Radio One last week reported second quarter growth for the company remained strong. CEO Alfred C. Liggins, III reported operating income of approximately $21.5 million for the quarter ending June 30th, compared to operating income of approximately $15.8 million for the same period in 2011. The radio division was up more than 6 percent compared to the second quarter of 2011. The first quarter also saw an increase of more than 6 percent.
"I was pleased with our second quarter core radio revenue growth of 6.5% year over year," said Liggins. "While the timing of the One Love Gospel Cruise and other corporate revenues brought the headline radio revenue growth rate down to 2.7 percent, I believe we strongly outperformed the markets in which we operate. We expect this trend to continue into the third quarter, where we are currently pacing up high single digits, with political revenues likely to strengthen as we move closer to the Presidential election."
The top Radio One markets for Q2 were Baltimore (up 16.5 percent), Raleigh (up 16.3 percent), Atlanta (up 8.5 percent), Washington, D.C. (up 5.9 percent) and Houston (up 2.2 percent).
Radio One also reported that its Internet division had a somewhat weaker than expected second quarter, with a lack of tent-pole events around which to build revenue. However, officials expect the progress towards profitability to resume in the third quarter.
