Saga Communications Inc (SGA) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Saga Communications second-quarter 2024 earnings release and conference call. (Operator Instructions)

大家早安，歡迎來到 Saga Communications 2024 年第二季財報發布和電話會議。（操作員說明）

It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to your host, Chris Forgy. Sir, the floor is yours.

現在我很高興將發言權交給主持人克里斯福吉。先生，地板是你的了。

Thank you, Matt, and thank you to everyone who's taking time to join the Saga Q2 earnings call. We appreciate your continued interest, your questions, your support, and your participation in what we believe is the best media company on the planet.

謝謝你，馬特，也感謝所有花時間參加 Saga 第二季度財報電話會議的人。我們感謝您對我們認為是地球上最好的媒體公司的持續關注、提問、支持和參與。

It's been an interesting week this week. Monday marked the largest single day decline in stocks in Japan since 1987. There's been talks of a recession -- the US recession, they continue. Tech stocks are overpriced. There's political uncertainty, and there's a rising risk of a wider conflict in the Middle East.

這周是有趣的一周。週一日本股市創下 1987 年以來最大單日跌幅。人們一直在談論經濟衰退——美國經濟衰退，他們還在繼續。科技股定價過高。政治存在不確定性，中東發生更廣泛衝突的風險不斷上升。

The speed and depth of this recent global sell-off is compounded by both the aforementioned and a thinner-than-usual volumes in the month of August, which traditionally is a quiet trading month. And the Fed's delay in lower interest rates is probably indicated and impacted the media sector more than any of the other previous countervailing forces I mentioned.

上述情況以及 8 月交易量低於平常的情況，加劇了近期全球拋售的速度和深度，而 8 月傳統上是一個交易安靜的月份。聯準會推遲降息可能已經表明，對媒體產業的影響比我之前提到的任何其他抵銷力量都要大。

Interest rates influence two of the main economic indicators in the media sector, housing starts and automotive purchases. Media tends to feel the impact of this going into and coming out of the economic downturn earlier than other businesses. In other words, we saw this coming.

利率影響媒體產業的兩個主要經濟指標：新屋開工和汽車購​​買。媒體往往比其他企業更早感受到經濟衰退的影響。換句話說，我們預見了這一點。

But guess what, we don't control any of it. So we don't spend a lot of time with it. We focus on the things we can control, which we will share with you shortly. But make no mistake, what we are experiencing is not a Wall Street thing. It's a Main Street thing.

但你猜怎麼著，我們無法控制其中的任何一個。所以我們不會花很多時間在它上面。我們專注於我們可以控制的事情，我們很快就會與您分享。但請不要誤會，我們正在經歷的並不是華爾街的事。這是大街上的事情。

To illustrate, the categories that experienced the largest decline in Saga during Q2 were restaurants, recruitment, automotive, and grocery. Consumers eating out less, and businesses cutting back on hiring and, in many cases, laying off employees, buying fewer cars, and going to the grocery less often.

舉例來說，第二季 Saga 下降幅度最大的類別是餐廳、招募、汽車和雜貨。消費者減少外食，企業減少招聘，在許多情況下還解僱員工，減少購買汽車，減少去雜貨店的次數。

Recently, one of Saga's top-performing leaders shared with me that after 20 months of pristine performance, his market was now starting to experience some economic downdraft, particularly in one of Saga's core revenue verticals being local direct.

最近，Saga 的一位表現最好的領導者與我分享，在經歷了20 個月的良好表現之後，他的市場現在開始經歷一些經濟衰退，特別是在Saga 的核心收入垂直領域之一是本地直接業務。

He said it's not the big spending local clients who are holding back. It's the clients who spend that $2,000 to $4,000 per month or in that $36,000 per year range who have taken a pause. He said they've assured us they'll be back and will return.

他表示，並不是那些支出大的本地客戶在猶豫。那些每月花費 2,000 至 4,000 美元或每年花費 36,000 美元的客戶已經暫停了。他說他們已經向我們保證他們會回來並且一定會回來。

So it's not a question of if, but when they will return. That being said, this level of spend makes up the largest percentage of business in our Saga markets, those customers who invest that $2,000 to $4,000 per month in advertising.

所以這不是他們是否會回來的問題，而是他們什麼時候回來的問題。話雖如此，這種支出水準在我們的 Saga 市場業務中所佔的比例最大，這些客戶每月在廣告上投資 2,000 至 4,000 美元。

So in an effort to mitigate some of these types of circumstances over the past 20 months, Saga has been preparing to exit these economic headwinds better trained, better resourced, and better equipped to come out on the other side and super serve our customers and our communities. This is that transformational change and growth you've heard about and heard us talk about for some time.

因此，為了在過去20 個月裡緩解某些此類情況，Saga 一直在準備擺脫這些經濟逆風，並提供更好的培訓、更好的資源和更好的裝備，以走出困境，為我們的客戶和我們的客戶提供優質服務。這就是您已經聽到並聽到我們談論一段時間的變革和成長。

As you know, Q1 for Saga was a bit of a rough quarter. Q2, as you will hear, is much better. So before Sam gets into the details of Saga's Q2 performance, I just wanted to highlight some of the progress we've made in those areas in which we have created, and we control.

如你所知，Saga 的第一季有點艱難。正如您所聽到的，Q2 好多了。因此，在 Sam 詳細介紹 Saga 第二季度業績之前，我只想強調我們在我們所創造和控制的領域所取得的一些進展。

Our digital or interactive space is up for the second quarter year over year, $822,000 or 33.4%. E-commerce, which feeds into our local direct silo, is up for the second quarter year over year, $348,000 or 98.5%. Even national, thanks in part to our new national sales strategy and the [CAT's] Alliance Network, which it was up $440,000 is flat in nationals as a result of flat -- slightly up year over year for the quarter.

我們的數位或互動空間第二季度年增 822,000 美元，即 33.4%。電子商務為我們本地的直營業務提供服務，第二季度同比增長 348,000 美元，即 98.5%。即使在全國範圍內，部分由於我們新的全國銷售策略和 [CAT 的] 聯盟網絡（增長了 440,000 美元），在全國範圍內也持平，因為該季度同比略有增長。

Streaming is up for the second quarter, $382,000 or 34%, and our Best Of program, which is a community online voting process that is used to determine the best dentists, the best burger, the best pizza, et cetera, in a select market. This vertical is up 50% for Q2 and in just the first six months of '24 has surpassed its entire 2023 output. In 2023, we did $1.2 million, all of 2023; and in 2024 in the first six months, we've already done $1.3 million in that space.

第二季的串流媒體收入增長了382,000 美元，即34%，我們的Best Of 計劃是一個社區在線投票過程，用於確定特定市場中最好的牙醫、最好的漢堡、最好的披薩等。該垂直行業第二季的產量增加了 50%，僅在 2024 年的前六個月就超過了 2023 年的總產量。2023 年，我們完成了 2023 年全年的 120 萬美元；到 2024 年的前六個月，我們已經在該領域投入了 130 萬美元。

And then on a news service, which we will discuss in greater detail following Sam's remarks, was up $344,000 and or 159% for the quarter ending June 30, 2024. As an aside, currently, users of the online news service total 1.15 million. There are currently 3.7 million page views, 50,000 e-mail subscribers, 19,000 app subscribers, and 193,000 followers -- follow the sites on Facebook.

然後，在新聞服務方面，我們將在 Sam 演講後更詳細地討論該服務，該服務在截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的季度中上漲了 344,000 美元，即 159%。順便說一句，目前該線上新聞服務的用戶總數為115萬人。目前有 370 萬頁瀏覽量、50,000 名電子郵件訂閱者、19,000 名應用程式訂閱者和 193,000 名追蹤者 - 關注 Facebook 上的網站。

And we're just getting started. So that gives you a little bit of highlight. Sam is going to get into more of the details. So Sam, the floor is yours.

我們才剛開始。這給了你一點亮點。薩姆將了解更多細節。山姆，地板是你的了。

Thank you, Chris. This call will contain forward-looking statements about our future performance and results of operations that involve risks and uncertainties that are described in the Risk Factors section of our most recent Form 10-K.

謝謝你，克里斯。本次電話會議將包含有關我們未來績效和營運結果的前瞻性陳述，其中涉及我們最新的 10-K 表格的風險因素部分中所述的風險和不確定性。

This call will also contain a discussion of certain non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliation for all the non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measure are attached in the selected financial data tables.

本次電話會議也將討論某些非公認會計準則財務指標。所有非公認會計原則財務指標與最直接可比較的公認會計原則指標的調節表均附在選定的財務資料表中。

For the quarter ended June 30, 2024, net revenue decreased 1.5% to $28.7 million compared to $29.2 million last year. Political did not have a major impact. As for the quarter, we had $288,000 in gross political revenue this year compared to $108,000 for the same period last year.

截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的季度，淨收入下降 1.5%，至 2,870 萬美元，而去年為 2,920 萬美元。政治上沒有產生重大影響。至於本季度，我們今年的政治總收入為 288,000 美元，而去年同期為 108,000 美元。

Station operating expense increased 5.1% to $23.5 million for the three-month period. Station operating income, a non-GAAP financial measure, for the quarter was $6.4 million and net income was $2.5 million or $0.40 per fully diluted share.

三個月期間，車站營運費用增加了 5.1%，達到 2,350 萬美元。該季度電台營運收入（非 GAAP 財務指標）為 640 萬美元，淨利潤為 250 萬美元，即完全稀釋後每股收益 0.40 美元。

Also, you should note that we recorded $1.1 million in the second quarter in other income, which was cash received for the redemption of stock that we owned in BMI when the music licensing organization was acquired. With the purchase of the five stations in Lafayette, Indiana on May 31, 2024, we are now back to reporting on a same-station basis.

另外，您應該注意到，我們在第二季度的其他收入中記錄了 110 萬美元，這是在收購音樂授權組織時贖回我們所擁有的 BMI 股票所收到的現金。隨著 2024 年 5 月 31 日購買印第安納州拉法葉的五個電台，我們現在又恢復以同一電台為基礎進行報告。

I'd be remiss if I didn't add boiler up to my friends in Lafayette there.

如果我不給拉斐特的朋友們加點鍋爐，那就是我的失職了。

Hammer down.

錘下去。

There we go, Chris. You're on it. Keep in mind that same station is a minor adjustment for this quarter and year to date as we only owned Lafayette for one month during the second quarter. That said, for the second quarter this year on a same-station basis, net revenue decreased 2.4% to $28.5 million, and station operating expense increased 4% to $23.3 million.

我們開始吧，克里斯。你就在上面。請記住，同一站是本季和今年迄今為止的一個小調整，因為我們在第二季度只擁有拉斐特一個月。儘管如此，今年第二季同站淨收入下降 2.4% 至 2,850 萬美元，站營運費用成長 4% 至 2,330 萬美元。

For the six-month period ended June 30, 2024, net revenue decreased 2% to $53.4 million compared to $54.5 million last year. Gross political revenue was $598,000 for the period compared to $301,000 for the same period last year.

截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的六個月期間，淨收入下降 2%，至 5,340 萬美元，而去年為 5,450 萬美元。這段時期的政治總收入為 598,000 美元，而去年同期為 301,000 美元。

Station operating expense increased 5.5% to $46.5 million for the six-month period. Station operating income, a non-GAAP financial measure again, for the six months was $9.2 million, and net income was $900,000 or $0.15 per fully diluted share.

六個月期間，車站營運費用增加了 5.5%，達到 4,650 萬美元。電台營運收入（同樣是非公認會計準則財務指標）六個月為 920 萬美元，淨利為 90 萬美元，即完全稀釋每股收益 0.15 美元。

Keep in mind that as you look at the net income for the six-month period, that we reported a net loss of $1.6 million in the first quarter, which included a $971,000 other operating expense, which was a noncash write-off on the sale and abandonment of nonproductive broadcast assets and licenses in two markets.

請記住，當您查看六個月期間的淨利潤時，我們報告第一季淨虧損 160 萬美元，其中包括 971,000 美元的其他營運費用，這是銷售的非現金沖銷放棄兩個市場的非生產性廣播資產和許可證。

Additionally, the net income for the six-month period reflects the $1.1 million in other income that I talked about in my second quarter performance comments just a minute ago.

此外，這六個月期間的淨利潤反映了我在一分鐘前在第二季業績評論中談到的 110 萬美元其他收入。

For the six-month period this year on a same-station basis, net revenue decreased 2.5% to $53.1 million, and station operating expense increased 4.9% to $46.3 million. On a historical basis, pay increases and related payroll taxes amounted to an estimated $599,000 or approximately 53% of the increase in the second quarter's station operating expense, and $1 million or approximately 43% of the increase for the six-month period.

今年六個月期間，以同台計算，淨收入下降 2.5%，至 5,310 萬美元，台營運費用增加 4.9%，至 4,630 萬美元。從歷史數據來看，加薪和相關工資稅預計將達到 59.9 萬美元，約佔第二季車站營運費用成長的 53%，以及 100 萬美元，約佔六個月期間成長的 43%。

Both these periods include approximately $200,000 in severance payments for management changes we made in a couple of our markets as we continue to adapt to changing economic conditions as well as a need to generate revenue from an increasingly diverse range of projects. June did begin to show more of a normalization relative to expense growth.

這兩個時期都包括約 20 萬美元的遣散費，用於我們在幾個市場中進行的管理變革，因為我們不斷適應不斷變化的經濟狀況以及從日益多樣化的項目中創造收入的需要。六月確實開始顯示出相對於費用增長的更多正常化。

We also had other smaller but still meaningful increases in our station operating expenses, including increases in health insurance, sales surveys, bad debt, and interactive. For a bit more color overall, interactive expenses were up $285,000 for the quarter and $485,000 for the six-month period, which was in conjunction with the overall increase in gross interactive revenue for the quarter of $822,000 which Chris already mentioned, and $1.4 million year to date. This continues to include some of the start-up expense for our online news product.

我們的電台營運支出也出現了其他規模較小但仍有意義的成長，包括健康保險、銷售調查、壞帳和互動費用的增加。總體而言，互動費用在本季度增加了 285,000 美元，在六個月期間增加了 485,000 美元，這與 Chris 已經提到的季度總互動收入總體增長 822,000 美元以及全年 140 萬美元的增長相結合。迄今為止。這仍然包括我們在線新聞產品的一些啟動費用。

Capital expenditures for the quarter ended June 30, 2024 were $1.5 million compared to $1.3 million for the same period last year. For the six-month period ended June 30, 2024, capital expenditures were $2.6 million, which was approximately equal to the same period last year.

截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的季度資本支出為 150 萬美元，而去年同期為 130 萬美元。截至2024年6月30日的六個月期間，資本支出為260萬美元，約等於去年同期。

$285,000 of the capital expenditures reported for both the quarter and six-month period were related to our acquisition of the Lafayette radio properties. We currently expect to spend between $5 million and $5.5 million for capital expenditures in 2024. We continue to plan on utilizing our financial strength to strategically invest in our operations, both at a market and corporate level as we work to grow specific revenue types, including local, national, interactive, e-commerce, online news products and NTR.

本季和六個月期間報告的資本支出中有 285,000 美元與我們收購拉法葉無線電資產有關。目前，我們預計 2024 年的資本支出將在 500 萬至 550 萬美元之間。我們繼續計劃利用我們的財務實力在市場和公司層面對我們的營運進行策略性投資，同時我們致力於成長特定的收入類型，包括本地、全國、互動、電子商務、線上新聞產品和 NTR。

The company's balance sheet reflects $24.1 million in cash and short-term investments as of June 30, 2024, and $26.2 million as of August 5, 2024. For the first time in a while, we have debt outstanding as we drew down $5 million on our $50 million revolving credit facility as part of closing the acquisition of Lafayette, Indiana. This was done as part of our overall capital allocation plans.

截至2024年6月30日，該公司的資產負債表反映了2,410萬美元的現金和短期投資，截至2024年8月5日的現金和短期投資為2,620萬美元。作為完成收購印第安納州拉斐特的一部分，我們從 5000 萬美元的循環信貸額度中提取了 500 萬美元，這是一段時間以來我們第一次出現未償債務。這是我們整體資本配置計畫的一部分。

We paid a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share for approximately $1.6 million on June 28, 2024. We also paid our first variable dividend of $0.60 per share for an approximate total of $3.8 million, and I'm talking about this because it was paid on April 5, 2024, the first week of the quarter. To date, we have paid over $132 million in dividends to our shareholders since 2012.

我們於 2024 年 6 月 28 日支付了每股 0.25 美元的季度股息，約 160 萬美元。我們還支付了每股0.60 美元的第一筆可變股息，總額約為380 萬美元，我之所以談論這一點，是因為它是在2024 年4 月5 日（本季度的第一周）支付的。自 2012 年以來，迄今為止，我們已向股東支付了超過 1.32 億美元的股息。

Pacing for the third quarter remained soft, and we are currently pacing down mid-single digits. We do expect this to improve as we reported approximately the same pacing results for this quarter when we reported our first quarter earnings. And based on the final results reported today, our revenue results were better than the initial projection.

第三季的成長速度仍然疲軟，目前我們的成長率處於中個位數。我們確實預計這一情況會有所改善，因為我們在報告第一季收益時報告了本季度大致相同的節奏結果。根據今天報告的最終結果，我們的收入結果好於最初的預測。

Political continues to be very slow compared to the last presidential election in 2020. During the last presidential election in 2020, we recorded approximately $1 million in the first quarter, $289,000 in the second quarter, $1.8 million in the third quarter, and $3.8 million for the fourth quarter in gross political revenue.

與 2020 年上次總統選舉相比，政治進程仍然非常緩慢。在 2020 年上一次總統選舉期間，我們的政治總收入第一季約為 100 萬美元，第二季為 289,000 美元，第三季為 180 萬美元，第四季為 380 萬美元。

In 2023, we recorded $193,000 in the first quarter; $106,000 in the second quarter; $234,000 for the third quarter; and $409,000 for the fourth quarter, again, in gross political revenue. As I previously indicated, we have recorded $598,000 in political through the end of the second quarter and currently have approximately $394,000 pending in the third and fourth quarters.

2023 年，第一季我們錄得 193,000 美元；第二季106,000美元；第三季234,000美元；第四季政治總收入再次達到 409,000 美元。正如我之前指出的，截至第二季末，我們已記錄了 598,000 美元的政治費用，目前第三季和第四季的待處理費用約為 394,000 美元。

We are expecting political to pick up this year, but we haven't seen any significant increases yet. Based on our current projections, we currently expect that our station operating expense on a same-station basis will increase by approximately 4% to 5% for the year as compared to 2023.

我們預計今年政治局勢將會好轉，但尚未看到任何顯著的成長。根據我們目前的預測，我們目前預計今年同站營運費用將比 2023 年增加約 4% 至 5%。

In addition to the inflationary environment, this is significantly driven by our investments in our staff, sales training, ongoing interactive development, including our online news product. We anticipate that annual corporate general and administrative expense will be between $12 million and $12.5 million for 2024. Our tax rate is to be 26% to 29% with a deferred tax of 3% to 6% going forward.

除了通貨膨脹環境之外，這在很大程度上是由我們對員工的投資、銷售培訓、持續的互動開發（包括我們的線上新聞產品）所推動的。我們預計 2024 年公司年度一般管理費用將在 1,200 萬美元至 1,250 萬美元之間。我們的稅率為 26% 至 29%，未來遞延稅為 3% 至 6%。

And Chris, with that, I will turn it back over to you.

克里斯，這樣，我會把它交還給你。

Thank you, Sam. As I mentioned earlier, I wanted to spend some time on one of Saga's radio and then some transformational growth strategies.

謝謝你，山姆。正如我之前提到的，我想花一些時間在 Saga 的一台廣播上，然後制定一些變革性的成長策略。

As many of you have heard on previous earnings calls and perhaps more recently have read in some of the publications like Radio Ink or Jacobs blog, Editor and Publisher, and Barrett Media, Saga is moving full steam ahead with an online news and local news and community sites and 18 soon to be 19 total markets once our newest acquisition, Lafayette, Indiana, is onboarded.

正如你們中的許多人在之前的財報電話會議上聽到的那樣，也許最近在Radio Ink 或Jacobs 博客、編輯和出版商以及Barrett Media 等一些出版物中讀到的那樣，Saga 正在全力推進在線新聞和本地新聞，以及一旦我們最新收購的印第安納州拉斐特市加入，社區網站和 18 個市場很快就會達到 19 個。

This product, as I mentioned before was the brainchild of Saga's former Clarksville, Tennessee General Manager, Katie Willis (sic - Gambill), who is now our Director of Innovative Online News Services.

正如我之前提到的，該產品是 Saga 田納西州克拉克斯維爾前總經理 Katie Willis（原文如此 - Gambill）的創意，她現在是我們創新線上新聞服務的總監。

Katie will tell you the reason for the development of this original site 12-plus years ago was based on the fact that the 101st airborne out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky was being deployed to Iraq and the service men and women needed a way to stay close and connected to the local community while they were away on deployment.

凱蒂 (Katie) 會告訴您 12 多年前開發這個原始站點的原因是基於肯塔基州坎貝爾堡的第 101 空降師被部署到伊拉克，男女軍人需要一種保持密切聯繫的方式並在他們外出部署時與當地社區建立聯繫。

The solution was what came to be known as Clarksville now. No op eds, no deep dive investigated reporting, we focus on practical community news, city hall, local sports teams and news from the police and fire departments.

解決方案就是現在被稱為克拉克斯維爾的地方。沒有專欄文章，沒有深入調查的報道，我們專注於實際的社區新聞、市政廳、當地運動隊以及來自警察和消防部門的新聞。

At the same time, the unfortunate decline of the newspaper industry created a void for local unbiased news source. One of Saga's company-wide unrelenting non negotiables is to be hyperlocal in the communities in which we serve. In fact, some of the members of our market leadership team have served on city council, the local school Board or even ran for Mayor of the city where the radio stations were located.

同時，報業的不幸衰落給當地公正的新聞來源造成了真空。Saga 在全公司範圍內堅定不移的不容談判的原則之一就是在我們所服務的社區中實現超本地化。事實上，我們市場領導團隊中的一些成員曾在市議會、當地學校董事會任職，甚至競選廣播電台所在城市的市長。

I was asked recently and interviewed by Barrett Media, what is the number one thing people want from local media? My answer was simple. It was connectivity. That is why the local aspect of what we do is so critical. People want to feel connected to something special.

最近接受巴雷特媒體訪問時問我，人們最想從當地媒體得到什麼？我的回答很簡單。這是連通性。這就是為什麼我們所做的事情的本地方面如此重要。人們想要感受到與某些特別的事物的連結。

And this is consistent with all the data we are seeing in the tech surveys. Saga operates in markets we can impact, make a difference in, connect in, and markets that -- and those markets make it more feasible to create these hyper local and hyper impact on news verticals.

這與我們在技術調查中看到的所有數據一致。Saga 在我們可以影響、改變、連接的市場中運營，而這些市場使得在新聞垂直領域創造這些超本地化和超影響力的市場變得更加可行。

We also create meaningful relationships with civic, business and community leaders. These are all conduits that foster local ties, not to mention the advertising opportunities created with an online new service and community site.

我們也與公民、商業和社區領袖建立有意義的關係。這些都是促進當地聯繫的管道，更不用說透過線上新服務和社區網站創造的廣告機會。

Recently, Jacobs Media conducted another survey that found 7 out of 10 radio core fans read newsletters of this type each week. We are tapping into a market and a medium that is consumed more than podcasts are. And it is wanted and needed by local community leadership.

最近，Jacobs Media 進行了另一項調查，發現十分之七的電台核心粉絲每週都會閱讀這類新聞通訊。我們正在開拓一個比播客消費更多的市場和媒體。這是當地社區領導層想要和需要的。

We engage these local community leaders to talk about our sites. We meet with the mayor, the city council, the chief of police and others to inform them of our local market mission and to forge a connected community relationship with them.

我們邀請這些當地社區領袖來談論我們的網站。我們會見市長、市議會、警察局長和其他人，向他們通報我們當地的市場使命，並與他們建立緊密的社區關係。

In fact, we frequently hear from local leadership that this is how they connect. They use their online news and community sites to communicate with the community. They tell us, it's how we get our local news out because there is no other trusted news source available out there.

事實上，我們經常從當地領導者那裡聽到，這就是他們的聯繫。他們使用線上新聞和社群網站與社群進行交流。他們告訴我們，這就是我們獲取當地新聞的方式，因為那裡沒有其他值得信賴的新聞來源。

Why do I share all this with you? Because this is one, just one, important part of the transformational change and growth Saga Communications has been experiencing over the past 20 months. And as I've said before, transformational change takes time, unrelenting commitment, and resources.

我為什麼要與你分享這一切？因為這只是 Saga Communications 在過去 20 個月中經歷的轉型變革和成長的重要組成部分之一。正如我之前所說，轉型變革需要時間、不懈的承諾和資源。

Our expense increases, albeit planned, are not for a forever thing. We forecasted them long ago. The expenses are now beginning to level off and stabilize, and now, we grow.

我們的開支增加，儘管是有計劃的，但並不是永遠的。我們很久以前就預測到了。費用現在開始趨於平穩，現在我們正在成長。

By the way, if you've ever had a doubt that feeling and being connected is the number one attribute consumers crave for media, and that radio and then some delivers on that need better than any other media out there.

順便說一句，如果您曾經懷疑過感覺和聯繫是消費者渴望媒體的首要屬性，那麼廣播和其他媒體比任何其他媒體都更好地滿足了這一需求。

Allow me to read an e-mail exchange between one of our on-air personalities and a loyal connected listener. This letter and this correspondence really speaks for itself and really needed no further introduction. So thank you for indulging me on this.

請容許我讀一下我們的一位直播人物和一位忠實的線上聽眾之間的電子郵件往來。這封信和這封信確實不言而喻，不需要進一步介紹。所以謝謝你讓我接受這個。

Hi. You might recognize my name as I'm a frequent caller, and I just love all of you guys. I'm going through some stuff, and I got to thinking that I bet there are others out there who might be in my boat. I'm 41, a mom, and an alcoholic. But you may not notice from the outside right away.

你好。你可能會認出我的名字，因為我是一個經常打電話的人，我愛你們所有人。我正在經歷一些事情，我開始思考我打賭還有其他人可能和我一樣。我今年 41 歲，是一名母親，也是一名酒鬼。但你可能不會立即從外面注意到。

I could be charming, funny, put together, a soccer mom, a regular woman. My struggles have intensified lately to the point I was thinking the worst. I knew I was at my rock bottom.

我可以是迷人的，有趣的，綜合起來，一個足球媽媽，一個普通的女人。最近我的掙扎愈演愈烈，以至於我開始往最壞的方面想。我知道我正處於最低谷。

Tuesday morning, I got dressed for work and went on my way on a whim and tried calling an alcohol detox facility I had before they were full. This time, I simply said, I need help, and I need it now. And the woman said, be here at 10:00 with a week's worth of clothes.

週二早上，我穿好衣服去上班，心血來潮地上路，並在他們滿員之前嘗試給我的酒精戒毒中心打電話。這次，我只是說，我需要幫助，而且我現在就需要。那女人說，10:00 帶著一週的衣服來。

I was so scared. And a little after 10:00, I started detox. It was awful. Imagine feeling so sick and confused and scared that you would rather die, but there were people there to help you. These people were angels.

我很害怕。10:00 過後不久，我開始排毒。太糟糕了。想像一下，你感到如此噁心、困惑和害怕，以至於你寧願死，但有人在那裡幫助你。這些人都是天使。

So now I'm home and coping. I'm either sleeping or running around the house making epic snacks and cleaning something random, like the handle on the microwave. It's driving my family crazy, but they are just happy I'm not drinking.

所以現在我回家了，正在應對。我要么睡覺，要么在房子裡跑來跑去，製作美味的小吃，並隨意清理一些東西，比如微波爐的把手。這讓我的家人抓狂，但他們很高興我沒有喝酒。

The reason for telling you my story is my first goal is to start re-strengthening my body. I'm wondering if you would take me to my first workout at the workout facility you endorse on the radio. I'm completely out of shape, sore most of the time, get winded easily, low muscle tone due to years of poisoning my body. But I need to get healthy.

告訴你我的故事的原因是我的首要目標是開始重新增強我的身體。我想知道您是否願意帶我去您在廣播中認可的健身設施進行我的第一次鍛鍊。我的體形完全變形了，大部分時間都酸痛，容易喘氣，由於多年的毒害我的身體，肌肉張力低下。但我需要變得健康。

You have said that the exercises can be adjusted for any fitness level. So I'm hoping you can get on the road -- I can get on the road to feeling better about myself. I understand if your schedule is too packed, and it was just a shot in the dark. Because at this point, all I have at this moment -- it's all I have at this moment. With much admiration.

您說過，練習可以根據任何健身程度進行調整。所以我希望你能上路——我也能上路，讓自己感覺更好。我理解您的日程安排是否太滿，而這只是瞎猜。因為此時此刻，我此時此刻所擁有的一切──這就是我此刻所擁有的一切。非常欽佩。

And here was the reply from the on-air personality. I'm glad you reached out, smiley face. So first off, it's the one thing I don't talk about on the air, and that is I am very familiar with alcoholism addiction, and it runs in my family. So I have a soft spot instantly for you and your kids in my heart for you.

以下是直播人士的回覆。我很高興你伸出手來，笑臉。首先，我在廣播中沒有談論的一件事是，我非常熟悉酗酒成癮，而且它在我的家庭中存在。所以我心裡立刻對你和你的孩子產生了好感。

I do have a question, though. How amazing is it that you were strong enough to admit that you had a problem and asked for help? You are a queen. So detox, as awful as it is, done, checked the box.

不過我確實有一個問題。你有足夠的勇氣承認自己有問題並尋求幫助，這有多神奇？你是女王。所以，儘管排毒很糟糕，但還是完成了，勾選了複選框。

Are you going to any sort of rehab or AA program? The support in that way is super important. Do you have a plan for after? And now for your crazy idea -- not so crazy because, of course, I'll take you to the first class with you.

您打算參加任何類型的復健或 AA 計劃嗎？這種方式的支持非常重要。以後有計劃嗎？現在說說你的瘋狂想法——沒那麼瘋狂，因為，當然，我會帶你去頭等艙。

We got to get you signed up for it. So let me know what day works for you. I'll be there this week Monday through Friday at 11:00 AM. Now I just had surgery so I will be barely doing anything, but I'm going and doing what I can. So I'll be in the same boat as you.

我們必須讓你註冊。所以請告訴我哪一天適合您。我將於本週一至週五上午 11:00 到場。現在我剛剛做了手術，所以我幾乎不會做任何事情，但我會盡我所能。所以我會和你在同一條船上。

Looking forward to hearing back and meeting you. Don't give up, stay strong, and keep asking for help because it only makes you stronger. With much admiration.

期待收到您的回音並與您見面。不要放棄，保持堅強，並不斷尋求幫助，因為它只會讓你變得更強大。非常欽佩。

Thank you for indulging me in that letter. I wanted to emphasize the fact that people still use radio to connect because it's important and it's meaningful. And what we do every day is important, and it's meaningful, and it's impactful and it does make a difference.

謝謝你讓我寫那封信。我想強調這樣一個事實：人們仍然使用無線電進行聯繫，因為它很重要且有意義。我們每天所做的事情很重要，很有意義，很有影響力，而且確實有所作為。

Thank you again. Hang in there with us. We're doing some transformational and special things at Saga Communications, the best media company on the planet.

再次感謝您。和我們一起堅持下去。我們正在世界上最好的媒體公司 Saga Communications 做一些變革性的、特別的事情。

Thank you, Chris. And we did get a few questions that we'll address now, most of which we've already talked about a little bit.

謝謝你，克里斯。我們確實收到了一些現在要解決的問題，其中大部分我們已經討論過。

The first question is, broadcasters have reported that advertising trends have deteriorated into the third quarter, given the macroeconomic trends. What are you hearing from your local advertisers? Are they holding back given the economy?

第一個問題是，廣播公司報告稱，鑑於宏觀經濟趨勢，廣告趨勢在第三季惡化。您從當地廣告商聽到了什麼？考慮到經濟形勢，他們會猶豫嗎？

Do they anticipate stepping up advertising as the Fed lowers rates? You've already talked about this a bit, but would you like to give a little more color?

隨著聯準會降息，他們是否預計會加大廣告力度？您已經對此進行了一些討論，但是您願意提供更多的顏色嗎？

Yeah, Sam, thanks. Thanks for the question. As I said, interest rates and inflation impact media sector greatly more so than most businesses. And as I said earlier, it's a Main Street thing, not a Wall Street thing. And it's a category of business, being that $2,000 to $4,000 per month of advertisers that have said they will return.

是的，山姆，謝謝。謝謝你的提問。正如我所說，利率和通貨膨脹對媒體產業的影響比對大多數企業的影響要大得多。正如我之前所說，這是大街的事情，而不是華爾街的事。這是一類業務，即表示將回歸的廣告商每月收入 2,000 至 4,000 美元。

It's just a matter of when. So we do anticipate them coming back. But they have taken a pause in that space, which is clearly a small business.

這只是時間問題。所以我們確實預計他們會回來。但他們在這個領域暫停了，這顯然是一個小企業。

Very much so. The second question -- thank you for that. The second question is, what are the struggles that you have experienced with your rollout of your digital offerings?

非常如此。第二個問題——謝謝你。第二個問題是，您在推出數位產品時遇到了哪些困難？

One of the leading radio broadcasters that has effectively transitioned to digital recently expanded services to offer CRM products. Do you believe that you have runway on your current service offerings? Do you believe that you will still need to invest to offer an expanded product suite?

領先的廣播公司之一已有效地過渡到數位化，最近擴展了服務以提供 CRM 產品。您認為您目前的服務產品有跑道嗎？您認為您仍然需要投資來提供擴展的產品套件嗎？

So I'll answer the first question first, and that is speed. Speed is what we need. And so from a sales perspective, our CRM is tied tightly to our entire operation. The investments have been made in the people, the products and the processes.

那我先回答第一個問題，那就是速度。速度是我們所需要的。因此，從銷售的角度來看，我們的 CRM 與我們的整個營運緊密相連。我們對人員、產品和流程進行了投資。

Now it's a matter of execution. And our teams getting more and more comfortable with the new processes, kind of making the processes second nature and not having to think before they act. So they can play fast.

現在是執行的問題。我們的團隊對新流程越來越適應，有點讓流程變成第二天性，無需在行動前思考。這樣他們就可以打得很快。

And once they're able to play fast and make it second nature, we'll be able to better serve our customers because it won't be clunky and the like. So being able to play fast by getting comfortable. And yes, we have significant runway ahead of us.

一旦他們能夠快速演奏並使其成為第二天性，我們將能夠更好地為我們的客戶服務，因為它不會變得笨重等。因此能夠透過變得舒適來快速演奏。是的，我們前面有很長的跑道。

We're -- as I've said, we've had a number of transformational changes and growth taking place at Saga. And the one piece that we haven't talked a lot about is the one that's coming last. And there's a reason we don't talk a lot about it because we don't want other people to know about it.

正如我所說，我們在佐賀發生了許多轉型變革和成長。我們還沒有談論太多的一件事情是最後一件。我們不談太多是有原因的，因為我們不想讓其他人知道。

And it is the one that will have the largest impact, and the one is the slowest, unfortunately.

不幸的是，它是影響最大的一個，也是最慢的一個。

Very good. Thank you, Chris. The last question, I'll answer as I go. But the question was, can you talk about allocation of capital? With the recent sell-off of the shares, do stock repurchases represent the best allocation of capital at this point?

非常好。謝謝你，克里斯。最後一個問題，我邊走邊回答。但問題是，你能談談資本配置嗎？隨著最近股票的拋售，股票回購是否代表了目前最好的資本配置？

We've said continuously, our Board discusses capital allocation, share buybacks, dividends, acquisitions, et cetera on a continuous basis. We do have a 10b5 program in place, but it's not currently active.

我們一直說過，我們的董事會不斷討論資本分配、股票回購、股利、收購等議題。我們確實有一個 10b5 計劃，但目前尚未啟動。

Over the past 12 years, we have paid out over $132 million in dividends to our shareholders as a return of capital. Additionally, over the past 20-plus years, we have repurchased approximately 2.2 million shares of stock at a purchase price of approximately $58 million.

在過去的 12 年裡，我們已向股東支付了超過 1.32 億美元的股息作為資本回報。此外，在過去 20 多年裡，我們以約 5,800 萬美元的購買價格回購了約 220 萬股股票。

The Board will continue to evaluate capital allocations. And while buybacks have not been a part of the plans recently, they may be in the future. With that, I think Chris, if you've got anything to add other than that, we can wrap it up.

董事會將繼續評估資本分配。雖然回購尚未成為近期計劃的一部分，但未來可能會出現。說到這裡，我想克里斯，如果您還有什麼要補充的，我們就可以結束了。

No, thank you, Sam. I think you can turn it back over to Matt, and we'll adjourn. Thank you all very much.

不，謝謝你，山姆。我想你可以把它轉回給馬特，然後我們就休會。非常感謝大家。

Thank you. Matt, we'll let you wrap it up.

謝謝。馬特，我們會讓你把它包起來。

Thank you. Everyone, this concludes today's event. You may disconnect at this time, and have a wonderful day. Thank you for your participation.

謝謝。各位，今天的活動到此結束。此時您可能會斷開連接，並度過美好的一天。感謝您的參與。

Thank you, Matthew.

謝謝你，馬修。