Arena Group Holdings Inc (AREN) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to The Arena Group third-quarter 2023 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

大家好，感謝您的收看。歡迎參加 Arena Group 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。 （操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄音中。

I would now like to hand the conference over to your host today, Rob Fink. Please go ahead.

現在，我想把今天的會議交給主持人羅布‧芬克。請開始。

Thank you, Liz. Hosting the call today are Ross Levinsohn, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; Doug Smith, Chief Financial Officer; and Andrew Kraft, Chief Operating Officer.

謝謝你，莉茲。今天主持電話會議的是董事長兼首席執行官羅斯·萊文索恩 (Ross Levinsohn)、首席財務官道格·史密斯 (Doug Smith) 和首席營運官安德魯·克拉夫特 (Andrew Kraft)。

Before we begin, I'd like to note that some of the comments made during this presentation may include forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward looking. Forward-looking statements relate to future events, future performance, and include, without limitation, statements concerning the company's business strategy, the company's proposed transaction with Simplify Inventions, future revenues, market growth, capital requirements, product introductions, and expansion plans, and the adequacy of the company's funding.

在開始之前，我想指出，本次演講中的一些評論可能包含前瞻性陳述。除歷史事實陳述外，所有陳述均可視為前瞻性陳述。前瞻性陳述涉及未來事件、未來業績，包括但不限於有關公司業務策略、公司與 Simplify Inventions 的擬議交易、未來收入、市場成長、資本需求、產品推出和擴張計劃以及公司資金充足性的陳述。

The company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements presented in this presentation or that the company may make orally or in writing from time to time, are based on the beliefs or assumptions made by and information currently available to the company. Such statements are based on assumptions and the actual outcome will be affected by known and unknown risks, trends, uncertainties and factors that are beyond the company's control or ability to predict.

本公司提醒投資者，本新聞稿中呈現的或本公司不時以口頭或書面形式作出的任何前瞻性陳述均基於本公司目前持有的信念或假設以及現有資訊。此類陳述基於假設，實際結果將受到已知和未知的風險、趨勢、不確定性以及公司無法控製或預測的因素的影響。

Although the company believes that its assumptions are reasonable, these assumptions are not guarantees of future performance and some will inevitably prove to be incorrect. As a result, the company's actual future results can be expected to differ from its expectations and those differences may be material. Accordingly, investors should use caution in relying on forward-looking statements, which are based only on known results and trends at the time they are made to anticipate future results or trends.

儘管本公司認為其假設合理，但這些假設並非對未來業績的保證，其中一些假設不可避免地會被證明是不正確的。因此，本公司的實際未來業績可能與預期有差異，且這些差異可能十分重大。因此，投資者應謹慎依賴前瞻性陳述，這些陳述僅基於當時已知的結果和趨勢，用於預測未來結果或趨勢。

Certain risks are discussed in the company's filings with the SEC. The company disclaims any intention or obligation, except as required by law, to update or revise any financial projections or forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise. In addition, reference will be made to non-GAAP financial measure, adjusted EBITDA. Information regarding reconciliation of this non-GAAP measure to the closest GAAP measure can be found in the press release that was issued this afternoon on the company's Investor Relations website at investors.thearenagroup.net.

本公司向美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 提交的文件中討論了某些風險。除法律要求外，本公司不承擔更新或修改任何財務預測或前瞻性聲明的意圖或義務，無論其是否因新資訊、未來事件或其他原因而更新或修改。此外，文中將參考非公認會計準則 (non-GAAP) 財務指標－調整後息稅折舊攤提前利潤 (EBITDA)。有關此非公認會計準則 (non-GAAP) 指標與最接近的公認會計準則 (GAAP) 指標的調節信息，請參閱公司投資者關係網站 investors.thearenagroup.net 今日下午發布的新聞稿。

With all that said, I'd now like to turn the call over to Ross. Ross, the call is yours.

說了這麼多，現在我想把發言權交給羅斯。羅斯，你來發言。

Thank you, Rob, and good afternoon to everyone joining us here today. This has been an incredibly busy time here at The Arena Group. During our last earnings call in August, I announced our intention to combine with Bridge Media Networks, a dynamic and innovative media group that offers a range of platforms for delivering the latest news, sports, automotive, and travel content.

謝謝你，Rob，大家午安！ Arena Group 這段時間非常忙碌。在 8 月的上一次財報電話會議上，我宣布了我們與 Bridge Media Networks 合併的意圖。 Bridge Media Networks 是一家充滿活力和創新精神的媒體集團，提供一系列平台，提供最新的新聞、體育、汽車和旅遊內容。

After several months of due diligence, today, I'm pleased to share that last week, we signed a definitive agreement in which The Arena Group will combine operations with Bridge Media Networks. In addition to our existing operations, The Arena group will include the video programming, distribution and production assets of Bridge Media Networks, including two 24-hour networks, NEWSnet and Sports News Highlights, as well as the automotive and travel properties, Driven and TravelHost.

經過數月的盡職調查，今天，我很高興地宣布，我們上週簽署了最終協議，Arena 集團將與 Bridge Media Networks 合併運營。除了我們現有的營運之外，Arena 集團還將擁有 Bridge Media Networks 的視訊節目製作、發行和製作資產，包括兩個 24 小時播出的電視網 NEWSnet 和 Sports News Highlights，以及汽車和旅遊業務 Driven 和 TravelHost。

This transaction will expand the reach and capabilities of The Arena Group and provide it with growth capital while also enabling us to reduce our overall debt and extend the terms of our existing debt facility, further strengthening and fortifying The Arena Group's balance sheet. The proposed transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year or the first quarter of 2024, subject to the approval of The Arena Group stockholders, the receipt of any required regulatory approvals, and certain other closing conditions.

此交易將拓展Arena集團的業務範圍和實力，並為其提供成長資本，同時使我們能夠減少整體債務，延長現有債務期限，從而進一步增強和鞏固Arena集團的資產負債表。擬議交易預計將於今年第四季或2024年第一季完成，但需獲得Arena集團股東的批准、獲得所有必要的監管部門批准以及滿足某些其他成交條件。

While we have been focused on this transaction, we have also delivered strong Q3 results from our existing businesses, all against an industry dealing with severe headwinds in both the advertising market and shifting audience migrations. A few of our key highlights. Total revenue was $63.4 million, up 11% from the third quarter of last year, driven largely by our digital advertising business, which grew by almost 30% as compared to last year.

在我們專注於這筆交易的同時，我們現有業務在第三季度也取得了強勁的業績，而這一切都是在廣告市場和受眾遷移雙重壓力下，行業面臨嚴峻挑戰的背景下實現的。以下是我們的幾個主要亮點。總營收為 6,340 萬美元，較去年第三季成長 11%，主要得益於我們的數位廣告業務，該業務較去年同期成長了近 30%。

Total digital revenue represented 72% of our total revenue, and that's up from 66% of total revenue in Q3 of 2022. Total RPMs grew 46% as compared to the third quarter of last year, in a time when many of our competitors are struggling with monetization. In fact, this quarter, our display programmatic CPMs were 40% higher than industry benchmarks according to STAQ, a market norm, benchmarking service provided by Operative. This growth more than offset an 8% year-over-year decline in total page views for the quarter.

數位廣告總收入占我們總收入的72%，高於2022年第三季的66%。與去年第三季相比，每千次曝光總費用（RPM）成長了46%，而同期我們的許多競爭對手仍在努力獲利。事實上，根據Operative提供的市場基準服務STAQ的數據，本季我們的展示程序化每千次展示費用比行業基準高出40%。這一增長足以抵銷本季頁面瀏覽量年減8%的影響。

Gross profit increased by nearly 15% to $28.2 million, representing a gross margin of 44%. Our total operating expenses decreased by 4% from the third quarter last year, primarily as a result of decreased advertising costs and lower stock-based compensation. Our adjusted EBITDA was $6.4 million, representing an improvement of $2.9 million or 86% better as compared to the third quarter of last year, reflecting our focus on cost control and efficiencies while continuing to diversify and grow our revenue.

毛利成長近15%，達2,820萬美元，毛利率為44%。我們的總營運費用較去年第三季下降4%，主要原因是廣告成本下降和股票薪資減少。我們的調整後EBITDA為640萬美元，較去年第三季增加290萬美元，增幅達86%，這反映出我們在持續多元化和增加收入的同時，注重成本控制和效率提升。

These results underscore the strength of our business and our ability to operate efficiently during less-than-optimal circumstances. The ad market across our industry remained challenging during Q3, with headwinds particularly pronounced in direct sales. Largely, we have fared better than our competition, but we saw some softness due to advertiser pullback.

這些業績凸顯了我們業務的強勁實力以及我們在非理想環境下高效運作的能力。第三季度，整個產業的廣告市場依然充滿挑戰，直銷業務的逆風尤為明顯。整體而言，我們的表現優於競爭對手，但由於廣告商的撤資，我們也看到了一些疲軟。

Our sales team has remained nimble during this -- in this environment, working with our advertising partners to drive innovative solutions. And I'm bullish on our ability to succeed despite these headwinds, particularly under the new leadership of our Chief Revenue Officer, Katie Kulik, who joined us just a few weeks ago. Katie brings a wealth of experience and relationships that span over 25 years in traditional and digital media and advertising technology, including more than a decade at CBS, where she was Executive Vice President and Head of Global Digital Sales.

在這種環境下，我們的銷售團隊始終保持敏捷，並與廣告合作夥伴攜手推動創新解決方案。儘管面臨這些挑戰，我仍然對我們成功的能力充滿信心，尤其是在幾週前剛加入的首席營收長凱蒂·庫里克（Katie Kulik）的領導下。凱蒂在傳統媒體、數位媒體和廣告科技領域擁有超過25年的豐富經驗和人脈，其中包括在哥倫比亞廣播公司（CBS）擔任執行副總裁兼全球數位銷售主管十餘年。

Web audiences are continuing to migrate from web pages to social media and social platforms, and thanks to our audience development team, we are continuing to capture audience engagements across all platforms. We doubled our total followers on Instagram from over a year ago, and our social video views across all platforms have more than quadrupled since this time last year, according to ListenFirst. Our brands have maintained their relevance in search with Sports Illustrated and TheStreet, in particular, seeing their best-performing quarters to date in total SEO clicks, according to Google Search console.

網路受眾正持續從網頁遷移到社群媒體和社群平台，得益於我們受眾拓展團隊的努力，我們正持續在所有平台上吸引受眾參與。根據 ListenFirst 的數據，我們在 Instagram 上的總粉絲數比一年前翻了一番，而我們所有平台上的社群影片觀看量也比去年同期增加了四倍多。我們的品牌在搜尋方面保持了相關性，尤其是《體育畫報》和 TheStreet，根據 Google Search Console 的數據，這兩個品牌的 SEO 總點擊量創下了迄今為止的最佳季度表現。

At the start of the year, we highlighted two growth initiatives for the company, which we believed were crucial to the diversification and growth of The Arena Group: e-commerce and the creator/influencer space. Both have begun to contribute to our success, and as the industry shifts, we believe we have positioned the company for growth.

今年年初，我們重點介紹了該公司的兩項成長計劃，我們認為這兩項計劃對 Arena 集團的多元化和成長至關重要：電商和創作者/網紅空間。這兩項計劃都已開始為我們的成功做出貢獻，隨著行業的轉變，我們相信我們已經為公司的成長做好了準備。

With the Creator Network, we have introduced new formats that are resonating with our advertising partners. Since our official launch in August, we have engaged in several new advertiser/creator partnerships, already generating seven figures of revenue and one of which resulted in Sports Illustrated's highest-viewed original content series ever, with 40 million views across Instagram and TikTok. Seeing such a successful campaign come to fruition in such a short period of time really underscores the power of combining strong brands with content creators, and we're just getting started.

透過創作者網絡，我們引入了一些與廣告合作夥伴產生共鳴的新模式。自8月正式上線以來，我們已與多家新的廣告主/創作者建立了合作夥伴關係，並創造了七位數的收入，其中一項合作促成了《體育畫報》有史以來觀看次數最高的原創內容系列，在Instagram和TikTok上的觀看次數達到4000萬次。如此成功的活動在如此短的時間內取得成果，真正彰顯了強勢品牌與內容創作者強強聯手的力量，而我們才剛起步。

We are also continuing to diversify our revenue streams through initiatives such as e-commerce, which saw a 637% increase in revenue year-over-year, after a strong performance on Amazon Prime Day. We intend to make e-commerce and performance marketing a larger part of our everyday experiences. As a media organization with more than 100 million users each month in targeted areas, verticals, and with robust data across all user sets, we believe the company is a vibrant and powerful partner to brands.

我們也將透過電商等措施持續實現收入來源多元化。在亞馬遜 Prime Day 的強勁表​​現之後，電商營收年增 637%。我們計劃讓電商和效果行銷成為我們日常生活體驗中更重要的一部分。作為一家每月在目標區域和垂直領域擁有超過 1 億用戶的媒體機構，我們擁有涵蓋所有用戶群的強大數據，我們相信，公司是品牌充滿活力且強大的合作夥伴。

We deliver to consumers content experiences that both create that unique emotional connection for users, but also provide targeted solutions for marketers looking to connect to consumers when and where they engage. With the addition of linear and over-the-top video solutions, we have dramatically improved our offerings for both. Sports Illustrated Media Group for the first time reached the #2 spot in ComScore's sports rankings this quarter, an enormous milestone for the brand that just a few years ago was struggling outside the top 10.

我們為消費者提供的內容體驗，不僅能為用戶建立獨特的情感聯繫，還能為希望隨時隨地與消費者建立聯繫的行銷人員提供精準的解決方案。透過新增線性和OTT視訊解決方案，我們大幅提升了這兩方面的服務。本季度，運動畫刊傳媒集團首次在ComScore運動排行榜上位居第二，這對於幾年前仍在前十名之外苦苦掙扎的品牌來說，是一個重要的里程碑。

In July of 2020, we occupied the number eleven spot in the comScore rankings. We've seen incredible growth this quarter, particularly in our FanNation and Athlon Sports businesses which increased quarterly page views by 48% and 116% year over year, respectively, according to Google Analytics.

2020年7月，我們在comScore排名中排名第11名。本季度，我們取得了驚人的成長，尤其是FanNation和Athlon Sports業務，根據Google分析的數據，這兩個業務的季度頁面瀏覽量分別年增了48%和116%。

Our growth is not limited to site traffic, but our social media presence continues to expand, with over 600,000 new followers across SI's social platforms during the quarter. SI's F1 TikTok is now the fastest-growing F1 account in North America among sports news publishers according to ListenFirst.

我們的成長不僅限於網站流量，社群媒體影響力也持續擴大，本季SI旗下各社群平台新增粉絲超過60萬人。根據ListenFirst的數據，SI旗下的F1 TikTok帳號目前是北美體育新聞出版商中成長最快的F1帳號。

Our finance vertical anchored by TheStreet had its best quarter in history for page views, with a 40% year-over-year growth as compared to the third quarter last year according to Google Analytics. We are continuing to create video content from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, which appears on TheStreet.com, and additional syndication partners online and on-air across America.

我們以 TheStreet 為核心的金融垂直領域迎來了歷史最佳季度，頁面瀏覽量同比增長 40%，根據 Google Analytics 的數據，與去年第三季度相比增長了 40%。我們將繼續創作來自紐約證券交易所現場的影片內容，這些內容將出現在 TheStreet.com 以及全美各地線上和線下的其他聯合合作夥伴平台上。

Our lifestyle vertical anchored by Parade and our men's lifestyle vertical anchored by Men's Journal have also had a strong third quarter. Both verticals continue to add new publishing partners, with Parade now partnering with National Day calendar on daily themed content, and Men's Journal with new partner publishers ranging in topics from mountaineering to cycling to adventure travel. We are looking forward to the fourth quarter of this year, particularly as holiday season e -commerce content ramps up. And our Adventure Network properties acquired late last year, including Powder, Surfer, and Bike Magazine, have all experienced growth online and across social platforms.

我們以Parade為核心的生活方式垂直領域以及以Men's Journal為核心的男士生活方式垂直領域在第三季度也表現強勁。這兩個垂直領域都持續增加新的出版合作夥伴，Parade目前與國慶日曆合作推出每日主題內容，而Men's Journal則與新的合作出版商合作，涵蓋登山、騎行和探險旅行等主題。我們期待今年第四季的業績，尤其是在假日季電商內容蓬勃發展的背景下。我們去年年底收購的Adventure Network旗下的Powder、Surfer和Bike Magazine等品牌，均在線上和社群平台上實現了成長。

I'd like to talk about our outlook for the remainder of the year. But first, I'd like to let Doug Smith, our Chief Financial Officer, take you through some of the numbers. Doug?

我想談談我們對今年剩餘時間的展望。首先，我想請我們的財務長道格史密斯（Doug Smith）為您介紹一些數據。道格？

Thank you, Ross. In the third quarter, revenue increased to approximately $63.4 million, up 11% from $57.3 million for the third quarter of last year, reflecting continued growth in our digital advertising and our e-commerce businesses. Total digital revenue of $45.8 million represented 72% of our total revenue, up from 66% a year ago, and it grew nearly 21% versus the third quarter last year.

謝謝羅斯。第三季度，營收增至約6,340萬美元，較去年同期的5,730萬美元成長11%，反映了我們數位廣告和電商業務的持續成長。總數位廣告收入為4,580萬美元，占我們總營收的72%，高於去年同期的66%，與去年第三季相比成長了近21%。

Digital advertising revenue increased by nearly 29% from $28.5 million in the prior year quarter to $36.7 million in this quarter. This growth was due to a 46% increase in revenue per page view which more than offset the 8% overall decline in traffic that Ross mentioned.

本季數位廣告收入從去年同期的2,850萬美元成長近29%至3,670萬美元。這一增長得益於每頁瀏覽量收入增長46%，足以抵消羅斯提到的8%的整體流量下降的影響。

Digital subscription revenue which is principally from TheStreet.com was $3.2 million as compared to $4.6 million in the prior year quarter. It represented a decrease of 31% as we continue to focus most of our resources on free -- or our partners -- free ad or partner-supported content. However, it's important to note that for the first time in the third quarter, the increase in digital advertising revenue at TheStreet from the significant traffic increases we've seen there, exceeded the decline in digital subscription revenue.

數位訂閱收入主要來自 TheStreet.com，本季為 320 萬美元，而去年同期為 460 萬美元。由於我們繼續將大部分資源集中在免費（或合作夥伴提供的）廣告或合作夥伴支援的內容上，因此收入下降了 31%。然而，值得注意的是，第三季 TheStreet 的數位廣告收入因流量大幅成長而首次超過了數位訂閱收入的降幅。

Licensing and syndication revenue was $4.5 million, an increase of 2% as compared to the prior year quarter, which reflected stable traffic from our syndication partners. Other digital revenue which includes the e-commerce business was $1.5 million, a 3 times improvement over the $0.5 million reported in the prior year quarter. This was a result of the investments that Ross discussed that we have made in our e-commerce business. Total print revenue decreased by 9% to $17.6 million from $19.3 million in the prior year quarter, which is in line with historical print advertising trends, in general.

授權和聯合廣告收入為450萬美元，較去年同期成長2%，這反映了我們聯合廣告合作夥伴帶來的穩定流量。包括電商業務在內的其他數位收入為150萬美元，較去年同期的50萬美元增加了三倍。這得歸功於Ross提到的我們在電商業務上的投資。印刷廣告總收入從去年同期的1,930萬美元下降9%至1,760萬美元，整體上與印刷廣告的歷史趨勢一致。

Gross profit increased by nearly 15% to $28.2 million, representing a gross margin of 44%, a 1.4 percentage point increase as compared to the prior year quarter, which reflects our tight focus on cost control while growing revenue.

毛利成長近 15% 至 2,820 萬美元，毛利率為 44%，較去年同期增加 1.4 個百分點，這反映了我們在增加收入的同時嚴格控製成本。

For the nine-month period, this gross profit increased 18% over the prior year, and we saw increases year over year in every quarter. Total operating expenses decreased by $1.4 million or 4% to $35 million as compared to $36.4 million in the prior year. Selling and marketing costs increased by $847,000 or about 5%, primarily due to higher payroll and marketing costs associated with lower -- and marketing services, which was offset by lower stock-based comp in advertising. However, general and administrative expenses decreased by $2.5 million or 18%, primarily due to lower payroll costs, including stock-based compensation.

前九個月的毛利潤較上年同期增長了18%，並且每個季度都實現了同比增長。總營運費用為3,500萬美元，較上年的3,640萬美元下降了140萬美元，降幅為4%。銷售和行銷成本增加了84.7萬美元，增幅約為5%，主要原因是與行銷服務相關的工資和行銷成本增加，但廣告中股票薪酬的減少抵消了這一影響。然而，一般及行政費用減少了250萬美元，降幅為18%，主要原因是包括股票薪酬在內的工資成本減少。

Non-operating expenses increased by $244,000 to $4.3 million for the quarter, driven primarily by increased interest expense of $858,000, reflecting higher debt, which was offset by a decrease in income taxes of $486,000. As a result, net loss was $11.2 million as compared to a loss of $16.5 million in the prior year, representing an improvement of $5.3 million or 32%. 2023-third-quarter adjusted EBITDA was $6.4 million compared to $3.4 million in the same quarter last year, representing a $2.9 million improvement or 86% improvement year-over-year.

本季非營業支出增加24.4萬美元，達到430萬美元，主要原因是利息支出增加85.8萬美元，反映債務增加，但所得稅減少48.6萬美元抵銷了這一影響。因此，淨虧損為1,120萬美元，而去年同期的淨虧損為1,650萬美元，較去年同期改善530萬美元，增幅為32%。 2023年第三季調整後息稅折舊攤提前利潤（EBITDA）為640萬美元，去年同期為340萬美元，較去年同期改善290萬美元，增幅為86%。

Looking at the balance sheet, we ended the quarter with $7.3 million in cash and cash equivalents compared to the $5.5 million at June 30 of 2023. In the three months ended September 30, 2023, net cash used in operating activities was $5.9 million, an improvement from the $7.2 million used in the prior year period.

從資產負債表來看，本季末我們的現金和現金等價物為 730 萬美元，而 2023 年 6 月 30 日為 550 萬美元。在截至 2023 年 9 月 30 日的三個月中，經營活動所用的淨現金為 590 萬美元，高於去年同期的 720 萬美元。

We had $17.3 million borrowed under our $40 million working capital line of credit, up from $14.9 million at June 30, 2023. As Ross discussed, we have signed a definitive agreement with Simplify Inventions to combine their subsidiary Bridge Media Networks with The Arena Group. Financial details related to the proposed transaction were filed in a press release and an 8-K dated November 6. Because we are following a proxy seeking shareholder approval for this transaction, we're limited in what we can publicly discuss at this time.

我們在4000萬美元的營運資金信用額度下借了1730萬美元，高於2023年6月30日的1490萬美元。正如Ross所述，我們已與Simplify Inventions簽署最終協議，將其子公司Bridge Media Networks與The Arena Group合併。擬議交易的財務細節已在11月6日的新聞稿和8-K文件中提交。由於我們正在遵循一項代理程序尋求股東批准此項交易，因此目前我們公開討論的內容有限。

I'd now like to turn it back to Ross for closing comments.

現在我想把話題交還給羅斯，請他發表最後評論。

Thanks, Doug. I'm incredibly proud of our team for their tireless work delivering these results during a difficult quarter and a difficult year for our industry. With football season underway and the holidays coming up, we are gearing up for a very busy fourth quarter.

謝謝，道格。我為我們的團隊感到無比自豪，他們孜孜不倦地工作，在行業艱難的一年乃至一個季度中取得瞭如此佳績。隨著橄欖球賽季的到來和假期的臨近，我們正準備迎接一個非常忙碌的第四季。

I'm confident in our ability to continue to drive growth across all of our major properties, despite any softness in the ad market. We believe 2024 has substantial opportunity for our business in particular, with the upcoming US presidential elections, the Summer Olympics in Paris, and our investments in e-commerce and the creator space. We are already seeing an uptick in RFPs from advertising clients and agencies, and believe we have positioned this company well for the future.

我相信，即使廣告市場疲軟，我們也能繼續推動所有主要業務的成長。我們相信，2024年對我們的業務來說尤其充滿機遇，尤其是即將到來的美國總統大選、巴黎夏季奧運會，以及我們在電子商務和創作者領域的投資。我們已經看到來自廣告客戶和代理商的招標書（RFP）增加，我們相信我們已經為公司的未來做好了充分的準備。

We also remain focused on completing the transaction with Bridge Media Networks, and we'll share updates as they are available. And before we move to questions, I want to thank the incredible team at The Arena Group who over the past three years have overcome so much to position this company for its next phase with our soon-to-be partners at Bridge Media. Their work through COVID, work-from-home, shifting audience, and advertiser pullbacks, talent changes, and difficult capital markets highlight our resilience, our commitment, and our ability to react quickly and drive growth.

我們將繼續專注於完成與 Bridge Media Networks 的交易，並將及時分享最新進展。在進入提問環節之前，我想感謝 Arena Group 的優秀團隊，他們在過去三年中克服了重重困難，與即將成為我們合作夥伴的 Bridge Media 攜手，為公司邁入新階段做好了準備。他們克服了新冠疫情、居家辦公、受眾群體變化、廣告商撤資、人才變動以及資本市場低迷等諸多挑戰，展現了我們的韌性、承諾以及快速反應和推動增長的能力。

If you look around at our competitors and the industry struggles, you will see just how far we've come, how complete our opportunity is, and how real our growth is. None of this would have been possible without our core investor group, whose confidence, support, and capital has enabled us to stabilize, sustain, and grow. We are also very grateful for their support and for the support from our Board of Directors.

如果你環顧我們的競爭對手和行業困境，你就會明白我們已經取得了多大的進步，我們的機會是多麼廣闊，我們的成長是多麼真實。如果沒有我們的核心投資者團隊，這一切都不可能實現。他們的信心、支持和資金使我們得以穩定、持續和發展。我們也非常感謝他們的支持以及董事會的支持。

And with that, I'd like to answer any questions you may have. So operator, I'll turn it back to you.

好了，我想回答大家的任何問題。接線員，我把電話轉給您。

(Operator Instructions) Mark Argento, Lake Street Capital Markets.

（操作員指示）Mark Argento，Lake Street Capital Markets。

Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my questions. Really impressive growth in the revenue per page, just overall productivity. Could you drill down a little bit for us. Why do you think you're bucking the trend, the broader trend that you're seeing out there in the market right now?

大家好。感謝你們回答我的問題。單頁收入和整體生產力的成長確實令人印象深刻。能否請您詳細講解一下？您認為為什麼你們會逆勢而上，逆市場大勢而行？

Yeah, I'll take it, and Andrew or Doug can also chime in. Look, we've worked really hard over the last couple of years in getting our platform to be highly efficient, to be able to use the data that we're gathering from -- across our 300-plus sites, which enables us to target better. I think it's a combination of that, plus really providing the right solutions, both on the direct side and on the programmatic side for consumers. We optimize our pages each and every day. We have some really great partners who are contributing like Outbrain.

是的，我會接受，Andrew 或 Doug 也可以插嘴。過去幾年，我們非常努力地提高平台的效率，以便能夠利用從 300 多個網站收集的數據，從而更好地定位目標客戶。我認為這是兩者的結合，再加上我們真正為消費者提供的正確解決方案，無論是在直接廣告方面還是在程序化廣告方面。我們每天都會優化頁面。我們有一些非常棒的合作夥伴，像是 Outbrain，他們也做出了貢獻。

And I think it's a combination of all those things, plus, frankly, we've got good content and we're doing it in a way that consumers are recognizing it, seeing it, engaging with it. So it's not just one thing, Mark, as you well know, it's the combination of great technology and good content. And then, really optimizing the pages each and every day, and it pays off. I mean, you know, you look through the industry. When you look across our competitors, everybody is down.

我認為這是所有這些因素共同作用的結果。而且，坦白說，我們擁有優質內容，並且我們以一種消費者能夠識別、看到並參與其中的方式進行創作。所以，馬克，正如你所知，這不僅僅是一件事，而是卓越技術和優質內容的結合。然後，我們每天都會認真優化頁面，這會帶來回報。我的意思是，縱觀整個行業，當你審視我們的競爭對手時，你會發現每個人都處於劣勢。

I mean, all the main players who you would comp us to have had really tough -- a really tough quarter digitally and digital revenue overall, digital advertising. And we're showing plus 21% on digital revenue and plus 29% on digital advertising, when some of the biggest players are down 10%, 12%, 30%, even 35%. So I think it speaks to this combination of a technology and media company that can optimize and work very quickly in a challenging environment. And Andrew, feel free, or Doug, feel free to jump in.

我的意思是，所有那些與我們相比的主要公司都經歷了非常艱難的季度——無論是數位業務還是整體數位收入，包括數位廣告，都經歷了非常艱難的季度。我們的數位收入成長了21%，數位廣告收入成長了29%，而一些最大的公司卻下降了10%、12%、30%，甚至35%。所以我認為這體現了我們這家科技與媒體結合的公司能夠在充滿挑戰的環境中快速優化和運作。安德魯，或道格，歡迎隨時加入討論。

I think you hit it on the head. I think the one thing I would add is diversification, both of revenue and of content. The breadth of The Arena Group's strategy by having multiple arenas where throughout the year from seasonality as well as from advertiser demand, we always have an opportunity for advertisers to reach their audience. That has helped us buck some of the trends in the market.

我覺得你說得一針見血。我想補充一點，那就是收入和內容的多元化。 Arena Group 的策略非常廣泛，我們全年擁有多個場館，無論季節性或廣告商的需求，我們都能為廣告商提供觸達受眾的機會。這幫助我們扭轉了一些市場趨勢。

Yeah, it's helpful. And I mean, TheStreet in particular was really stuck out to us as much as what was the growth rate of 40% plus year over year, up sequentially from a traffic perspective. Obviously, volatile markets probably helped that business. Again, anything you're doing there in particular that really had a little wind of the sales, or are you just kind of taking advantage of a more volatile higher-interest-rate environment?

是的，這很有幫助。我的意思是，TheStreet 尤其讓我們印象深刻，因為它的同比增長率超過 40%，從流量角度來看，環比增長。顯然，動盪的市場可能對這家公司有所幫助。再說一次，你在那裡做的任何事情都對銷售產生了一些影響，還是你只是在利用更動盪的高利率環境？

Yeah. I think it's a combination of things, Mark. For sure, the markets and the VIX in particular have been pretty volatile. I mean, you tend to see higher clicks on that. But we -- a couple of years ago, we brought in a new team, a new editor in Chief, new digital marketing people, and they've really performed. It does come down in a lot of cases to the talent that you have in the company, and we feel really, really good about the quality of the people that work here and in particular, work at TheStreet.

是的。馬克，我認為這是多種因素共同作用的結果。當然，市場，尤其是波動率指數（VIX）一直波動很大。我的意思是，你通常會看到點擊量更高。但幾年前，我們引進了一個新的團隊，一位新的主編和新的數位行銷人員，他們的表現非常出色。很多情況下，這確實歸功於公司擁有的人才，我們對這裡，尤其是在TheStreet工作的員工的素質感到非常非常滿意。

Some of the video work we've been doing from the floor of the exchange has been terrific, and we're now syndicating that across dozens of digital outlets, and now, terrestrial television stations are running it. So we continue to see diversification of -- or syndication of the content as well as just a higher quality of the stuff we're doing.

我們在交易所現場製作的一些視訊作品非常出色，現在我們正在數十家數位媒體上進行聯合播放，現在地面電視台也在播放。因此，我們持續看到內容的多樣化——或者說是聯合播放，以及我們作品品質的提升。

Great. And then, I know you guys still have to get through the proxy, but has there been any initial integration efforts? I know you can't really integrate when you haven't closed yet, but how much time are you guys spending right now on the combined business with Bridge at this point? And then, maybe, any update in terms of the timing of the proxy? That's it for me. Thanks guys.

太好了。然後，我知道你們還需要完成代理協議，但你們已經做了一些初步的整合工作嗎？我知道你們在交易尚未完成的情況下很難真正整合，但目前你們在與Bridge的合併業務上花了多少時間？然後，關於代理協議的時間安排，有什麼更新嗎？就這些了。謝謝大家。

Yeah. Doug, why don't you take the proxy?

是啊。道格，你為什麼不接受代理？

Yeah. I think the issue, Mark, is because we signed a definitive agreement, the SEC deemed that we are within the proxy period. So anything we say -- we're very limited in what we can say. We do anticipate filing the S-4 and proxy in the very near future. As Ross indicated, anticipate a final shareholder vote in closing either by year-end or in the first quarter. But other than that, we can't really discuss further what's going on there. We will give you updates, especially when we do the filing.

是的。馬克，我認為問題在於，因為我們簽署了一份最終協議，SEC 認為我們處於代理期限內。所以我們能說的任何消息都非常有限。我們預計很快就會提交 S-4 表格和代理文件。正如羅斯所說，預計最終股東投票將在年底或第一季完成。但除此之外，我們無法進一步討論目前的情況。我們會在提交文件後向您提供最新進展。

Great. Well, maybe I'll just ask one more then because I get another spot, I guess. I heard great things about Katie, your new Chief Revenue Officer. Maybe you could just talk a little bit, Ross, like what is her main focus here? What does she bring to the table? Capabilities that she brings to the table for you guys?

太好了。好吧，我可能再問一個，因為我又多了一個位置。我聽說你們新任首席營收長凱蒂（Katie）評價很高。羅斯，你能不能跟我們聊聊，例如她現在主要的工作重點是什麼？她能帶來什麼？她能為你們帶來哪些能力？

Yeah. I mean, she's obviously had a tremendous career to date. The time she spent at CBS and CNET and even Criteo, most recently gives her a really unique, diverse background to bring to The Arena Group. Her charge, obviously, is growing revenue across the board, but her relationships with premium brands and the agencies across the country are really par excellence.

是的。我的意思是，她迄今為止的職業生涯顯然非常輝煌。她在CBS、CNET，甚至Criteo工作的經歷，讓她累積了非常獨特、多元化的背景，可以帶給Arena集團。她的職責顯然是全面提升收入，但她與全國各地的高端品牌和代理商的關係也非常出色。

And so, she's bringing relationships there that I think will benefit us, in particular on the direct side, where obviously, you get higher yield, higher CPM. So we're excited about expanding our direct business in a way that I think could really be transformative.

所以，她帶來的關係我認為會讓我們受益，尤其是在直銷方面，顯然能帶來更高的收益和更高的每千次曝光費用。因此，我們很高興能夠以一種我認為可能真正帶來改變的方式擴展我們的直銷業務。

The second thing that I'd point out which is critical in any hire you make at this senior level is her relationships in the industry to attract talent, and we're already seeing that to a degree. She has just an impeccable reputation, has already stepped in and hit the ground running, and has already helped transform some of the things we're doing. So as we head into a year where there are a couple of really big events coming up, as I mentioned earlier, having those relationships should bode well for us.

我想指出的第二點，也是在招募任何高階職位時至關重要的一點，就是她在業界的人脈關係，這有助於吸引人才，這一點我們已經在一定程度上看到了。她聲譽卓著，已經加入並迅速開展工作，並幫助我們改變了一些業務。正如我之前提到的，隨著我們即將迎來幾場重大事件，擁有這些關係對我們來說應該是一個好兆頭。

Great. Thanks, guys. And good luck the rest of the way in getting the deal done.

太好了。謝謝大家。祝大家一切順利，順利完成交易。

Okay, thank you. Thank you so much, Mark.

好的，謝謝。非常感謝，馬克。

Daniel Day, B. Riley.

丹尼爾戴，B萊利。

Yeah. Hey, guys. Thanks for taking the question. So you talked about the decline in page views in the quarter, overall page views, and what you talked about is it's an audience migration.

是的。嘿，夥計們。謝謝你回答這個問題。所以你談到了本季頁面瀏覽量的下降，整體頁面​​瀏覽量的下降，以及你所說的受眾遷移。

So is the way we should think about that, like you're not anticipating a turnaround in overall page views anytime soon, but maybe you make up for that by investing in things like the Creator network and driving revenue from the content you're creating on Instagram and TikTok like you talked about? And then, you did talk about a couple of the properties like TheStreet seem really solid page-view growth. So maybe, just a little more on where those declines are concentrated. Thanks.

那麼，我們該這樣想嗎？您預計整體頁面瀏覽量短期內不會出現好轉，但也許您會透過投資創作者網絡之類的項目，並透過您在Instagram和TikTok上創作的內容來增加收入，就像您之前提到的那樣？然後，您確實提到了像TheStreet這樣的一些平台，頁面瀏覽量的成長確實很穩健。所以，您能否再多說一下這些下降主要集中在哪些地方？謝謝。

Yeah. Yeah, that's a good question. I would say that the macro environment is that, as we have for pretty much the last five years or so, more and more users are migrating to the social platforms, whether the newest obviously being TikTok which is taking up a big share, but across Instagram threads, Facebook, Snap, et cetera, we see more and more people going there. And we, I think, have really positioned this company well to take advantage of that. We're just growing like crazy there.

是的，這是個好問題。我想說的是，宏觀環境是，就像過去五年左右的情況一樣，越來越多的用戶正在遷移到社交平台，無論是最新的TikTok（顯然它佔據了很大的份額），還是Instagram、Facebook、Snap等等，我們都看到越來越多的人使用社交平台。我認為，我們已經為公司做好了充分的準備，能夠利用這項優勢。我們在那裡正在瘋狂增長。

Across our core brands, it's a little bit of a mixed bag to be honest. The most pronounced decline which has had the most impact to our business has been at The Spun, which last year, really the last 1.5 years have just been an absolute rocket ship. And over the last year, that and one of our other brands HubPages took a little bit of a hit, which has really been the only area across all our brands that we saw declines, but they were pronounced.

說實話，我們的核心品牌狀況好壞參半。下滑最明顯、對我們業務影響最大的是 The Spun，去年，確切地說是過去的一年半，它的發展速度簡直是火箭般飛速。去年，The Spun 和我們的另一個品牌 HubPages 也受到了一些衝擊，HubPages 是我們所有品牌中唯一出現下滑的領域，但下滑幅度非常明顯。

You saw the growth at TheStreet. You can see some real growth at FanNation and Athlon Sports and SI Swimsuit. Parade is doing fantastic. Men's Journal is starting to hit its stride, Adventure Network has grown dramatically.

你看到了TheStreet的成長。 FanNation、Athlon Sports和SI Swimsuit也取得了一些實質的成長。 Parade表現非常出色。 Men's Journal開始步入正軌，Adventure Network也取得了顯著成長。

So as a whole, I'm not that worried at all about the page view declined because it really was centralized on two of our sites. But it's more than offset by the growth across social platforms and some of our other brands that have done well. So I'm less worried about that. I think this has been, as I said, it's a couple of times. It's been a really tough year for the industry, in particular in the direct world. And we've done a great job monetizing our pages using all the avenues we could find and that's held us up a bit, so that's a positive.

所以總的來說，我一點也不擔心頁面瀏覽量的下降，因為它實際上集中在我們的兩個網站上。但這被社交平台和其他一些表現良好的品牌的成長所抵消。所以我對此沒那麼擔心。我想，就像我說的，這種情況已經發生過好幾次了。今年對這個行業來說真的很難，尤其是在直銷領域。我們利用所有能找到的管道，成功地將頁面變現，這在某種程度上緩解了我們的壓力，所以這是積極的一面。

And I'm really optimistic about next year, it probably will be the largest amount of money ever spent in a political campaign. It's not just presidential, it's obviously the Congress, and then, propositions across the board. And with our new partners at Bridge who have 84 or so local television stations that can reach voters in their living room, we think that's got opportunity for us. So that's good.

我對明年非常樂觀，這可能是政治競選史上投入金額最大的一年。這不僅是總統競選，顯然還有國會，然後是各方面的提案。我們的新合作夥伴Bridge擁有大約84家地方電視台，可以在選民的客廳裡接觸他們，我們認為這對我們來說是一個機會。所以這很好。

You got the Summer Olympics in Paris, that is always going to be -- that's a big opportunity for us. And I think you're going to see -- it goes down -- I hate to get into the weeds, Dan, but just to tell you how we think about it. The changes in college football and college basketball, opening up portals where people can shift teams extends the lifecycle of college sports for us in a way that didn't exist previously. So even those small things make a difference, and we count on all of them. So '24, assuming the environment, the economic environment is somewhat stable or perhaps getting better, we expect it to be a good year for us.

巴黎夏季奧運會即將舉行，這對我們來說永遠都是一個巨大的機會。我想你會看到——它會……我不想糾結太多，丹，我只是想告訴你我們是怎麼想的。大學橄欖球和大學籃球的變化，讓人們可以轉隊，這以前所未有的方式延長了大學運動的生命週期。所以，即使是這些小事也會帶來影響，我們都對它們充滿期待。所以，假設2024年的環境，經濟環境相對穩定，或者可能有所好轉，我們預期這將是我們業績豐厚的一年。

Great. Thanks for all of that, Ross. And then, maybe, one for Andrew and whoever else wants to chime in. I'm going to adtech side here, like I think that Google's intentions with third-party cookie are pretty clear and well telegraphed, and people are also talking about IP addresses being deprecated or unable to be used.

太好了。羅斯，謝謝你，謝謝你。然後，也許還有一點想問安德魯和其他想參與的人。我想從廣告科技的角度來說，我認為Google對第三方 Cookie 的意圖非常明確，而且人們也在討論 IP 位址被棄用或無法使用的問題。

I think the thing everyone is talking about is, how do you get consented first-party data on your audiences that might be able to fill in the holes there? So just any efforts underway to collect more of that? Anything worth talking about that you guys have been doing, how that's been going?

我認為大家都在討論的問題是，如何獲得受眾同意的第一方數據，從而填補數據空白？你們目前在收集更多這類數據方面有什麼值得分享的嗎？進展如何？

Yeah. I'll jump in on this one. So we do have a dedicated team who focuses on the evolution of our ad stack, and that includes the evolution of identity, and even more -- which means data, and even more importantly than that, identifiers, and the ability to recognize a user when the user comes. And that's really the key issue that Google is challenging in its deprecation of third-party cookies.

是的，我來補充一下。我們確實有一個專門的團隊專注於廣告堆疊的演進，這包括身份的演進，甚至更多——這意味著數據，更重要的是標識符，以及在用戶訪問時識別用戶的能力。這正是谷歌在棄用第三方 Cookie 時面臨的關鍵挑戰。

So this team is working with industry consortia, working with the vendors themselves, Google, identity providers, both deterministic, meaning where there's an e-mail address, and probabilistic, meaning where there's not. And to ensure that we can find and recognize our users no matter how our advertiser partners want to recognize those users.

因此，這個團隊正在與產業聯盟、供應商本身、Google以及身分識別提供者合作，既包括確定性身分識別（即存在電子郵件地址的情況），也包括機率性身分識別（即不存在電子郵件地址的情況）。以確保無論我們的廣告合作夥伴希望以何種方式識別用戶，我們都能找到並識別用戶。

If they're using particular identifiers or using particular technologies, our goal and what we've gotten pretty far ahead on is the ability to enable all of those technologies for advertisers. And so that's how we're staying ahead of the curve. And we're at every gathering of publishers and buyers, with marketers, and with vendors in order to make sure that we stay on that cutting edge.

如果他們使用特定的識別碼或特定的技術，我們的目標，以及我們目前的進展，就是能夠讓廣告商能夠使用所有這些技術。這就是我們保持領先地位的原因。我們出席每一次出版商、買家、行銷人員和供應商的聚會，以確保我們始終處於領先地位。

Okay. Great. Thanks, guys. Appreciate the time.

好的。太好了。謝謝大家。感謝你們抽出時間。

That concludes today's question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the call back to Ross Levinsohn for closing remarks.

今天的問答環節到此結束。我想請羅斯·萊文森做最後發言。

Thank you so much, and thank you all for joining us again, and we look forward to talking to you next quarter. Have a great rest of the week.

非常感謝，也感謝大家再次加入我們，期待下季與大家交流。祝大家本週剩餘時間愉快。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您可以掛斷電話了。