue drop, followed by furniture stores, dentists, fast food and casinos. Categories that saw revenue increases were education, insurance, groceries, and state government.
Wilson says there is good news up ahead. “We believe that we have turned the corner and the worst is behind us. Starting very late in April, new advertising orders began overcoming the advertising cancellations and thus we started to go positive net adds at that time. In addition, the volume and amount of advertising campaign cancellations have declined in the month of May compared to April, and new advertising business had sequential growth in May. In May, for example, we had 30% fewer cancellations and 32% more additions than April, a trend that is continuing into June.”
