Beasley Broadcast Group (NASDAQ:BBGI) executives said the company remains in a transition period as weakness in traditional advertising continues to pressure revenue, while digital growth, cost reductions and recent balance sheet actions are central to its turnaround plan.
On the company’s first-quarter 2026 earnings call, Chief Executive Officer Caroline Beasley said Beasley is focused on three long-term objectives: stabilizing and rebuilding its core revenue base, scaling a higher-margin digital business and strengthening the balance sheet through disciplined deleveraging.
Revenue Declines as Legacy Advertising Remains Under Pressure
Beasley said first-quarter results reflected a business “in transition.” On a same-station basis, she said revenue was $41.3 million, down 6.7% year over year, with station operating income of $1.7 million and adjusted EBITDA of $600,000.
Ilana Goldstein, director of investor relations and corporate development, later reported first-quarter net revenue of $41.3 million, down 13% from the prior-year period. She said total expenses were $45.7 million, down about 7%, or $3.6 million, versus the same period last year. Station operating income was $418,000, compared with $3.7 million a year earlier, and adjusted EBITDA was approximately negative $375,000, compared with $1.1 million in the prior-year quarter.
Goldstein said the decline in station operating income was largely driven by lower revenue, though partially offset by expense reductions implemented throughout 2025. Corporate expenses were $3.5 million, down from $4 million a year earlier, but included more than $700,000 in non-recurring fees related to restructuring and an asset sale. Excluding those items, corporate expenses would have been $2.8 million.
Local revenue remained the largest component of the business, Goldstein said, with resilience in service-based categories offset by weakness in discretionary and agency-influenced spending. National revenue declined to approximately $5.1 million from $6.6 million in the prior-year period, reflecting continued pressure in national advertising budgets. Political revenue totaled $108,000 in the quarter.
Digital Growth Remains the Main Bright Spot
Executives repeatedly pointed to digital as the company’s most important growth driver. Beasley said digital revenue rose 18% in the first quarter on a same-station basis. Goldstein said total digital revenue was approximately $10.7 million, representing more than 25% of total company revenue.
Within digital, the company is shifting toward higher-quality revenue streams. Goldstein said owned-and-operated digital revenue grew approximately 26% year over year, while lower-margin third-party programmatic revenue declined. Owned-and-operated digital now accounts for roughly 65% of total digital revenue, up from 49% in the prior-year period.
Kevin LeGrett, chief business officer, said Beasley is moving toward integrated, bundled advertising solutions that combine digital and audio products. He said those offerings are intended to improve reach, engagement and frequency while delivering a more efficient return on advertising spend for clients.
LeGrett said the company believes digital should represent at least 35% of total revenue at the market level, though Beasley has not yet reached that benchmark across the enterprise. Tampa and Boston were cited by executives as markets showing stronger digital adoption, revenue stability and momentum in owned-and-operated products.
Company Emphasizes Market-by-Market Turnaround Plan
LeGrett, who said he was 12 weeks into his tenure at Beasley Media, described the business as a “portfolio in transition with identifiable fixable problems, not a structural failure of the business.”
He said the company has launched a market-by-market intervention plan rather than taking a broad, one-size-fits-all approach. The strategy includes full CRM adoption, weekly revenue committee reviews, standardized pipeline visibility, stronger market leadership, additional “hunter-focused” sales talent, the use of AI tools in prospecting and the sales funnel, and more structured onboarding and training programs.
LeGrett said Beasley is shifting from an inventory-based sales model to an outcome-based model focused on integrated campaigns, measurable performance and closer alignment with client goals.
However, he cautioned that near-term conditions remain difficult. “We did not see the level of revenue improvement in April that we would have liked,” LeGrett said, adding that mainstream advertisers in categories such as local automotive, healthcare, home services and restaurants are facing economic pressure tied to macroeconomic challenges and geopolitical disruptions.
Goldstein said category performance was mixed. Consumer services increased approximately $1.7 million, or 13.8%, year over year, while legal and healthcare also remained strong. Home improvement and construction-related categories increased by nearly $2 million combined. Those gains were offset by declines in entertainment, gaming, automotive, restaurants, food and certain retail-related categories.
Debt Restructuring and Cost Cuts Take Center Stage
Beasley said the company has taken “meaningful and deliberate steps” to improve its financial position. During the quarter, the company completed the sale of its Fort Myers assets, generating approximately $18 million of proceeds, following the prior sale of WPBB for approximately $8 million last year.
On May 1, Beasley executed a second-lien restructuring, exchanging approximately $184 million of existing notes into approximately $98 million of new payment-in-kind notes. The company also repurchased approximately $16 million of first-lien notes and entered into a new $35 million asset-based credit facility.
Beasley said those actions reduce the company’s near-term interest burden, provide working capital flexibility and support liquidity. She characterized the moves as “the beginning of a broader deleveraging strategy, not the end.”
Goldstein said the company ended the quarter with approximately $218 million of total debt and approximately $16.4 million in cash. Cash interest expense was approximately $3.3 million, relatively flat with the prior-year period, and capital expenditures totaled $700,000.
Beasley also said the company implemented additional expense reduction initiatives in early May, including an early retirement offering expected to generate nearly $2 million in annualized savings. The company also implemented approximately $5 million in further annualized cost reductions aimed at streamlining operations, reducing overhead and improving efficiency.
Second-Quarter Revenue Expected to Decline
Looking ahead, Beasley said the company expects second-quarter revenue to be down in the mid- to high-single digits on a same-station basis. April ended down approximately 2% after entering the month down 10%, which she said reflected “significant in-month adds.” May and June were pacing similarly to how April began.
Beasley said the outlook reflects continued pressure from both macroeconomic conditions and internal operational changes that will take time to translate into revenue and station operating income. She said the company is focused on improving EBITDA through revenue stabilization, digital growth and stronger margin conversion, while also evaluating additional liability management opportunities and potential portfolio optimization.
No questions were asked during the call.
About Beasley Broadcast Group (NASDAQ:BBGI)
Beasley Broadcast Group, Inc is a diversified media company primarily engaged in the ownership, operation and licensing of radio broadcast stations across the United States. Headquartered in Naples, Florida, the company provides local and regional audiences with a mix of music, news, talk and sports programming designed to serve diverse demographic markets. Through its portfolio of stations, Beasley generates advertising revenues by offering on-air spots, sponsorships and promotional partnerships to national and local advertisers.
In addition to traditional over-the-air programming, Beasley Broadcast Group offers digital services that include live audio streaming, podcast production, mobile apps and website content for many of its radio brands.
