Saga Communications has announced a net revenue decline of 9.3% to $26.5 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2025 compared to $29.2 million for the same period last year.
Saga’s digital revenue increased 25.8% to $4.3 million for the quarter compared to $3.5 million for the same period last year. Station operating expense decreased 1.9% for the quarter to $22.9 million compared to the same period last year. Saga’s operating loss of $9.5 million for the quarter fell from income of $1 million in Q4 2024. Station operating income decreased 38.7% to $3.6 million for the quarter.
Saga noted it had a net loss of $6.9 million for the quarter compared to net income of $1.3 million for the fourth quarter last year primarily as the result of an impairment charge of $20.4 million based on an evaluation of goodwill and FCC license values. The impairment was driven by lower than expected revenue growth seen in the fourth quarter of 2025 in radio advertising and the industry as a whole which resulted in less than favorable market projections used in our annual impairment calculations performed in the fourth quarter. Following the impairment charge, no goodwill remains. Without the impairment charge its operating income would have been $10.9 million for the quarter and net income would have been $8.2 million or $1.27 per share.
For the year of 2025, Saga’s net revenue decreased 5.1% to $107.1 million compared to $112.9 million for the same period in 2024. Digital revenue increased 19.1% to $16.9 million. Station operating expense remained flat for the twelve-month period at $91.8 million. For the twelve-month period, Saga had an operating loss of $11.0 million compared to operating income of $2.4 million in 2024. Station operating income decreased 27.3% to $15.3 million. Capital expenditures for the twelve months were $3.0 million compared to $3.8 million for the same period last year. Without the impairment charge, operating income would have been $9.4 million for the year and net income would have been $7.2 million or $1.11 per share.
Saga also recorded approximately $2.2 million in operating expenses that was the result of a settlement with two music licensing organizations (ASCAP and BMI) as a part of a retroactive industry wide rate adjustment from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2025.
Saga said it closed on the sale of 24 towers and related property in October 2025 with a gain of $11.6 million with total proceeds of $15.1 million. The non-cash proceeds are the recognized value of the long-term, nominal cost leases entered into as a part of the transaction.
The company’s balance sheet holds $31.8 million in cash and short-term investments as of December 31, 2025 and $31.5 million as of March 9, 2026 with plans to spend approximately $3.5 million to $4.5 million for capital expenditures during 2026.
