Townsquare Media’s revenue growth continues to come from digital advertising as opposed to broadcast.
CEO Bill Wilson said, “Townsquare’s third quarter results reflect the continued strength of our Digital Advertising platform. Third quarter net revenue of $110.9 million increased 3.9% year-over-year and exceeded our guidance range, Adjusted EBITDA of $22.6 million increased 2.7% year-over-year and was within our guidance range, and net loss narrowed by $1.5 million year-over-year to $4.0 million. These results were driven by the growth of Townsquare Ignite, our Digital Advertising business, and by political revenue that is tracking ahead of our expectations. Digital Advertising net revenue grew 12.7% year-over-year, accelerating for the third consecutive quarter, led by programmatic revenue growth of 22.5%. Our Media Partnerships business now serves 18 partners and extends our digital programmatic advertising platform to 122 markets across the United States, and we expect Media Partnerships revenue to more than double in 2026. In addition, Townsquare Interactive delivered strong profitability, with Segment Profit margins of 36% in Q3, as we rebuild and grow our sales team.”
He continued, “At the same time, we want to be candid about the challenges we face. Our local clients continue to feel pressure from higher operating costs and interest rates, and they are scrutinizing every marketing dollar, particularly those spent on traditional media. Excluding political, Broadcast Advertising net revenue declined 5.2% in the third quarter. We expect those declines to deepen in the fourth quarter, partly as political advertising crowds out other inventory. In addition, while Townsquare Interactive’s profit remains strong, lower-than-anticipated sales velocity means it will not return to sequential revenue growth in Q4 2026 as we had projected. Given these challenges, and the meaningful direct impact of higher interest rates on our floating-rate debt, we have made the decision, together with our Board, to suspend our quarterly dividend. We do not believe that the market is ascribing value to the dividend and we believe this cash can generate greater value for shareholders elsewhere. Suspending the dividend will preserve approximately $14 million of cash annually, which we will use for general corporate liquidity and to opportunistically pursue higher-return opportunities. We believe this is the prudent course for Townsquare and our stakeholders, and that it positions us to continue investing in our digital growth engine while strengthening our financial flexibility.”
Townsquare noted that its year-to-year net revenue increased 3.9%, and 1.4% excluding political, net loss decreased $1.5 million to a net loss of $4.0 million, adjusted EBITDA increased 2.7%, and decreased 7.9% excluding political, total digital net revenue increased 6.0%, and digital advertising net revenue increased 12.7%. The broadcast advertising net revenue increased 0.4%, and decreased 5.2% excluding political with profit increasing by 9%.
