Salem Media Group Inc (SALM) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Salem Media Group Q4 2022 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that this call is being recorded. (Operator Instructions)

女士們先生們，下午好。歡迎來到 Salem Media Group 2022 年第四季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，此通話正在錄音中。 （操作員說明）

And now at this time, I'll turn things over to Mr. Evan Masyr, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead, sir.

現在這個時候，我將把事情交給執行副總裁兼首席財務官 Evan Masyr 先生。請繼續，先生。

Thank you, and thank you all for joining us for Salem Media Group's Fourth Quarter 2022 Earnings Call. As a reminder, if you get disconnected at any time, you can dial back in or listen from our website at www.salemmedia.com.

謝謝，也感謝大家加入我們參加 Salem Media Group 的 2022 年第四季度財報電話會議。提醒一下，如果您隨時斷開連接，您可以撥回或從我們的網站 www.salemmedia.com 收聽。

In the room with me today are David Santrella, Chief Executive Officer; and David Evans, Chief Operating Officer. We will begin in just a moment with our prepared remarks. Once we are done, the conference call operator will come back on the line to instruct you on how to submit questions.

今天與我同在的是首席執行官大衛·桑特雷拉 (David Santrella)；和首席運營官 David Evans。稍後我們將開始準備好的發言。完成後，電話會議接線員將重新上線，指導您如何提交問題。

Please be advised that statements made on this call that relate to future plans, events, financial results, prospects or performance are forward-looking statements as defined under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on currently available information. Actual results may differ materially from those anticipated, and reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance. We do not intend and undertake no obligation to update our forward-looking statements, including forecasts of future performance, the potential for growth of existing markets, the opening of new markets or the potential growth from future acquisitions.

請注意，在本次電話會議上做出的與未來計劃、事件、財務結果、前景或業績相關的陳述是 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》所定義的前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述基於目前可用的信息。實際結果可能與預期結果存在重大差異，報告的結果不應被視為未來業績的指標。我們無意也沒有義務更新我們的前瞻性陳述，包括對未來業績的預測、現有市場的增長潛力、新市場的開放或未來收購的潛在增長。

This conference call also contains non-GAAP financial measures within the meaning of Regulation G, specifically station operating income, or SOI, EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA. In conformity with Regulation G, information required to accompany the disclosure of non-GAAP information -- financial measures is available on the Investor Relations portion of the company's website at salemmedia.com.

本次電話會議還包含 G 條例意義下的非 GAAP 財務指標，特別是車站營業收入或 SOI、EBITDA 和調整後的 EBITDA。根據 G 條例，披露非 GAAP 信息所需的信息——財務措施可在公司網站 salemmedia.com 的投資者關係部分獲取。

And with that, I will now turn the call over to Dave Santrella. Dave?

有了這個，我現在將把電話轉給 Dave Santrella。戴夫？

Thanks, Evan, and thanks all for being a part of the call today. Today, we'll review Salem's fourth quarter results, discuss some new developments with respect to our debt and provide a brief M&A update. I'll then turn the call back to Evan to provide more details on fourth quarter financial performance and to give guidance for the first quarter of 2023.

謝謝 Evan，也感謝大家參與今天的電話會議。今天，我們將回顧 Salem 的第四季度業績，討論有關我們債務的一些新發展，並提供簡短的併購更新。然後我會把電話轉回埃文，提供有關第四季度財務業績的更多細節，並為 2023 年第一季度提供指導。

One thing that you'll hear throughout the call today is the slowing down of the overall economy and its impact on Salem, particularly on ad-driven revenue. Total revenue for the fourth quarter was down 0.5%. Expenses were up 5.7% and adjusted EBITDA declined 33%.

在今天的整個電話會議中，您會聽到的一件事是整體經濟放緩及其對塞勒姆的影響，尤其是對廣告驅動收入的影響。第四季度的總收入下降了 0.5%。費用增長了 5.7%，調整後的 EBITDA 下降了 33%。

Before I review the results by division, I want to summarize our overall digital revenue for you. When you combine the digital revenue within the Broadcast division and the National Digital division, overall digital revenue was flat in the quarter and is nearly 30% of total revenue.

在按部門查看結果之前，我想為您總結一下我們的整體數字收入。當您將廣播部門和國家數字部門的數字收入結合起來時，本季度整體數字收入持平，佔總收入的近 30%。

The Broadcast Digital revenue grew 14%, while the more mature National Digital division declined 10.3%. I will address that decline in a little bit. Despite the overall digital revenue being flat due to the softness in the economy, we still see digital revenue as the best source of future growth and where we will continue to invest our financial resources.

廣播數字收入增長了 14%，而更成熟的國家數字部門下降了 10.3%。我將稍微解決這種下降問題。儘管由於經濟疲軟導致整體數字收入持平，但我們仍然認為數字收入是未來增長的最佳來源，也是我們將繼續投入財務資源的領域。

Now I'll go over the financial performance in the fourth quarter in each division. Revenue in the Broadcast division increased 4.5% in the fourth quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2021. This growth is well above the industry according to Miller Kaplan, which shows industry growth of 1.6% in the markets where we operate. One of the drivers growing revenue in the fourth quarter, both for us and the overall industry was political revenue.

現在我將回顧一下每個部門第四季度的財務業績。與 2021 年第四季度相比，第四季度廣播部門的收入增長了 4.5%。根據 Miller Kaplan 的數據，這一增長遠高於行業，這表明我們運營的市場的行業增長率為 1.6%。對我們和整個行業而言，第四季度收入增長的驅動因素之一是政治收入。

We recognized $2.1 million in political in the fourth quarter compared to just $0.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. For the year, we had $5.9 million in political revenue, which is the highest level of political revenue in a mid-term election for Salem. The political revenue is seen principally in national spot, which is up 7.7% and network revenue up 11.3%. Local spot advertising was down 4.3% due to the weak economy.

我們在第四季度確認了 210 萬美元的政治收入，而 2021 年第四季度僅為 50 萬美元。這一年，我們有 590 萬美元的政治收入，這是塞勒姆中期選舉的最高政治收入水平.政務收入主要體現在國家點播，增長 7.7%，網絡收入增長 11.3%。由於經濟疲軟，本地現貨廣告下降了 4.3%。

I'm pleased to report that our block programming revenue was up 3.4% in the quarter. Remember that block programming is a unique component to Salem's business model and has routinely shown resiliency during recessionary times. This growth is being led by National Christian ministry revenue, which was up 4.8% in the quarter and 9.7% for the year. This is due to ongoing increased demand for limited programming time.

我很高興地報告，本季度我們的塊編程收入增長了 3.4%。請記住，塊編程是塞勒姆商業模式的獨特組成部分，並且在經濟衰退時期經常表現出彈性。這一增長是由全國基督教事工收入帶動的，該部門收入在本季度增長了 4.8%，全年增長了 9.7%。這是由於對有限編程時間的需求不斷增加。

I already talked about our combined digital revenue within the Broadcast division, digital revenue, which encompasses Salem Surround, the Salem Podcast Network, SalemNOW and the Salem News Channel increased 14% during the quarter. Because we believe this is our biggest growth opportunity, we are investing further in these initiatives.

我已經談到了我們廣播部門的綜合數字收入，包括 Salem Surround、Salem Podcast Network、SalemNOW 和 Salem News Channel 在內的數字收入在本季度增長了 14%。因為我們相信這是我們最大的增長機會，所以我們正在進一步投資於這些舉措。

Broadcast expenses increased 11.4%, driven by our continued investment in the sale of News Channel, the 401(k) match, which was reinstituted in the beginning of 2022 and the impact of a bad debt credit in the fourth quarter of 2021. Revenue at Salem's National Digital division declined 10.3% compared to the fourth quarter of 2021.

廣播費用增長了 11.4%，這是由於我們繼續投資於新聞頻道的銷售、2022 年初重新啟動的 401(k) 匹配以及 2021 年第四季度壞賬信貸的影響。塞勒姆的國家數字部門與 2021 年第四季度相比下降了 10.3%。

Similar to last quarter, the revenue decline is due to Facebook and the demise of the third-party cookie. In July, Facebook implemented changes to its algorithm to feature less political content. This has led to a significant decline in traffic from Facebook to Salem's conservative opinion websites.

與上個季度類似，收入下降是由於 Facebook 和第三方 cookie 的消亡。 7 月，Facebook 對其算法進行了更改，以減少政治內容。這導致從 Facebook 到塞勒姆的保守意見網站的流量大幅下降。

Also, many browsers and mobile devices are blocking access to third-party cookie information, which is hurting digital advertising CPMs. On top of these 2 issues, the weak overall economy is also putting pressure on digital advertising revenues. Digital expenses were up 1.8% due to cost management initiatives.

此外，許多瀏覽器和移動設備正在阻止對第三方 cookie 信息的訪問，這損害了數字廣告的每千次展示費用。除了這兩個問題之外，整體經濟疲軟也給數字廣告收入帶來壓力。由於成本管理舉措，數字支出增長了 1.8%。

Revenue at our Book Publishing division declined 21.3% in the fourth quarter. We had a light book release schedule compared to a strong book schedule in the fourth quarter of 2021. Our top books in the fourth quarter of 2022 were Justice Corrupted by Ted Cruz and Letter to the American Church by Eric Metaxas. As is normally the case, there is not a strong book release schedule in the first quarter. The 3 biggest titles are Dining with the Saints by Leo Patalinghug. David, help me.

我們圖書出版部門的收入在第四季度下降了 21.3%。與 2021 年第四季度的強勁圖書發行計劃相比，我們的圖書發行計劃較少。我們 2022 年第四季度的熱門圖書是泰德·克魯茲 (Ted Cruz) 的《正義腐敗》(Justice Corrupted) 和埃里克·梅塔克薩斯 (Eric Metaxas) 緻美國教會的信。通常情況下，第一季度的圖書發行時間表並不理想。三個最大的頭銜是 Leo Patalinghug 的《與聖徒共進晚餐》。大衛，幫幫我。

Patalinghug.

帕塔林擁抱。

Thank you, Leo Patalinghug, forgive me, and Michael Foley, Scalia by James -- Scalia, sorry, Scalia by James Rosen; and How to Save the West by Spencer Klavan as well as strong ongoing sales of books by Eric Metaxas. Publishing expenses were down 10.6% due to the related decline in revenue.

謝謝你，Leo Patalinghug，請原諒我，還有 Michael Foley，James 的 Scalia -- Scalia，對不起，James Rosen 的 Scalia；和 Spencer Klavan 的《如何拯救西方》，以及 Eric Metaxas 的書籍持續強勁銷售。由於相關的收入下降，出版費用下降了 10.6%。

I want to provide an update on our capital structure. Last month, we exercised the delayed draw back stop we negotiated back in September 2021. We will be issuing $44.7 million in new 7.125% 2028 notes to take out the remaining 6.75% 2024 notes. We have initiated the call of the 2024 notes through our trustee and expect everything to close by the end of the month. After the close, we will have access to approximately $4 million to pay down the ABL revolver.

我想提供有關我們資本結構的最新信息。上個月，我們執行了我們在 2021 年 9 月談判達成的延遲撤回止損。我們將發行 4470 萬美元的 7.125% 2028 年新票據，以取出剩餘的 6.75% 2024 年票據。我們已經通過我們的受託人發起了 2024 年票據的徵集，預計一切都將在本月底結束。交易結束後，我們將獲得大約 400 萬美元的資金來支付 ABL 左輪手槍的費用。

I want to shift our discussion to M&A activity. On October 1, we acquired the DayTradeSPY financial newsletter for $600,000. Also on December 1, we closed on the acquisition of KKOL-AM in Seattle for $500,000. Finally, on December 30, we purchased ISI Publishing for $425,000.

我想將我們的討論轉移到併購活動上。 10 月 1 日，我們以 60 萬美元收購了 DayTradeSPY 財經通訊。同樣在 12 月 1 日，我們以 500,000 美元的價格完成了對西雅圖 KKOL-AM 的收購。最後，在 12 月 30 日，我們以 425,000 美元的價格收購了 ISI Publishing。

In January, we closed on the purchase of 3 Miami radio stations, WMYM AM, WWFE AM and WRHC AM for $10 million. Salem paid $6.3 million for the FCC licenses and related broadcast assets and Edward Atsinger, Salem's Executive Chairman paid $3.7 million for the transmitter sites. The company entered into an agreement whereby the company is able to acquire the land from ad for the same price Salem could have purchased the land from the radio station sellers. This was done to preserve liquidity for the company.

1 月，我們以 1000 萬美元的價格完成了對 3 個邁阿密廣播電台 WMYM AM、WWFE AM 和 WRHC AM 的收購。 Salem 為 FCC 許可和相關廣播資產支付了 630 萬美元，Salem 的執行主席 Edward Atsinger 為發射站支付了 370 萬美元。該公司簽訂了一項協議，根據該協議，該公司能夠以 Salem 可以從廣播電台賣家那裡購買土地的相同價格從廣告中獲得土地。這樣做是為了保持公司的流動性。

On February 1, we closed on the acquisition of the George Gilder report and other digital newsletters and related websites. We did not pay any cash at closing for this transaction but assume the deferred subscription liabilities and will pay 25% of certain future subscriptions.

2 月 1 日，我們完成了對 George Gilder 報告和其他數字通訊及相關網站的收購。我們在本次交易結束時沒有支付任何現金，但承擔了遞延認購責任，並將支付某些未來認購的 25%。

And with that, I'll turn the call back to Evan for additional details on the quarter's performance and guidance for Q1.

有了這個，我會把電話轉回埃文，了解有關本季度業績和第一季度指導的更多細節。

Thank you, Dave. For the fourth quarter, total revenue decreased 0.5% to $68.8 million. Operating expenses on a recurring basis increased 5.7% to $61.6 million and adjusted EBITDA decreased to $7.3 million. Compared to last year, net broadcast revenue increased 4.5% to $53.3 million and broadcast operating expenses increased 11.4% to $43.2 million, resulting in station operating income of $10.1 million, a decrease of 17.4%.

謝謝你，戴夫。第四季度總收入下降 0.5% 至 6880 萬美元。經常性運營費用增加 5.7% 至 6,160 萬美元，調整後的 EBITDA 減少至 730 萬美元。與去年相比，淨廣播收入增長 4.5% 至 5330 萬美元，廣播運營費用增長 11.4% 至 4320 萬美元，導致電視台運營收入為 1010 萬美元，下降 17.4%。

On a same-station basis, net broadcast revenue increased 4.5% to $53.3 million, and SOI decreased 15.7% to $10.3 million. These same-station results include broadcast revenue from 98 of our 100 radio stations and network operations and represents virtually all of our net broadcast revenue. As of December 31, 2022, total debt was $162.7 million, made up of $114.7 million of 7 1/8% 2028 notes, $39 million of 6 3/4% 2024 notes and $9 million outstanding on the ABL facility. The leverage ratio was 4.88 as defined under Salem's credit agreements.

在同台基礎上，淨廣播收入增長 4.5% 至 5330 萬美元，SOI 下降 15.7% 至 1030 萬美元。這些同台結果包括來自我們 100 個廣播電台和網絡運營中的 98 個的廣播收入，幾乎代表了我們所有的淨廣播收入。截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日，債務總額為 1.627 億美元，包括 1.147 億美元的 7 1/8% 2028 年票據、3900 萬美元的 6 3/4% 2024 年票據和 900 萬美元的 ABL 貸款餘額。根據 Salem 的信貸協議，槓桿率為 4.88。

Looking forward, for the first quarter of 2023, Salem is projecting total revenue to be between flat and a decline of 2% from first quarter 2022 revenue of $62.6 million. Salem is also projecting operating expenses before gains or losses on the sale or disposal of assets, stock-based compensation expense, legal settlement, changes in the estimated fair value of contingent earn-out consideration, impairments, depreciation expense and amortization expense, to increase between 7% and 10% compared to the first quarter of 2022 non-GAAP operating expenses of $55.8 million.

展望未來，對於 2023 年第一季度，塞勒姆預計總收入將持平，與 2022 年第一季度 6260 萬美元的收入相比下降 2%。 Salem 還預測在出售或處置資產的收益或損失之前的運營費用、基於股票的補償費用、法律結算、或有賺取對價的估計公允價值變動、減值、折舊費用和攤銷費用，以增加與 2022 年第一季度 5580 萬美元的非美國通用會計準則運營費用相比，增長了 7% 至 10%。

And this concludes our prepared remarks, and we would now like to open the call up for any questions. Operator?

我們準備好的發言到此結束，我們現在想公開任何問題。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) We'll take our first question this afternoon from Mr. Michael Kupinski of NOBLE Capital Markets.

（操作員說明）今天下午我們將從 NOBLE Capital Markets 的 Michael Kupinski 先生那裡回答我們的第一個問題。

First of all, I know it was a difficult quarter, but I'm glad to see that you guys beat my estimates, so that's always a good thing. A couple of things. Can you kind of give us an idea of what the price increase was for the block programming in the first quarter? I know you typically put in your price increases in the first of the year. Any thoughts there?

首先，我知道這是一個艱難的季度，但我很高興看到你們超出了我的預期，所以這總是一件好事。幾件事。你能告訴我們第一季度區塊編程的價格上漲是多少嗎？我知道您通常會在年初提價。有什麼想法嗎？

Yes, it was just shy of 3%.

是的，只有不到 3%。

Okay. And can you kind of give us a little color on the revenue outlook for Q1? I know that your guide is actually a little better than what I was looking for. And I was wondering if you can just kind of give us a flavor of are the same trends that were in the fourth quarter kind of continuing into the first quarter. Any particular things that are showing some brightness, some signs of life? Or is it across the board? Just kind of give us a thought about the revenue trends.

好的。你能給我們介紹一下第一季度的收入前景嗎？我知道您的指南實際上比我想要的要好一些。我想知道您是否可以給我們介紹一下第四季度延續到第一季度的相同趨勢。有什麼特別的東西顯示出一些亮度，一些生命跡象嗎？還是一刀切？只是讓我們對收入趨勢有所了解。

Yes, January was pretty sluggish. February actually got a little better than January was in terms of dollars written in the month, for the month. So far, March has actually started out pretty good. I look, Michael, at kind of how much do we write today for the current month and then how much do we write today for the next month and the next month after that.

是的，一月份非常低迷。就當月寫入的美元而言，2 月實際上比 1 月好一點。到目前為止，三月的開局實際上相當不錯。邁克爾，我看看我們今天為本月寫了多少，然後我們今天為下個月和下個月寫了多少。

And I've been pleased with at least what I've seen us writing in the first several days of March. So all of that is good. But there's no question, we're fighting a headwind in a significant way as is it seems most of the industry right now. I can't necessarily point to a particular category and tell you that this is a category that's going gangbusters. I can tell you in Q4, we had, as you might expect, real estate and mortgage, which is always a big radio category is not doing great right now because interest rates are really high.

至少我對我們在 3 月頭幾天所寫的內容感到滿意。所以這一切都很好。但毫無疑問，我們正在以一種重要的方式與逆風作鬥爭，就像現在大多數行業一樣。我不一定會指出一個特定的類別並告訴你這是一個會大放異彩的類別。我可以在第四季度告訴你，正如你所料，我們的房地產和抵押貸款一直是一個重要的廣播類別，但現在表現不佳，因為利率真的很高。

In 2021, we had a lot of spending from the government, right, promoting vaccines and whatnot. Well, that advertising is not really there as much anymore. So there's been a few categories that are down and again, just overall headwinds.

2021 年，我們有很多來自政府的支出，對，用於推廣疫苗等等。好吧，廣告不再那麼多了。所以有幾個類別一再下降，只是整體逆風。

Got you. And it's interesting that your local was weak, whereas national was maybe a little bit better. I was just wondering for the most part, others have been saying National has been extremely weak and local has been holding up. What are you seeing between national spot and local spot?

明白了有趣的是，你的本地人很弱，而國家人可能好一點。我只是想知道大部分時間，其他人一直在說國家極度疲軟，而本地一直在堅持。你在國家景點和地方景點之間看到了什麼？

Well, national, our network has really been what's stronger than national spot. And I think it's -- our network is just strong, Michael, because of kind of that 360-degree approach that we're able to take because you can listen to that radio program, you can then also listen to a podcast of that. We're selling different commercial in each of those. And then, of course, national spot itself in Q4 was driven particularly by political.

好吧，國家，我們的網絡確實比國家現場更強大。而且我認為 - 我們的網絡非常強大，邁克爾，因為我們能夠採用那種 360 度的方法，因為你可以收聽那個廣播節目，然後你也可以收聽那個播客。我們在每一個中銷售不同的商業廣告。然後，當然，第四季度的國家廣告本身尤其受到政治因素的推動。

Right, right. But what are you seeing in terms of local then for Q1?

是的是的。但是對於第一季度，您在當地看到了什麼？

Can you rephrase the question?

你能改一下問題嗎？

I'd say we are seeing national stronger than local in Q1, which does seem a little at odds with the rest of the industry. And I'd say that's because our national organization has got momentum because of things like the sale and podcast network and sale and news channel and our newer digital initiatives that's feeding our national business.

我想說的是，我們在第一季度看到全國比本地更強大，這似乎與其他行業有點不一致。我想說那是因為我們的國家組織因為銷售和播客網絡、銷售和新聞頻道以及我們為我們的國家業務提供支持的新數字計劃而獲得了動力。

Got you. And then, I guess, in terms of just -- I would assume that the cash flow that you plan to drive this year is largely going to be used to pay down debt, I would assume. So -- but just to kind of confirm the capital allocation for this year?

明白了然後，我想，就只是 - 我假設你計劃今年推動的現金流主要用於償還債務，我假設。所以 - 但只是為了確認今年的資本分配？

Yes, Michael, definitely, the single -- the #1 use for free cash flow this year will continue to be pay down debt, as you've seen us do really -- you compare back to 2017, when we put the bond issue in place, we had $255 million of bonds and our debt is down quite a bit from there. So we will continue to focus on paying down debt and deleveraging.

是的，邁克爾，當然，唯一的 - 今年自由現金流的第一大用途將繼續償還債務，正如你看到我們所做的那樣 - 你可以追溯到 2017 年，當時我們發行債券到位，我們有 2.55 億美元的債券，我們的債務比那裡少了很多。因此，我們將繼續專注於償還債務和去槓桿化。

We go next now to Edward Reily of EF Hutton.

接下來我們去 EF Hutton 的 Edward Reily。

Mike got most of my questions. But just regarding this quarter's guidance, Q4, you guided towards negative 3% to negative 5% growth in the quarter. I was wondering if you could maybe help us reconcile the difference between the guidance and the actual result, and maybe what surprised you in the months of November and December. And just wondering if any of that momentum is carried through a little bit into 2023.

邁克回答了我的大部分問題。但就本季度的指導而言，第四季度，您指導本季度實現負 3% 至負 5% 的增長。我想知道您是否可以幫助我們調和指導與實際結果之間的差異，以及可能讓您在 11 月和 12 月感到驚訝的地方。只是想知道這種勢頭是否會延續到 2023 年。

I think a couple of things that did a little better. When we were putting together our guidance for the fourth quarter, the biggest glaring negative was publishing and just because of the slate of books that we had in the fourth quarter of the prior year. But we did have a better Q4 with the books that Dave mentioned, Justice Corrupted by Ted Cruz and Letters to the American Church by Eric Metaxas. That was definitely a part of why we did better than we expected from a guidance perspective. And I think political came in a little bit stronger as well.

我認為有幾件事做得更好。當我們整理第四季度的指導意見時，最大的明顯負面影響是出版業，而這僅僅是因為我們在去年第四季度擁有大量書籍。但我們確實有一個更好的第四季度，戴夫提到的書，特德克魯茲的正義腐敗和埃里克梅塔克薩斯寫給美國教會的信。從指導的角度來看，這絕對是我們做得比預期更好的部分原因。而且我認為政治也變得更強大了。

Okay. And it seems we're really targeting the Florida market. Just with regard to capital allocation, should we maybe expect more of the same for next year?

好的。看來我們真的瞄準了佛羅里達市場。就資本配置而言，我們是否應該期待明年會有更多相同的情況？

I don't see us at this point adding any additional licenses in the Miami market. I think we feel good with the 3 licenses that we have that we can achieve what we're trying to accomplish there.

我目前沒有看到我們在邁阿密市場增加任何額外的許可。我認為我們對我們擁有的 3 個許可證感到滿意，我們可以實現我們正在努力實現的目標。

And we'll take our next question now from David Marsh of Singular Research.

我們現在將從 Singular Research 的 David Marsh 那裡回答下一個問題。

As we look out throughout the rest of the year, are there any publishing titles that you guys are particularly excited about that could get publishing moving back in the right direction?

當我們展望今年餘下的時間時，有沒有你們特別興奮的出版刊物可以讓出版業回到正確的方向？

I wouldn't call out one particular home run title. But when I look at the slate as a whole, I think we will see both revenue and profit growth for the Book Publishing business in 2023 compared to 2022. If I were to mention specific titles and authors, I'd list books from Josh Hawley, George Gilder, Gad Saad, The Babylon Bee, Tulsi Gabbard and Ted Cruz.

我不會說出一個特定的本壘打冠軍。但當我從整體上看時，我認為與 2022 年相比，2023 年圖書出版業務的收入和利潤都會增長。如果我要提到具體的書名和作者，我會列出 Josh Hawley 的書, George Gilder, Gad Saad, The Babylon Bee, Tulsi Gabbard 和 Ted Cruz。

Okay. That's very helpful. I appreciate that. And then when you guys take a look at the asset portfolio as a whole, are there any particular assets it makes sense to possibly look at divesting here? I know it's a tough market right now, but as you look at the portfolio overall, are there any that stand out as ones that maybe could use a source of liquidity going forward?

好的。這很有幫助。我很感激。然後，當你們從整體上看一下資產組合時，是否有任何特定資產值得在這裡考慮剝離？我知道現在這是一個艱難的市場，但當你從整體上看投資組合時，是否有任何突出的可能會在未來使用流動性來源？

Well, I can tell you, we're constantly assessing that, whether it's real estate that we have and continually looking at real estate and changing values there. And then we constantly look at the performance of all of our individual business units and assess on a regular basis, if they're best in our hands or best in the hands of somebody else.

好吧，我可以告訴你，我們一直在評估它是否是我們擁有的房地產，並不斷關注房地產和那裡不斷變化的價值。然後我們會不斷查看我們所有單個業務部門的績效，並定期評估它們是我們掌握的最好還是別人掌握的最好。

Sure. That's fair. And then, I guess, just lastly for me. XM just had -- SiriusXM just had reduction in force. I was just curious if perhaps there's some -- maybe some talent available that wasn't perhaps previously available that you guys might be able to add that might helped drive revenue as a result of that reduction in force or any other actions by other operators in the industry?

當然。這還算公平。然後，我想，最後對我來說。 XM 剛剛 - SiriusXM 剛剛減少了力量。我只是好奇，是否可能有一些 - 也許一些以前可能沒有的可用人才，你們可能能夠添加，這可能有助於增加收入，因為裁員或其他運營商的任何其他行動行業？

Yes. I think the best opportunity there is maybe less on the talent side. We always are looking for great talent. And if there's a good talent that fits the profiles for Salem with our formats. If there's a good talent there, we certainly will consider them. Where the greater opportunity has been with other workforce reductions both at SiriusXM and at other broadcasters, as we're investing in Salem Surround and our other digital assets, there's some very talented people that are available. And of course, we're looking at them for both sales and sales support within our digital -- our digital initiatives.

是的。我認為最好的機會可能更少出現在人才方面。我們一直在尋找優秀的人才。如果有一個很好的人才符合我們格式的 Salem 的配置文件。如果那裡有好的人才，我們當然會考慮他們。由於我們正在投資 Salem Surround 和其他數字資產，SiriusXM 和其他廣播公司的其他勞動力裁員帶來了更大的機會，因此有一些非常有才華的人可以使用。當然，我們正在尋找他們在我們的數字 - 我們的數字計劃中的銷售和銷售支持。

And we'll take a follow-up question now from Michael Kupinski.

我們現在將從 Michael Kupinski 那裡回答一個後續問題。

I appreciate that. I just kind of wanted to drill down on the expense outlook for Q1. Can you repeat that? What that is? And is that the comparable from Q1 2022 of $55.8 million? If you can just kind of explain that a little bit.

我很感激。我只是想深入了解第一季度的支出前景。你可以再說一遍嗎？那是什麼？這與 2022 年第一季度的 5580 萬美元相當嗎？如果你能稍微解釋一下。

Yes. I'll give you an update or refresh on what the numbers were, and then Dave can maybe talk about what's driving the increase. So it's a 7% to 10% increase in expenses from that $55.8 million in the first quarter of '22. And Dave, do you want to talk about it?

是的。我會給你更新或刷新數字是什麼，然後戴夫也許可以談談是什麼推動了增長。因此，與 22 年第一季度的 5580 萬美元相比，支出增加了 7% 到 10%。戴夫，你想談談嗎？

Yes. In terms of the expense guidance, it's really being impacted by, as I just mentioned, hiring additional digital sales staff to continue to grow our digital business. You have to remember, on the broadcast side of Salem, our digital business is really only about 5 years old. We really launched later than other broadcasters did. We kind of wanted to be faster -- fast followers as opposed to pioneers there.

是的。在費用指導方面，正如我剛才提到的，它確實受到了影響，僱傭了更多的數字銷售人員來繼續發展我們的數字業務。你必須記住，在塞勒姆的廣播方面，我們的數字業務實際上只有 5 年左右的歷史。我們確實比其他廣播公司推出得晚。我們有點想變得更快——快速的追隨者而不是那裡的先驅。

And we're glad that we moved in that direction. But in order to keep it growing, we have to add more people to it. We have to build both larger sales force around it and then a larger digital -- kind of a sales infrastructure so that we can fulfill those digital orders in-house. It's cheaper to fulfill them in-house, but then by using third parties.

我們很高興我們朝著那個方向前進。但是為了保持它的增長，我們必須增加更多的人。我們必須圍繞它建立更大的銷售隊伍，然後建立更大的數字——一種銷售基礎設施，這樣我們才能在內部完成這些數字訂單。在內部完成它們更便宜，但隨後通過第三方完成。

And so we found that the ROI of new sellers is real positive for us. And with big tech companies laying off really qualified salespeople, we're able to take advantage of that opportunity.

所以我們發現新賣家的投資回報率對我們來說是非常積極的。隨著大型科技公司解僱真正合格的銷售人員，我們能夠利用這個機會。

Is your digital business on the broadcast side profitable at this point? Or how do -- yes, right? And so can you kind of give us an idea of what the margins are and where do you think the margins could grow to as this matures?

此時您在廣播方面的數字業務是否盈利？或者怎麼做——是的，對嗎？那麼，您能否讓我們了解一下利潤率是多少，以及您認為隨著這種情況的成熟，利潤率會增長到哪裡？

Yes. I guess it's difficult to look at the margins because we sell a lot of different products. I'd say on average, incrementally, incremental digital is probably in the 35% profit margin range. But as we look to bring some of the stuff in-house, we want to grow that margin.

是的。我想很難查看利潤率，因為我們銷售很多不同的產品。我會說平均來說，增量數字可能在 35% 的利潤率範圍內。但是當我們希望將一些東西帶入內部時，我們希望增加利潤。

Yes. You can't really calculate a kind of stand-alone profit margin because it's sharing the sales team with radio broadcast. It's sharing with General Manager. So there's a bunch of shared expenses. It is lower profit margin on an incremental basis than local spot sales because when we're selling digital, we are selling some owned and operated inventory, but we're also reselling other people's inventory. So there is a cost of goods sold to our digital media business that we don't have with the core local spot business. So it is lower profit margin because of that, but still nicely profitable.

是的。你無法真正計算出一種獨立的利潤率，因為它正在與廣播共享銷售團隊。正在與總經理分享。所以有很多共同的費用。它的增量利潤率低於本地現貨銷售，因為當我們銷售數字產品時，我們正在銷售一些自有和經營的庫存，但我們也在轉售其他人的庫存。因此，銷售給我們的數字媒體業務的商品成本是我們核心本地現貨業務所沒有的。因此，它的利潤率較低，但仍然有利可圖。

Yes, the cost of goods sold on the local advertising or national spot advertising buckets for that matter, the cost of goods sold is really baked into the operating expenses of the business unit, whereas with digital, there's a real cost of goods sold. We're writing a check to somebody for that.

是的，就此而言，在本地廣告或全國現場廣告桶上銷售的商品成本，銷售商品的成本確實計入了業務部門的運營費用，而對於數字廣告，則有實際的銷售商品成本。我們正在為此給某人寫一張支票。

And gentlemen, it appears we have no further questions this afternoon. Mr. Santrella, I'd like to turn things back to you for any closing comments.

先生們，看來我們今天下午沒有其他問題了。桑特雷拉先生，我想把事情轉回給你，請你發表任何結束評論。

Okay. Well, thanks, everybody, for being a part of the call today. We appreciate it, and we'll see you again next quarter.

好的。好吧，謝謝大家參加今天的電話會議。我們很感激，下個季度我們會再見。

Thank you, Mr. Santrella. Ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude the Salem Media Group Q4 2022 Earnings Conference Call. We'd like to thank you all so much for joining us and wish you all a great remainder of your day. Goodbye.

謝謝你，桑特雷拉先生。女士們，先生們，Salem Media Group 2022 年第四季度收益電話會議到此結束。非常感謝大家加入我們，祝大家度過美好的一天。再見。