Saga Communications Inc (SGA) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Saga Communications third-quarter 2024 earnings release and conference call. (Operator Instructions) It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to your host, Chris Forgy. Sir, the floor is yours.

大家好，歡迎參加 Saga Communications 2024 年第三季財報發布和電話會議。（操作員指示）現在我很高興將發言權交給主持人克里斯·福吉 (Chris Forgy)。先生，現在請您發言。

Thank you, Matt. Good morning, and welcome to our corporate team, our shareholders, the writers from our industry's trade publications, and our Saga employees, all who have joined us today for the third quarter earnings call. So thank you for being here. It's been another interesting few weeks, hasn't it?

謝謝你，馬特。早安，歡迎我們的公司團隊、股東、行業貿易出版物的作者以及 Saga 員工，今天所有參加我們第三季財報電話會議的人。感謝你們的到來。這又是有趣的幾週，不是嗎？

Today, half of the citizens in the US are elated. The other half woke up yesterday unhappy and frankly concerned for the future. Regardless of which side of the aisle you're on, these are turbulent times, no question about it.

今天，美國一半的公民都興高采烈。而另一半人昨天醒來時卻感到不開心，並且坦率地對未來感到擔憂。無論你站在哪一邊，毫無疑問這都是動盪的時期。

We recently saw more layoffs in the automotive and broadcast sectors and many of our advertising partners are forced to choose between meeting their payroll or putting a hold on their advertising. It's truly a Main Street thing, and it's been going on for some time.

我們最近發現汽車和廣播行業裁員人數增加，我們的許多廣告合作夥伴被迫在支付工資和暫停廣告之間做出選擇。這確實是一件主街上的事情，而且已經持續了一段時間了。

So the question is, what do we do about it?

那麼問題是，我們該怎麼做呢？

Saga's approaches to turbulent times come from a passage called the Stockdale Paradox that we've shared with our leadership team and characterizes how we are behaving going through it. It goes like this. In order to navigate difficult times, you must first confront the brutal facts, accepting the current reality even if it's difficult. You must maintain faith, having an unwavering belief that you will prevail no matter how long it takes. You must be consistent, continuing to work through pain and uncertainty.

Saga 應對動盪時期的方法源自於我們與領導團隊分享的一段名為「斯托克代爾悖論」的文字，該悖論描述了我們在經歷動盪時期的行為方式。事情是這樣的。為了度過困難時期，你必須先面對殘酷的事實，接受當前的現實，即使它很困難。你必須保持信念，堅定不移地相信無論需要多長時間你都會勝利。你必須堅持不懈，繼續克服痛苦和不確定性。

You must acknowledge your mistakes and accept that failure and bad decisions are inevitable, and acknowledge it to yourself, your team and you must overcome temporary difficulties by embracing challenges as temporary constraints and develop a plan to live in the crisis.

你必須承認自己的錯誤，接受失敗和錯誤的決定是不可避免的，並向自己和你的團隊承認這一點，你必須透過將挑戰視為暫時的限制來克服暫時的困難，並製定一個在危機中生存的計劃。

Finally, you must stay focused, maintain a personal sense of spirituality, morality, values and meaning. This type of discipline during the transformational change we chose to put ourselves through would be painful without political unrest, massive layoffs, economic downdrafts and small business uncertainty on Main Street. And we consciously made that decision to chart a different path and expand our digital footprint in the midst of all this turbulence.

最後，你必須保持專注，保持個人的精神感、道德感、價值觀和意義。如果沒有政治動盪、大規模裁員、經濟下滑和一般民眾小企業的不確定性，在我們選擇經歷的轉型變革過程中，這種紀律將是痛苦的。我們有意識地做出這項決定，在所有這些動盪之中，開闢一條不同的道路並擴大我們的數位足跡。

Now any reasonable person knows and understands, during a transformational change of this nature, of course, there will be additional expenses. R&D costs money and reinvestment, by definition, creates additional expense, but only for a time. And as expenses level off and plateau, we grow.

現在任何理性的人都知道並且理解，在這種性質的轉型變革期間，當然會有額外的開支。研發要花錢，再投資顧名思義就是會產生額外開支，但這只是暫時的。隨著支出趨於平穩，我們就會成長。

Admittedly, Saga was a very late entry into the digital landscape, which had its advantages and its disadvantages. One advantage is we're able to carefully observe the mistakes that others made and then look back at both the intended and unintended consequences that occurred during the innovation.

無可否認，Saga 進入數位領域非常晚，這有其優點也有缺點。一個好處是我們能夠仔細觀察別人所犯的錯誤，然後回顧創新過程中發生的有意和無意的後果。

There were disadvantages, too. During our tardiness, we sacrificed the relative skill levels of our sellers in the digital space. So a great deal of education and training time was necessary to get our media advisers up to speed on digital and the new philosophy we're implementing.

但也存在缺點。在我們遲到期間，我們犧牲了賣家在數位領域的相對技能水平。因此，我們需要大量的教育和培訓時間來讓我們的媒體顧問了解數位化和我們正在實施的新理念。

We then aligned our intentions for growth with those who understood how to protect and grow radio's percentage of the total ad spend, while at the same time, growing our digital verticals. This process is headed by Saga's Director of Innovation and Growth, Matt Burgoyne.

然後，我們與那些了解如何保護和增加廣播在總廣告支出中的百分比的人協調了我們的成長目標，同時發展我們的數位垂直業務。該流程由 Saga 創新與成長總監 Matt Burgoyne 領導。

Matt and his team have helped us to understand the role that radio and digital play in the consumer journey. To be clear, this is not a product or an inwardly focused product-oriented sales process. It's a philosophy, a methodology built to achieve better results for our local advertisers based on a journey a consumer embarks on when they are exposed to advertising.

馬特和他的團隊幫助我們了解廣播和數位在消費者旅程中扮演的角色。需要明確的是，這不是一個產品或一個以產品為導向的內部銷售流程。這是一種哲學，一種方法，旨在根據消費者接觸廣告時的經歷，為我們的本地廣告商實現更好的效果。

Furthermore, it capitalizes on the power of radio to move the consumer to a series of specific actions to search for the client's name, click on the client's website, call them or visit their business. We call this philosophy blended advertising.

此外，它利用廣播的力量來引導消費者採取一系列特定的行動，例如搜尋客戶的名稱、點擊客戶的網站、打電話給他們或造訪他們的公司。我們將這種理念稱為混合廣告。

This philosophy dovetails nicely with the other top-of-funnel verticals we've been implementing and growing in the past 20 months in dash graphics with Q, our 18 online news sites, e-commerce, streaming and Saga's best of program. Sam will share some specifics on that in just a moment.

這個理念與我們過去 20 個月來一直在實施和發展的其他漏斗頂端垂直業務完美契合，包括 Q 的儀表板圖形、我們的 18 個線上新聞網站、電子商務、串流媒體和 Saga 的最佳節目。薩姆稍後將分享一些具體細節。

So over the past year, we have been equipping our media advisers with the knowledge, the training, and the in-house resources to enable them in turn to share that knowledge with our local direct advertisers, providing those advertisers with the sophistication large national advertisers get from digital in a very easy-to-understand way that levels the playing field using blended advertising tools. This allows them to compete and win market share from even the most behemoth-sized advertisers.

因此，在過去的一年裡，我們一直在為我們的媒體顧問提供知識、培訓和內部資源，使他們能夠與我們當地的直接廣告商分享這些知識，以一種非常容易理解的方式為這些廣告商提供大型全國廣告商從數位技術中獲得的複雜性，從而使用混合廣告工具創造公平的競爭環境。這使得他們能夠與最龐大的廣告商競爭並贏得市場份額。

As we begin to track our progress of blended advertising, and keep in mind, we've only just begun, we are astounded by the early returns. We are seeing some incredible outcomes when the media advisers dutifully practice blended advertising.

當我們開始追蹤混合廣告的進展時，請記住，我們才剛開始，我們對早期的回報感到震驚。當媒體顧問盡職盡責地實踐混合廣告時，我們看到了一些令人難以置信的成果。

Firstly, it doesn't decrease the client's radio spend. In fact, blended advertising significantly increases the radio-only spend and increases the total radio and digital spend mid- to high-double digits. Blended advertising has saved businesses that were going to cancel radio with us and led to a blended digital and radio outcome that actually increased the client's overall spend and the client's results.

首先，它不會減少客戶的廣播支出。事實上，混合廣告顯著增加了僅在廣播上的支出，並使總廣播和數位支出增加了中到高兩位數。混合廣告挽救了那些原本要取消與我們合作的廣播業務的企業，並帶來了數位和廣播混合的效果，實際上增加了客戶的整體支出和客戶的業績。

And then there are outcomes for our local direct advertisers. They include getting more clients, getting more patients, getting more leads, and ultimately getting more sales. Question continues to be, I've asked that a number of times, where would we be had we not taken this new path of innovation and growth. More on that later.

這對我們的本地直接廣告商來說就是成果。其中包括獲得更多客戶、獲得更多患者、獲得更多潛在客戶，並最終獲得更多銷售。問題一直是，我曾多次問過這個問題，如果我們沒有走上這條創新和成長的新道路，我們會在哪裡。稍後將詳細介紹。

Until then, I'm going to turn it over to you, Sam, take it away.

到那時為止，我會把它交給你，山姆，把它拿走。

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關於我們未來績效和營運成果的前瞻性陳述，其中涉及我們最新的 10-K 表格中「風險因素」部分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 measures are attached in the selected financial data tables. For the quarter ended September 30, 2024, net revenue decreased 3.5% to $28.1 million compared to $29.1 million last year.

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 GAAP 財務指標與最直接可比較的 GAAP 指標的對帳表均附在選定的財務資料表中。截至 2024 年 9 月 30 日的季度，淨收入與去年的 2,910 萬美元相比下降 3.5% 至 2,810 萬美元。

Political was a bit better as for the quarter, we had $677,000 in gross political revenue this year compared to $234,000 for the same period last year. Station operating expense increased 3.1% to $23.5 million for the 3-month period. Station operating income, a non-GAAP financial measure for the quarter, was $6 million, and net income was $1.3 million or $0.20 per fully diluted share.

政治情況稍好一些，就本季而言，今年我們的政治總收入為 677,000 美元，而去年同期為 234,000 美元。三個月內，車站營運費用增加了 3.1%，達到 2,350 萬美元。本季的非 GAAP 財務指標－站點營業收入為 600 萬美元，淨收入為 130 萬美元，即每股 0.20 美元。

On a same-station basis for the third quarter, net revenue decreased 5.8% to $27.5 million, and station operating expense decreased 0.3% to $22.7 million. As a reminder, we closed on the purchase of the Lafayette stations on May 31, 2024.

第三季同站淨收入下降 5.8% 至 2,750 萬美元，站點營運費用下降 0.3% 至 2,270 萬美元。提醒一下，我們在 2024 年 5 月 31 日完成了對拉法葉加油站的收購。

Everything in Lafayette is coming along nicely as they are getting fully integrated into the Saga operating procedures and culture.

拉斐特的一切都進展順利，他們已經完全融入了 Saga 的營運流程和文化。

For the nine-month period ended September 30, 2024, net revenue decreased 2.5% to $81.5 million. Gross political revenue was $1.3 million for the period compared to $538,000 for the same period last year. Station operating expense increased 4.7% to $70 million for the nine-month period. Station operating income, a non-GAAP financial measure for the nine months, was $15.2 million, and net income was $2.2 million or $0.35 per fully diluted share.

截至 2024 年 9 月 30 日的九個月期間，淨收入下降 2.5% 至 8,150 萬美元。該期間的總政治收入為 130 萬美元，而去年同期為 538,000 美元。前九個月，車站營運費用增加了 4.7%，達到 7,000 萬美元。車站營業收入（九個月的非 GAAP 財務指標）為 1,520 萬美元，淨收入為 220 萬美元，或每股 0.35 美元。

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

請記住，當您查看九個月期間的淨收入時，我們報告第一季的其他營運費用為 971,000 美元，這是在兩個市場出售和放棄非生產性廣播資產、許可證的非現金註銷。

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.

另外，您應該注意到，我們在第二季度記錄了 110 萬美元的其他收入，這是在收購音樂授權組織 BMI 時贖回我們持有的股票所收到的現金。

For the nine-month period this year on a same-station basis, net revenue decreased 3.6% to $80.6 million and station operating expense increased 3.2% to $69 million. Digital advertising in its totality, as Chris was talking about earlier, we reported in our 10-Q, shows a slower growth rate in the third quarter than it has in past quarters.

今年前九個月，以同一加油站計算，淨收入下降 3.6% 至 8,060 萬美元，加油站營運費用增加 3.2% 至 6,900 萬美元。正如克里斯之前提到的，我們在 10 季報告中指出，從整體來看，第三季的數位廣告成長率低於前幾季。

This is by design as midyear, we terminated a relationship with a digital services partner that was providing meaningful dollars in gross revenue, but was not profitable for Saga because of the way the partner did business. This will result in somewhat challenging revenue comparisons for our digital business over the next couple of quarters.

這是有意為之，因為在年中，我們終止了與數位服務合作夥伴的合作關係，該合作夥伴雖然為我們帶來了可觀的總收入，但由於其經營方式，並沒有為 Saga 帶來利潤。這將導致未來幾季我們的數位業務收入對比面臨一定挑戰。

Net of that strategic decision to eliminate a revenue positive silo that was providing little profitability, our digital business continues to have significant growth potential. Expenses continue to be impacted by strategic investments in our people and our product offerings, including e-commerce, interactive, online news, market best of productions, new and continued NTR events.

除去這項消除獲利能力較差的收入孤島的策略決策之外，我們的數位業務仍然具有巨大的成長潛力。費用繼續受到我們對員工和產品供應的策略性投資的影響，包括電子商務、互動、線上新聞、市場最佳產品、新的和持續的 NTR 活動。

For a little more color on revenue, e-commerce was up 33% or $153,000 in the third quarter and is up 89% or $849,000 for the nine-month period. Adding to what was mentioned before about our digital efforts, Interactive was up 4.5% or $122,000 for the quarter and up 21.4% or $1.5 million for the nine-month period.

關於收入，我們再來看看電子商務的收入情況：第三季度，電子商務收入成長 33% 或 153,000 美元；前九個月，電子商務收入成長 89% 或 849,000 美元。除先前提到的我們的數位化努力之外，互動業務本季增長了 4.5% 或 122,000 美元，前九個月增長了 21.4% 或 150 萬美元。

NTR events were up 11% or $246,000 for the quarter and 1.5% or $87,000 for the nine-month period. The market's best of programs have booked $1.3 million in gross revenue year-to-date through September 30, 2024. This is a 21% increase over the same period in 2023.

本季 NTR 事件上漲 11% 或 246,000 美元，前九個月上漲 1.5% 或 87,000 美元。截至 2024 年 9 月 30 日，市場上最好的項目今年迄今的總收入已達 130 萬美元。這比 2023 年同期成長了 21%。

For the quarter, the revenue was $522,000, which is an 11% increase. You should note that portions of the best of revenue are recorded in NTR and portions are recorded in Interactive as we have both online and printed advertising offerings in this segment.

本季營收為 522,000 美元，成長 11%。您應該注意到，由於我們在此部分同時提供線上和印刷廣告，因此最佳收入的一部分記錄在 NTR 中，另一部分記錄在互動中。

Online news, which is a subset of the Interactive numbers, increased 68% or $242,000 for the quarter and 66% or $631,000 for the nine-month period. Total revenue for the quarter was $597,000 and for the year, $1.6 million.

線上新聞是互動數據的一個子集，本季度增長了 68%，即 242,000 美元，前九個月增長了 66%，即 631,000 美元。本季總收入為 59.7 萬美元，全年總收入為 160 萬美元。

Capital expenditures for the quarter ended September 30 were $625,000 compared to $760,000 for the same period last year. For the nine-month period, capital expenditures were $3.2 million compared to $3.4 million for the same period last year. We currently expect to spend between $4 million and $4.6 million (sic - see Press Release, "$4 million to $4.5 million") for capital expenditures in 2024.

截至 9 月 30 日的季度資本支出為 625,000 美元，而去年同期為 760,000 美元。前九個月的資本支出為 320 萬美元，去年同期為 340 萬美元。我們目前預計 2024 年的資本支出將在 400 萬至 460 萬美元之間（原文如此 - 請參閱新聞稿「400 萬至 450 萬美元」）。

The company's balance sheet reflects $28.7 million in cash and short-term investments as of September 30 and $28 million as of November 4. We currently have $5 million drawn against our $50 million revolving credit facility, which we used to close the Lafayette acquisition.

該公司的資產負債表顯示，截至 9 月 30 日，現金和短期投資為 2,870 萬美元，截至 11 月 4 日，現金和短期投資為 2,800 萬美元。目前，我們已經從 5000 萬美元的循環信貸額度中提取了 500 萬美元，用於完成拉斐特的收購。

We paid a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share for approximately $1.6 million during the quarter on October 18, 2024. To date, we have paid over $133 million in dividends to our shareholders since 2012. Pacing for the fourth quarter remains soft, and we are currently pacing down low to mid-single digits.

我們於 2024 年 10 月 18 日支付了每股 0.25 美元的季度股息，總額約 160 萬美元。自 2012 年以來，我們迄今已向股東支付了超過 1.33 億美元的股息。第四季的節奏仍然疲軟，目前我們的節奏正下降至個位數的中段。

Political did pick up nicely in October. As of November 5, 2024, we had total political for the year of $3.3 million. During the last presidential election in 2020, we recorded approximately $6.9 million in gross political revenue for the year. We just didn't have stations in all the right states this year. Political for the fourth quarter looks to be $2 million of the $3.3 million total year expectations, and the bulk of that was in October.

十月政治情勢確實有好轉。截至 2024 年 11 月 5 日，我們全年的政治總支出為 330 萬美元。在 2020 年的上一次總統選舉中，我們記錄了當年約 690 萬美元的政治總收入。我們今年還沒有在所有合適的州設立站點。第四季的政治支出似乎佔全年預期 330 萬美元中的 200 萬美元，其中大部分發生在 10 月。

Based on our current projections, we currently expect that our station operating expense on a same-station basis will increase by approximately 3% to 5% for the year as compared to 2023, in addition to the inflationary environment that is significantly driven by our investments in our staff, sales training and ongoing interactive development, including our online news product.

根據我們目前的預測，我們目前預計，與 2023 年相比，我們今年的同台營運費用將增加約 3% 至 5%，此外，通膨環境在很大程度上受到我們對員工、銷售培訓和持續互動開發（包括我們的線上新聞產品）的投資所驅動。

We anticipate that the annual corporate general and administrative expense will be approximately $12.2 million for 2024. Our tax rate is expected to be 27% to 31% with a deferred tax rate of 6.9% going forward.

我們預計 2024 年公司年度一般及行政開支約為 1,220 萬美元。我們的稅率預計為 27% 至 31%，未來遞延稅率為 6.9%。

Chris, after a lot of numbers, I will give it back to you.

克里斯，經過大量的數字後，我會把它還給你。

Well, Sam, I think it's safe to say that there's turbulence in the environment, in the economy in our sector and a number of sectors. Turbulence seems to be one of those ongoing phrases and terms that we use and hear a lot about.

嗯，薩姆，我認為可以肯定地說，我們所在行業以及許多行業的環境、經濟都出現了動盪。湍流似乎是我們經常使用和聽到的短語和術語之一。

Nothing more turbulent than what we experienced recently. As most of you know, Hurricane Helene, the first of two hurricanes that made landfall last month on the West Coast of Florida, also wreaked havoc all the way to the Carolinas. There was massive flooding.

沒有什麼比我們最近經歷的更動盪。大家可能都知道，上個月在佛羅裡達州西海岸登陸的兩場颶風中的第一場颶風海倫也一路襲擊了卡羅來納州。發生嚴重洪澇災害。

Saga owns seven radio stations and an online news site in Asheville, North Carolina called 828newsNOW. The city of Asheville was absolutely decimated. Asheville was literally and figuratively under water. The members of the Asheville Radio Group -- Media Group led by President, GM, Tom Davis; Operations Manager, Steve Richards; and Chief Engineer, Cameron Dempsey, along with many others, ran towards the challenges and not away from them. Because when it's time to shine, that's what we do, even when circumstances are dire.

Saga 在北卡羅來納州阿什維爾擁有七個廣播電台和一個名為 828newsNOW 的線上新聞網站。阿什維爾市被徹底摧毀了。從字面上和象徵意義上來說，阿什維爾都被淹沒了。阿什維爾廣播集團成員－由總裁兼總經理湯姆戴維斯領導的媒體集團；營運經理，史蒂夫·理查茲 (Steve Richards)；和總工程師卡梅倫·登普西 (Cameron Dempsey) 與其他許多人一樣，迎接挑戰，而不是逃避。因為當我們需要發光發熱時，我們就會這麼做，即使在環境十分惡劣的情況下。

So for a moment, picture this. No phone, no Internet access. 60% of the city had no power. The water treatment facility was wiped out, thus there was no running water whatsoever for weeks, and there's still a limited amount of potable water today. The hospital was overwhelmed with injured flood victims.

想像一下這個場景。沒有電話，沒有網路。該市 60% 的地區停電。水處理設施被摧毀，數週內完全沒有自來水，如今的飲用水量仍然有限。醫院擠滿了受傷的洪水災民。

Water tanks were brought into the hospital and were protected by FEMA agents, so the hospital staff could treat the injured without interruption. Additional medical personnel came all the way from Texas and even Canada to assist. And sadly, there were over 100 lives lost. It was like a war zone.

水箱被運進醫院並受到聯邦緊急事務管理局特工的保護，以便醫院工作人員能夠不間斷地救治傷者。更多醫護人員從德州甚至加拿大遠道而來協助。不幸的是，已有 100 多人喪生。這裡就像是戰區。

During all this chaos, five of our seven Asheville Media Group radio stations remained on the air, thanks to employees like Cameron and Steve, who I mentioned a moment ago, who were literally hauling 5-gallon containers of gasoline up a mountain to keep the backup generators operational and the radio stations on the air.

在這一切混亂中，我們阿什維爾媒體集團的七個廣播電台中有五個仍在播出，這要歸功於我剛才提到的卡梅倫和史蒂夫這樣的員工，他們真的把 5 加侖的汽油罐拖上山，以保證備用發電機正常運轉，使廣播電台能夠播出。

The Asheville Media Group stations were simulcasting critical information to the Asheville community, because radio was the only way for them to get the disaster information and direction they needed. The Asheville Media Group had feet on the streets and their microphones, live transmitters were all in full operational mode.

阿什維爾媒體集團電台正在向阿什維爾社區同步播報關鍵訊息，因為廣播是他們獲取所需災難訊息和指導的唯一途徑。阿什維爾媒體集團在街頭布陣，他們的麥克風和直播發射機全部處於全面運作狀態。

Broadcasters even reached out to me from all over the country to see how they could help and offer whatever we needed. The Broadcasters Foundation of America responded immediately making grants available to Asheville Media Group employees who were in need of assistance. No one could get in and out of Asheville. It was impossible.

甚至有來自全國各地的廣播公司與我聯繫，看看他們如何能夠提供幫助和我們需要的一切。美國廣播基金會立即回應，向需要協助的阿什維爾媒體集團員工提供補助金。沒有人可以進出阿什維爾。這是不可能的。

So what Saga's corporate office and team did, with the help of our Charleston Media Group stations, we packed a box truck with water and supplies and drove it from South Carolina to North Carolina and unloaded it specifically for our Asheville Media Group employees.

因此，Saga 公司辦公室和團隊在我們查爾斯頓媒體集團電台的幫助下，用一輛箱式卡車裝滿水和物資，從南卡羅來納州開到北卡羅來納州，並專門為我們的阿什維爾媒體集團員工卸貨。

We also ran free on-air messages on behalf of local businesses, who were open and able to operate, letting listeners know that they were open and ready to serve them. And finally, there was an inter-market exchange live and on the air that took place between Asheville's Morning Show on The Mountain, WTMT 105.9 FM featuring Jeff and Rizzo, and the Morning Show in Columbus, Ohio, with Torg and Elliott on QFM96 WLVQ.

我們也代表當地已經開業並能夠營業的企業免費播放廣播訊息，讓聽眾知道他們已經開業並準備好為他們提供服務。最後，在阿什維爾的 The Mountain 晨間秀（WTMT 105.9 FM，傑夫和里佐主持）和俄亥俄州哥倫布的晨間秀（QFM96 WLVQ，托格和埃利奧特主持）之間進行了現場和廣播跨市場交流。

The interview was radio at its best without a doubt. It was the first real look at the on-the-ground images of the devastation Helene had caused. The radio exchange was stimulating, horrific, and frankly, riveting. It was must-hear radio. The professionalism and sense of humanity emanated from the entire interview.

毫無疑問，這次採訪是廣播中最好的一次。這是第一次真實看到海倫娜所造成的破壞的實地圖像。這次無線電交流令人興奮、恐懼，但坦白說，令人著迷。這是必聽的廣播節目。整個訪談過程都洋溢著專業和人性化。

And then it kickstarted a Saga-wide relief effort that aired on all Saga stations. No water, no insulin for those who desperately needed it, no proper sanitation, no power. And as one resident said, the citizens of Asheville were trapped in a giant cereal bowl of water and waste.

然後，它啟動了佐賀縣範圍內的救援活動，並在所有佐賀縣電台播出。沒有水，沒有急需胰島素的人，沒有適當的衛生設施，沒有電力。正如一位居民所說，阿什維爾的居民被困在了一個裝滿水和垃圾的巨大穀物碗裡。

Here's an excerpt from what a Hendersonville flood victim said after the flood. I can't say enough. Radio is so critically important to our people everywhere. I think sometimes we forget because you can't flip on a TV or the Internet when a disaster hits, because it's just simply not available. What would we do without radio?

以下是亨德森維爾洪水災民在洪水過後所說的話的摘錄。我說不完。廣播對於我們世界各地的人民來說至關重要。我認為有時我們會忘記，因為當災難來臨時你無法打開電視或互聯網，因為根本無法使用。如果沒有收音機我們該怎麼辦？

I honestly don't know. So I am very, very thankful. And she ended her quote with God bless radio.

我確實不知道。因此我非常非常感激。她最後說：「上帝保佑電台」。

She didn't say what would we do without streaming. She didn't say what would we do without podcasting or audio. She said, what would we do without radio. The passion and commitment for our people to serve our communities and Saga's response to the needs was unprecedented. Asheville's disaster exemplifies how radio can serve as a beacon of hope, providing essential information and connecting communities in the darkest of hours.

她沒有說如果沒有串流媒體我們該怎麼辦。她沒有說如果沒有播客或音頻我們該怎麼辦。她說，如果沒有收音機我們該怎麼辦。我們的員工為社區服務的熱情和承諾以及 Saga 對需求的回應都是前所未有的。阿什維爾的災難充分證明，廣播可以成為希望的燈塔，在最黑暗的時刻提供重要資訊並聯繫社區。

What other media can say that? Name one. Radio is the original audio, the number one reach medium that commands attention, deeply connecting with our listeners and driving outcomes for our customers.

還有什麼媒體能這麼說？說出一個。廣播是原創的音頻，是第一大吸引註意力的媒體，可以與我們的聽眾建立深度聯繫，並為我們的客戶帶來成果。

And by the way, if any of you are still interested, they are still taking donations. You could go to One Buncombe, which is the county that Asheville is located in, onebuncombe.com. So we bring all this back around, how do you weather both a literal and figurative storm? Robert Frost said it best.

順便說一句，如果你們中有人仍然感興趣，他們仍然在接受捐贈。您可以造訪 One Buncombe，即阿什維爾所在的縣，網址：onebuncombe.com。因此，我們把這一切回顧一遍，你該如何度過這場字面上和比喻上的風暴呢？羅伯特·弗羅斯特說得最好。

The best way out is through. Saga is walking and punching through these turbulent times, and we will come out on the other side stronger, better trained, better equipped to continue to forge more meaningful and profitable relationships with our customers, all of them.

最好的出路就是通過。Saga 正在艱難前行，度過這段動盪時期，我們將變得更加強大，訓練有素，裝備精良，繼續與我們的客戶建立更有意義、更有利可圖的關係。

Thank you again for being part of Saga's Q3 earnings call, and we'll talk to you next time.

再次感謝您參加 Saga 第三季財報電話會議，我們下次再聊。

Chris, we had a few questions come in. Most of them we've at least touched on, but maybe we can go into a little bit more depth. The first is, in terms of the digital business, what are the headwinds that you face in growing your digital business, competitive environment, talented digital sales staff, economic headwinds?

克里斯，我們收到了幾個問題。其中大部分我們至少已經涉及，但也許我們可以更深入地探討一下。首先，就數位業務而言，您在發展數位業務時面臨哪些阻力，競爭環境、優秀的數位銷售人員、經濟阻力？

Sam, there are really like four words that come to mind when I think about that question. And we've talked about this with our leadership team, with our media advisers, and with our corporate staff, and with our Board. The things that are causing downdraft or can cause some issues for us are simply time, talent, training and speed, focusing on the -- really, it's just the time to catch up. We were 10 or 12 years behind in the start of our digital processes. So we had a lot of catch-up to do. That takes money and time and training.

山姆，當我思考這個問題時，腦海中浮現的確實有四個字。我們已經與領導團隊、媒體顧問、公司員工和董事會討論了此事。造成下滑趨勢或為我們帶來一些問題的因素只是時間、天賦、訓練和速度，專注於——實際上，現在只是迎頭趕上的時候了。我們的數位化進程比之前晚了10到12年。所以我們還有很多事情要做。這需要金錢、時間和訓練。

Talent. Frankly, it's been difficult, before we made this transition, to find, hire and onboard really good sales talent. So even with our really strong processes that we have to find and hire and evaluate the talent. So talent is a challenge. And then the onboarding of the people, as I mentioned, and then the training.

天賦。坦白說，在我們實現這一轉變之前，尋找、聘用和培養真正優秀的銷售人才一直很困難。因此，即使我們擁有非常強大的流程，我們仍然必須尋找、聘用和評估人才。因此人才是一個挑戰。然後，正如我所提到的那樣，進行人員入職培訓。

The training also takes time. And it not only takes time to do the training, it takes time to practice and get really good at it. So you are not having to play slow, you can play fast, which brings in the final element and that's speed. The better we learn, the more we practice this, the better we get at it, the faster we can run and the faster the results will come.

訓練也需要時間。而且，不僅訓練需要時間，練習並真正擅長訓練也需要時間。因此，你不必慢慢來，你可以快點來，這就帶來了最後一個要素，那就是速度。我們學得越好，練習得越多，我們就會做得越好，我們跑得越快，結果就會來得越快。

Very good. You also talked a little bit about the tone of the advertising market heading into Q4 without the political. And you talked about Main Street and what the advertisers were saying on Main Street. We obviously all know that looking at the political aspects of what's been going on over the last year with the elections, what's been going on in Palestine, Israel, Ukraine, the economics of the world, the car issues, and so forth. But would you like to say anything else about the advertising market in Q4?

非常好。您還談到了在不考慮政治因素的情況下第四季度廣告市場的基調。您談到了主街以及廣告商在主街上說了什麼。我們顯然都知道，回顧過去一年的政治情勢，包括選舉、巴勒斯坦、以色列、烏克蘭的局勢、世界經濟、汽車問題等等。但您還想談談第四季的廣告市場嗎？

Well, I think there's both good news and not so good news. I mean, you saw Stellantis and GM make major layoffs in Detroit just a couple of weeks ago. We also saw major broadcast sector layoffs that happened over the last couple of days, and from what I understand, they're not finished.

嗯，我認為有好消息也有壞消息。我的意思是，幾週前你就看到 Stellantis 和通用汽車在底特律進行了大規模裁員。我們也看到過去幾天廣播業發生了大規模裁員，據我所知，裁員還沒結束。

And to me, people are our most important resource, and we can't win without people and without the resources to train them and equip them. So for me, that's really -- that part of it is really off the table.

對我來說，人才是我們最重要的資源，如果沒有人才，沒有資源來培訓和裝備他們，我們就無法取得勝利。所以對我來說，這部分確實是不可能的。

But that wasn't a metaphor when I said our advertising partners are having to make decisions about whether to meet payroll or pause their advertising campaigns. That has actually been said multiple times. I actually got that and shared it in a Board meeting, I think, from one of our leaders in one of our markets that advertisers were actually saying that.

但當我說我們的廣告合作夥伴必須做出是否支付工資或暫停廣告活動的決定時，這並不是一個比喻。這話其實已經說過多次了。事實上，我實際上在一次董事會會議上聽到了這一消息，我想，是我們某個市場的一位領導說的，廣告商實際上就是這麼說的。

At the same time, the stock market was performing pretty well yesterday. So there is both good news and bad news, and some we control, some we don't. We just focus on the ones we can control and run really fast and keep punching through.

同時，昨日股市表現相當良好。因此，有好消息也有壞消息，有些我們能控制，有些則不能。我們只專注在那些我們能夠控制的，並且快速奔跑，不斷突破的。

Very good. I think we're moving in the right direction. Absolutely.

非常好。我認為我們正朝著正確的方向前進。絕對地。

Matt, I think we're good, if you want to wrap up the call. And thanks, everybody, for joining.

馬特，我想我們已經很好了，如果你想結束通話的話。感謝大家的參與。

Thank you.

謝謝。

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

謝謝大家。今天的活動到此結束。現在您可以斷開連接並享受美好的一天。感謝您的參與。