Urban One Inc (UONEK) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to Urban One's second-quarter earnings call. All participants are in a listen-only mode, and this call is being recorded. During this conference call, Urban One will be sharing with you certain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or its future performance. Urban One cautions you that certain factors, including risks and uncertainties referred to in the 10-K, 10-Q, and other reports it periodically files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated by its projections or forward-looking statements.

女士們、先生們，感謝你們的支持，並歡迎參加 Urban One 第二季財報電話會議。所有參與者都處於只聽模式，並且正在對此次通話進行錄音。在本次電話會議期間，Urban One 將與您分享有關未來事件或其未來績效的某些預測或其他前瞻性陳述。Urban One 提醒您，某些因素，包括 10-K、10-Q 以及定期向美國證券交易委員會提交的其他報告中提到的風險和不確定性，可能會導致該公司的實際結果與其預測或前瞻性陳述。

This call will present information as of August 8, 2024. Please note that Urban One disclaims any duty to update any forward-looking statements made in this presentation. In this call, Urban One may also discuss some non-GAAP financial measures in talking about its performance. These measures will be reconciled to GAAP either during the course of this call or in the company's press release, which can be found on its website at www.urban1.com.

本次電話會議將提供截至 2024 年 8 月 8 日的資訊。請注意，Urban One 不承擔更新本簡報中任何前瞻性聲明的義務。在這次電話會議中，Urban One 可能還會在談論其業績時討論一些非 GAAP 財務指標。這些措施將在本次電話會議期間或在本公司的新聞稿中與 GAAP 保持一致，新聞稿可在其網站 www.urban1.com 上找到。

A replay of this conference call will be available from 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time today, August 8, 2024, until 11:59 p.m. on August 15, 2024. Callers may access the replay by calling 866-207-1041 from the US. International callers call direct at 402-970-0847. The replay access code is 1733886. Access to live audio and a replay of the conference call will also be available on Urban One's corporate website at www.urban1.com.

本次電話會議的重播將於下午 5:00 開始播放。美國東部時間今天，2024 年 8 月 8 日，直到晚上 11:59 2024 年 8 月 15 日。來電者可以從美國撥打 866-207-1041 來觀看重播。國際電話請直接撥打 402-970-0847。重播訪問碼是1733886。Urban One 的公司網站 www.urban1.com 上也提供現場音訊和電話會議重播。

A replay will be made available on the website for seven days after the call. No other recordings or copies of this call are authorized or may be relied upon. At this time, I'll now turn the call over to Alfred Liggins, Chief Executive Officer of Urban One, who is joined by Peter D. Thompson, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

電話會議後 7 天內將在網站上提供重播。本次通話的任何其他錄音或副本均未經授權或可依賴。現在，我將把電話轉給 Urban One 執行長阿爾弗雷德·利金斯 (Alfred Liggins)，財務長彼得·D·湯普森 (Peter D. Thompson) 也將接聽電話。請繼續。

Thank you very much, operator, and welcome everybody to our Q2 results conference call. Also joining Peter and I are Karen Wishart, our Chief Administrative Officer; Jody Drewer, who is the Chief Financial Officer at TV One; and Kristopher Simpson, who is our General Counsel. We've sent out the press release on our Q2 results, largely in line with how we've guided in terms of the different segments, Radio coming in at minus 3%, with political minus 5.6% on a same-station basis. Ex-political, that's not including the acquisitions that we made with Houston, Texas.

非常感謝您，運營商，並歡迎大家參加我們的第二季業績電話會議。加入 Peter 和我的還有我們的首席行政官 Karen Wishart； Jody Drewer，TV One 財務長；以及我們的總法律顧問克里斯托弗辛普森 (Kristopher Simpson)。我們已經發布了有關第二季業績的新聞稿，基本上與我們對不同細分市場的指導方式一致，廣播電台為負 3%，政治電台為負 5.6%。除政治因素外，這不包括我們與德克薩斯州休斯頓進行的收購。

It's been a challenging environment in our cable television segments, mostly because of churn and audience delivery, something that's happening throughout the Pay TV ecosystem. Peter is going to go into more detail about those results in Q2 in his comments. Q3 Radio currently is pacing down 6.9% on a same-station basis. It's going to be up 7% as reported if you include political, it's pacing down mid-single digits.

我們的有線電視領域面臨著一個充滿挑戰的環境，主要是因為流失和觀眾交付，這是整個付費電視生態系統中正在發生的事情。Peter 將在他的評論中更詳細地介紹第二季的這些結果。目前，Q3 Radio 的同站銷售量下降了 6.9%。據報道，如果算上政治因素，該數字將上漲 7%，但正在下降中個位數。

However, we are feeling pretty optimistic about the strength of political, and we're starting to see registrations and orders coming in on hold. We actually think it's going to be much more robust than we have currently forecasted. Its real-time action right now in terms of getting it late in. The new political landscape and the closeness of the current race, I think it's going to bode well for us.

然而，我們對政治力量感到非常樂觀，我們開始看到註冊和訂單被擱置。事實上，我們認為它會比我們目前的預測更強勁。就遲到而言，它現在的即時行動。新的政治格局和目前競選的勢均力敵，我認為這對我們來說是個好兆頭。

Given our audience, so that is yet to be determined. We're not broadcasting a big beat on our political budget as of yet, but we're very optimistic. But even with the optimism and political ad spend coming, there's still softness in our cable television segment which we have to address. Ultimately, we've got to find more impressions to offset the churn that we're experiencing.

考慮到我們的觀眾，所以這還有待確定。到目前為止，我們還沒有公佈有關政治預算的重大消息，但我們非常樂觀。但即使樂觀情緒和政治廣告支出即將到來，我們的有線電視領域仍然存在疲軟現象，我們必須解決這個問題。最終，我們必須找到更多的印象來抵消我們正在經歷的流失。

And we've got upside coming in terms of our connected TV offering as we switch ad servers that will allow us to better monetize the CTV inventory that we have on some of the new over-the-top platforms. That's not in place yet. We haven't had the benefit of that so far this year, but we will in the second half of this year. But given the softness in the Cable TV segment, I think that we are more likely to finish 2024 at the lower end of our EBITDA guidance, which was $110 million to $120 million.

隨著我們更換廣告伺服器，我們的連網電視產品也有了優勢，這將使我們能夠更好地利用一些新的 OTT 平台上的 CTV 庫存貨幣化。那還沒到位。今年到目前為止我們還沒有受益，但我們將在今年下半年受益。但考慮到有線電視領域的疲軟，我認為我們更有可能在 2024 年結束時處於 EBITDA 指導的下限，即 1.1 億至 1.2 億美元。

And again we're not sure exactly what we think that the upside on political is yet. We think there is some, but we just want to give an indication that we feel at this point that we're more likely to finish on the lower end of the guidance than the upper end of the guidance. So we can talk more about that during the Q&A. And so at this point, I'd like to turn it over to Peter to go into the details of the numbers and then we can switch to Q&A. Peter?

我們再次不確定我們認為政治上的好處是什麼。我們認為有一些，但我們只是想表明我們目前認為我們更有可能完成指導的下端而不是指導的上端。所以我們可以在問答環節中更多地討論這一點。因此，現在我想將其交給 Peter 來詳細介紹這些數字，然後我們可以切換到問答環節。彼得？

Yeah, thank you, Alfred. I'll just walk through the press release numbers. So consolidated net revenue was down by 9.2% year-over-year for the quarter ended June 30, 2024 at approximately $117.7 million. Net revenue for the radio broadcasting segment was $42 million, which was an increase of 7.2% year-over-year, but was down 3% on a same-station basis. Excluding political, net revenue was up by 4.7% year-over-year, but down by 5.6% on a same-station basis.

是的，謝謝你，阿爾弗雷德。我將簡單介紹新聞稿的編號。因此，截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的季度，合併淨收入年減 9.2%，約 1.177 億美元。廣播廣播部門的淨收入為4,200萬美元，年增7.2%，但同台收入下降3%。剔除政治內容，淨收入年增4.7%，但同台收入下降5.6%。

According to Miller Kaplan, our local advertising sales were down 8.5% against the market that was down 7.1%. National ad sales were down 1.6% against the market that was up 7%. Net revenue for the Reach Media segment was $18.9 million in the second quarter, down 5.6% from the prior year and adjusted EBITDA was $3.7 million for the quarter, down from $4.6 million last year. Net revenues for the digital segment decreased by 16% in second quarter to $15.9 million.

據 Miller Kaplan 稱，我們的本地廣告銷售額下降了 8.5%，而市場則下降了 7.1%。全國廣告銷售額下降 1.6%，而市場則上漲 7%。第二季 Reach Media 部門的淨收入為 1,890 萬美元，比去年同期下降 5.6%，調整後的 EBITDA 為 370 萬美元，比去年的 460 萬美元有所下降。第二季數位部門的淨收入下降 16% 至 1,590 萬美元。

Direct national sales were down driven by decreased advertiser demand but connected TV and podcast revenues show growth compared to last year. Adjusted EBITDA was $2.9 million, down 52.5%. We recognized approximately $41.5 million of revenue from our cable television segment during the quarter, a decrease of 20.9%. Cable TV advertising revenue was down 26.7%.

由於廣告商需求減少，全國直接銷售額下降，但連網電視和播客收入與去年相比有所增長。調整後 EBITDA 為 290 萬美元，下降 52.5%。本季我們確認有線電視部門的營收約為 4,150 萬美元，下降了 20.9%。有線電視廣告收入下降26.7%。

Delivery erosion continued down 30% in total day person to $25.54 resulting in an increase of $4.7 million to our audience deficiency increased volume through promo conversions partially offset the delivery shortfall. Cable TV affiliate revenue was down by 12.9% with contractual rate increases being offset by approximately $3.3 million in net subscriber churn impact. Cable subscribers for TV1 as measured by Nielsen finished second quarter at $39.8 million, compared to $40.7 million at the end of Q1 and CLEO TV had 38 million Nielsen subscribers. Operating expenses, excluding depreciation and amortization, stock-based compensation and impairment of goodwill intangible assets from long-life assets decreased to approximately $93.3 million for the quarter end June 30, 2024, down 0.4% from the prior year.

每日總人次的交付量持續下降 30%，至 25.54 美元，導致我們的受眾不足增加了 470 萬美元，透過促銷轉換增加的數量部分抵消了交付不足。有線電視附屬公司營收下降 12.9%，合約費率上漲被約 330 萬美元的淨用戶流失影響所抵銷。根據尼爾森的統計，第二季 TV1 的有線訂戶為 3,980 萬美元，而第一季末為 4,070 萬美元，CLEO TV 的尼爾森訂戶為 3,800 萬。截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的季度，營運費用（不包括折舊和攤提、股票補償以及來自長期資產的商譽無形資產減損）下降至約 9,330 萬美元，較上年下降 0.4%。

Radio operating expenses were up 6.4% or $1.9 million. The Houston Radio acquisition, which was effective August 1, 2023 added approximately $2 million of expense year-over-year. On a same-station basis, event expenses were up $700,000, driven by two of the company's tent-pole events in Berkeley Dash in Atlanta and women's empowerment in Raleigh, while variable expenses related to revenue such as sales, commissions, bonus, compensation bad debt and national rep fees were all down and marketing costs were also down. Reach operating expenses were down by 1.3% driven by reduced talent compensation and affiliate station fees.

無線電營運支出成長 6.4%，即 190 萬美元。休士頓廣播電台收購於 2023 年 8 月 1 日生效，年增約 200 萬美元的費用。以同站計算，由於公司在亞特蘭大伯克利達什(Berkeley Dash) 和羅利(Raleigh) 舉辦的兩場主打活動，活動費用增加了70 萬美元，而與收入相關的可變費用（如銷售、佣金、獎金、薪酬）則下降債務和國家代表費用全部下降，行銷成本也下降。由於人才薪資和附屬站費用減少，Reach 營運費用下降了 1.3%。

Operating expenses in the digital segment were up 1.5%, driven by increased cross-platform marketing expenses and third-party cost of sales on audience extension revenue for digital audio. Operating expenses in the Cable TV segment were down 4.7% year-over-year, driven by about $800,000 favorable programming expense related to acquisitions that expired in 2023 and reduced sales and marketing expense, which was offset by increased operations costs associated with connected TV and VOD support. Operating expenses in the Corporate and Eliminations segment were down by approximately $900,000 primarily as a result of a $4.5 million decrease for the CEO's TV One award offset by a $3 million increase in third-party consulting and audit expenses. For adjusted EBITDA, we added back $4.1 million for non-recurring professional fees related to the remediation and audit efforts. However, the $6.3 million non-cash benefit for the TV One award is not added back for the current year when assessing adjusted EBITDA.

由於跨平台行銷費用和數位音訊受眾擴展收入的第三方銷售成本增加，數位細分市場的營運費用增加了 1.5%。有線電視部門的營運支出年減4.7%，這是由於與2023 年到期的收購相關的約80 萬美元的有利節目支出以及銷售和行銷費用的減少，但被與連網電視和網路相關的營運成本增加所抵消。公司和抵銷業務部門的營運支出減少了約 90 萬美元，主要是由於執行長 TV One 獎減少了 450 萬美元，而第三方諮詢和審計費用增加了 300 萬美元，抵消了這一影響。對於調整後的 EBITDA，我們增加了 410 萬美元，用於與補救和審計工作相關的非經常性專業費用。然而，在評估調整後的 EBITDA 時，TV One 獎項的 630 萬美元非現金收益並未計入本年度。

Consolidated adjusted EBITDA was $28.4 million for the second quarter, down 24.2%. Consolidated broadcast and digital operating income was approximately $34.2 million, a decrease of 27.7%. Interest income was approximately $1.8 million in the second quarter compared to $1.9 million last year. The decrease was due to lower cash balances in interest-bearing investment accounts.

第二季綜合調整後 EBITDA 為 2,840 萬美元，下降 24.2%。合併廣播和數位業務收入約為 3,420 萬美元，下降 27.7%。第二季利息收入約 180 萬美元，去年同期為 190 萬美元。減少的原因是計息投資帳戶現金餘額減少。

Interest expense decreased to approximately $12.4 million for Q2 down from $14 million last year due to lower overall debt balances as a result of the company's debt reduction strategy. The company made cash interest payments of approximately $1 million in the quarter related to the repurchase of the notes. During the quarter, the company repurchased $35.5 million of its 2028 notes at a price of 78% of Par. An impairment charge of $80.8 million, which was noncash was recorded in Q2 entirely from the broadcasting licenses in nine of the 13 radio markets in the Broadcast segment.

由於該公司的債務削減策略導致整體債務餘額下降，第二季利息支出從去年的 1,400 萬美元降至約 1,240 萬美元。該公司在本季度支付了與票據回購相關的約 100 萬美元的現金利息。本季度，該公司以面額 78% 的價格回購了 3,550 萬美元的 2028 年票據。第二季的非現金減損費用為 8,080 萬美元，完全來自廣播領域 13 個無線電市場中 9 個市場的廣播授權。

The primary factors leading to the impairness were a decline in projected gross market revenues and operating profits and an increase in the discount rate. The benefit from income taxes was approximately $18.5 million for the second quarter and the company paid cash income tax in the amount of $600,000. Net loss was approximately $45.4 million or $0.94 per share compared to net income of $70.4 million or $1.48 per share for the second quarter of 2023. During the second quarter the company repurchased 449277 shares of Class A common stock in the amount of approximately $900,000 at an average price of $2.06 per share and 113,283 shares of Class D common stock in the amount of approximately $200,000 an average price of $1.57 per share.

導致減損的主要因素是預期市場總收入和營業利潤的下降以及折現率的上升。第二季所得稅收益約 1,850 萬美元，公司繳納現金所得稅金額為 60 萬美元。淨虧損約為 4,540 萬美元，即每股 0.94 美元，而 2023 年第二季淨利為 7,040 萬美元，即每股 1.48 美元。第二季度，該公司回購了449,277 股A 類普通股，價值約900,000 美元，平均價格為每股2.06 美元，回購了113,283 股D 類普通股，價值約200,000 美元，平均價格為每股1.57 美元。

Capital expenditures were approximately $2.2 million in the second quarter. As of June 30, 2024 total gross debt was $614.5 million. The ending unrestricted cash balance was $131.9 million, resulting in net debt of approximately $482.6 million compared to $110.5 million of LTM reported adjusted EBITDA for a total net leverage ratio of 4.37 times. And finally, we'll be filing, timely filing the 10-Q tomorrow at some point.

第二季的資本支出約為 220 萬美元。截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日，債務總額為 6.145 億美元。期末無限制現金餘額為 1.319 億美元，淨債務約為 4.826 億美元，而 LTM 報告的調整後 EBITDA 為 1.105 億美元，總淨槓桿率為 4.37 倍。最後，我們將在明天某個時候及時提交 10-Q 報告。

So good that we're back on track in terms of meeting our deadlines and filing timing. And with that I will hand back to Alfred.

太好了，我們在截止日期和提交時間方面回到了正軌。接下來我將把這件事交還給阿爾弗雷德。

Thank you, Peter. Operator, we can go to the lines for Q&A.

謝謝你，彼得。接線員，我們可以去排隊問答了。

(Operator Instructions) Dominic Laib, Stifel.

（操作員說明）Dominic Laib，Stifel。

Hey guys, thanks for taking my questions. A couple of things for me. One could you just comment on digital has kind of been trending weaker for a couple of quarters. Can you just kind of offer some guidance on what that market is looking like? Are you guys expecting that to pick up versus kind of like a national local area or kind of just what are your thoughts on --?

嘿夥計們，謝謝你回答我的問題。對我來說有幾件事。您可以評論一下數位化在幾個季度中一直呈疲軟趨勢嗎？您能否就該市場的情況提供一些指導？你們是否期望這種情況會有所好轉，或者像全國各地一樣，或者只是你們的想法是什麼？——？

Yes, digital, there's been weaker demand in digital associated with the pullback in national advertising but also a pullback in the first in inclusion ad dollars that we felt that way was ultimately, we've got the rest to be affected by the national ad pullback. However, the second half is looking better and we're also optimistic there that we're going to see more political ad dollars than we had budgeted. So, yes, to-date, we are still forecasting our digital segment to meet its budget which is off of last year but not that far off. So, we're feeling decent about digital. Our TV business is really is what's hurting us.

是的，數位領域，與全國廣告退修相關的數位需求疲軟，而且我們認為最終的包容性廣告收入也出現了下降，我們其餘的廣告支出都會受到全國廣告撤回的影響。然而，下半年看起來更好，我們也樂觀地認為，我們將看到比預算更多的政治廣告收入。所以，是的，迄今為止，我們仍然預測我們的數位部門能夠滿足其預算，該預算比去年有所下降，但也相差不遠。所以，我們對數位化感覺還不錯。我們的電視業務確實是在傷害我們。

Okay. Thank you. Based off the back up are you guys keeping your EBITDA guidance I think you gave a range of like $110 million to $120 million last call. That's sort of still in line?

好的。謝謝。根據你們是否保持 EBITDA 指引的備份，我認為你們在上次電話會議中給了 1.1 億至 1.2 億美元的範圍。這還算是在排隊嗎？

Yes. As I said at the top of the call, we're more likely to be on the lower end of that guidance. But yes, we're maintaining our current guidance.

是的。正如我在電話會議開頭所說的那樣，我們更有可能處於該指導的較低端。但是，是的，我們將維持目前的指導。

Got it. Sorry, I joined a little late here. Just a couple more things. The debt buybacks do you guys continue kind of continuing a similar cadence in terms of repurchases if prices on--.

知道了。抱歉，我來的有點晚了。還有幾件事。如果價格繼續上漲，債務回購是否會繼續以類似的回購步調進行？

I don't want to commit to the cadence because the cadence really kind of depends the cadence depends on where we see the debt trading. But you can rest assured that our primary focus is to make sure that we're managing our leverage and looking to March that down it's challenging right now with EBITDA falling, right? So, quite frankly, being able to buy debt back opportunistically at attractive prices is important. So, very high priority for us. That's the reason you saw us buy $35 million worth of debt right before our window closed that ended up being a negotiation to buy that piece of debt of $35 million is probably a week-long negotiation that only closed right before the window was happening. So, we're trying to be opportunistic and smart about it.

我不想承諾節奏，因為節奏實際上取決於我們在哪裡看到債務交易。但您可以放心，我們的主要重點是確保我們管理我們的槓桿率，並期待 3 月份的槓桿率下降，因為 EBITDA 下降，現在面臨著挑戰​​，對嗎？因此，坦白說，能夠以有吸引力的價格機會性地回購債務非常重要。因此，這對我們來說非常重要。這就是為什麼我們在窗口關閉之前購買了價值 3500 萬美元的債務，最終導致購買那筆 3500 萬美元債務的談判可能是為期一周的談判，直到窗口關閉之前才結束。因此，我們正在努力發揮機會主義和聰明的態度。

Okay, that makes sense. And then just last one. I think you guys mentioned, maybe you might have commented is the last quarter you guys mentioned you were under NDA to potentially purchase balance from EW scripts to the effect you can offer any commentary. Is there any update regarding those?

好吧，這是有道理的。然後就是最後一張。我想你們提到過，也許你們可能評論過，上個季度你們提到你們根據保密協議可能從電子戰腳本中購買平衡，這樣你們就可以提供任何評論。有關於這些的任何更新嗎？

No, there's a process going on. We're involved in it and no update at this point in time.

不，有一個過程正在進行中。我們正在參與其中，目前沒有更新。

Okay, got it. Appreciate you answering the questions. That’s it from me.

好的，明白了。感謝您回答問題。這就是我說的。

Hal Steiner, BNP.

哈爾·斯坦納，法國巴黎銀行。

Hey guys, good morning. Thank you for taking the questions. So, my first one is, do you have any early thoughts on some of the things you could try to do in TV to sort of improve audience and audience delivery is maybe like changing measurement providers a possible solution. And I think you also commented on sort of CTV ad upside. If you could just share a little more color or help quantify that at all that would be very helpful? Thank you.

嘿夥計們，早安。感謝您提出問題。所以，我的第一個問題是，您對電視中可以嘗試做的一些事情有什麼早期想法，以改善觀眾和觀眾交付，這可能就像改變測量提供者一樣是一個可能的解決方案。我想您也評論了 CTV 廣告的優勢。如果您可以分享更多的顏色或幫助量化它，那會非常有幫助嗎？謝謝。

Yes. So we are looking at different measurement solutions. And we're in the middle of the upfront right now. So, I don't want to have a public a public adjudication of our upfront strategy and our audience measurement strategy. But suffice it to say, yes, we are engaged in those kinds of conversations and looking at several different alternatives.

是的。因此，我們正在尋找不同的測量解決方案。我們現在正處於前期的中間階段。因此，我不想讓公眾對我們的前期策略和受眾衡量策略進行公開裁決。但只要說，是的，我們正在進行此類對話並考慮幾種不同的替代方案。

One of which, has more of a positive impact than others, right? But that's an active negotiation right now, because it's not just us switching audience measurement, it's getting the advertising holding companies and the clients to actually accept it as currency too. And so that's a real-time negotiation, as we speak. But the answer to your question is, yes, we're looking at that.

其中之一，比其他的有更多的正面影響，對吧？但這現在是一個積極的談判，因為這不僅僅是我們改變受眾衡量方式，它還讓廣告控股公司和客戶真正接受它作為貨幣。正如我們所說，這是一場即時談判。但你問題的答案是，是的，我們正在考慮這個問題。

Second, on CTV, we basically were on an ad server that didn't allow us to transact on a programmatic level and had some other limitations that really severely limited, our ability to monetize that inventory. Don't ask me all of the, why. So it's taken six months actually for us to identify, negotiate and then ultimately get activated a new ad server that will allow us to more effectively monetize it and we're at the we're almost at the end of that road. I think it goes live within the next 30 days or so, Jody, do you know when the new CTV ad server goes live by --.

其次，在 CTV 上，我們基本上使用的是廣告伺服器，該伺服器不允許我們在程式化層級上進行交易，並且還有一些其他限制，這些限制確實嚴重限制了我們將庫存貨幣化的能力。別問我所有的，為什麼。因此，我們實際上花了六個月的時間來確定、協商並最終激活一個新的廣告伺服器，這將使我們能夠更有效地貨幣化，我們幾乎已經到了這條路的盡頭。我想它會在接下來的 30 天左右上線，Jody，你知道新的 CTV 廣告伺服器什麼時候上線嗎--.

This month. August.

本月。八月。

This month. Yes. So, advertisers like CTV, a lot because they can do it programmatically and they ask served that we were on didn't allow us to do that. So that's real just moving to a system that allows us to monetize it the way the majority of advertisers want to do business, now is tangible upside just because we haven't been able to participate in that marketplace. So, that's the elaboration and obviously, more and more ad dollars and moving to connected television too.

本月。是的。所以，像 CTV 這樣的廣告商，很多是因為他們可以透過程式設計方式做到這一點，但他們要求我們所在的服務不允許我們這樣做。因此，只是轉向一個允許我們按照大多數廣告商希望開展業務的方式將其貨幣化的系統，現在是有形的好處，只是因為我們無法參與該市場。所以，這就是詳細說明，顯然，越來越多的廣告收入也轉向了連網電視。

Got you. Okay. That’s helpful. And then I guess, just on financial policy, with the operating environment being a little bit weaker, do you sort of feel like it's more prudent to maybe hoard more cash? Or is like sort of the minimum cash, you want to hold in the business maybe higher than it was before. And I heard your comments on debt buybacks. But maybe also just wonder, how do you view M&A in the current environment….

明白你了。好的。這很有幫助。然後我想，就金融政策而言，在經營環境稍微疲軟的情況下，您是否覺得囤積更多現金更為謹慎？或者就像是最低現金，你想在企業中持有的現金可能比以前更高。我聽到了你對債務回購的評論。但也許也只是想知道，您如何看待當前環境下的併購…。

We view M&A and I think, I've said it before. Look, in the current environment, you can't count on top line growth, right? Not in the media business, right? If we were a software company Navy.

我們看待併購，我想我之前已經說過了。看，在當前環境下，你不能指望收入成長，對吧？不是媒體業吧？如果我們是海軍軟體公司。

So M&A has got to be not only highly accretive. It's got to be delevering. And Peter and I were actually talking about it this morning, before the call. And any M&A deal that you do, that's delivering, out the box, you've got to assume that there's going to continue to be downward top line pressure in the industry, right, whether it's radio or television.

因此，併購不僅必須具有高增值性。必須去槓桿化。今天早上，在電話會議之前，彼得和我實際上正在討論這個問題。你所做的任何併購交易，即開箱即用，你都必須假設該行業將繼續面臨收入下降的壓力，對吧，無論是廣播還是電視。

And so you got to take that into account, when you're figuring out what that M&A does to from a delevering standpoint. So very comfortable with our Houston acquisition, last year in our Indianapolis acquisition in radio. And so that's how we think about it. You can expect us not to do anything, that is contrary to that because that'd be, way too risky.

因此，當你從去槓桿化的角度弄清楚併購的作用時，你必須考慮到這一點。我們對休士頓的收購非常滿意，去年我們在印第安納波利斯收購了無線電業務。這就是我們的想法。你可以期望我們不會做任何與此相反的事情，因為那樣風險太大。

And we are again, conscious of the fact that it's not just it's something delevering day one. Is it going to continue to be delivering, with the downward trend from an industry standpoint. Finding those deals is hard, but my sense is they will come about because everybody is going to kind of get the same problem. And I mean, we're substantially free cash flow positive to date.

我們再次意識到，這不僅僅是第一天去槓桿化的事情。從行業的角度來看，它是否會繼續呈下降趨勢？找到這些交易很困難，但我的感覺是它們會實現，因為每個人都會遇到相同的問題。我的意思是，迄今為止我們的自由現金流基本上是正值。

The thing that reducing debt, particularly reducing debt at the discount does that also increases our free cash flow, right? And so we don't really have a cash flow problem such that, we have to afford a bunch of cash and if we are looking for a deal that is substantially de-levering, particularly at the levels that we're trying to get down to, let's say, I think our leverage level, we just reported was 4.7 times, right 4.37. So, let's say we were looking for something that de-levers us a turn, right? So it gets us down to 3.3.

減少債務，特別是折扣減少債務，也會增加我們的自由現金流，對吧？因此，我們實際上並不存在現金流問題，因此我們必須負擔大量現金，如果我們正在尋找一項能夠大幅去槓桿化的交易，特別是在我們試圖降低的水平上比如說，我認為我們剛剛報告的槓桿水準是4.7 倍，正確的4.37。那麼，假設我們正在尋找一些可以讓我們擺脫困境的東西，對吧？所以它讓我們降到了 3.3。

If the synergies are really there, and it does that, then that's probably in the strike zone is something that you can finance. So the point is, I don't think we have to forward cash for an M&A situation, the kind of M&A that we're looking for should produce a financeable scenario in and of itself and we can look at that cash to de-lever and buy debt opportunistically. Does that make sense?

如果協同效應確實存在，並且確實做到了這一點，那麼這可能是您可以資助的目標。所以重點是，我認為我們不必為併購情況提供現金，我們正在尋找的併購本身應該產生可融資的情況，我們可以考慮用這些現金來去槓桿化並趁機購買債務。這樣有道理嗎？

Yeah, it does. Thank you, Alfred. Okay. That's all my questions for now. Thank you guys so much.

是的，確實如此。謝謝你，阿爾弗雷德。好的。這就是我目前的所有問題。非常感謝你們。

(Operator Instructions) Marlene Pereira, BOA.

（操作員說明）Marlene Pereira，BOA。

Thank you for taking the question. Hi, Alfred, hi, Peter. Just wanted a quick in check on free cash flow. Just kind of given the commentary, you've given this quarter versus last quarter.

感謝您提出問題。嗨，阿爾弗雷德，嗨，彼得。只是想快速檢查一下自由現金流。只是給出了評論，您給出了本季度與上季度的比較。

So I think it kind of worked out to roughly around $40 million given, kind of some one-offs related to PD-1. Cash tax is around $3 million. I think, CapEx is around $9 million. So, I just wanted to say any check if kind of the ballpark and not my inputs are correct?

所以我認為這相當於大約 4000 萬美元，有點與 PD-1 相關的一次性費用。現金稅約300萬美元。我認為資本支出約為 900 萬美元。所以，我只是想說檢查一下大致情況而不是我的輸入是否正確？

Yeah. I think, look, Alfred guided towards the lower end of the guidance. If we were coming off of the midpoint, right, you'd probably take $5 million off of that number and be in the mid-30s. And then obviously, the other comment you made at the top of the call was we don't know where political is going to come out. It feels good, right? It feels like the developments on the demographic side and then to be really helpful to us. So yes, maybe there's some upside on that.

是的。我認為，看，阿爾弗雷德引導到了引導的下端。如果我們從中點開始，對吧，你可能會從這個數字中減去 500 萬美元，然後就到了 30 多歲。顯然，你在電話會議頂部發表的另一條評論是，我們不知道政治將如何發展。感覺很好，對吧？感覺就像人口方面的發展，然後對我們確實有幫助。所以，是的，也許這有一些好處。

To the downside, we're still going through all the remediation of the material and there's going to be incremental effort there from a consultant standpoint and also from an audit standpoint. So our old 2 million audit fee isn't coming back this year. So there's some incremental onetime remediation and audit costs. So I think we're course somewhere in the first is depending on where political comes out. I would say.

不利的一面是，我們仍在對材料進行所有補救，從顧問的角度和審計的角度來看，這方面的工作將會不斷增加。所以我們原來的 200 萬審計費今年不會收回來了。因此，存在一些增量的一次性補救和審計成本。所以我認為我們首先要取決於政治的結果。我會說。

Got it. But the cash taxes and CapEx, that's still roughly of $3 million?

知道了。但現金稅和資本支出仍約為 300 萬美元？

Yeah. And the other lever that's in there or I say the lever. The other thing that's in there is how much cash programming we spend versus what we're amortizing. At the moment, we have a $10 million cash usage in the numbers, I just gave you. So, if we end up saving some of that, then that would also boost free cash flow.

是的。還有那裡的另一個槓桿，或者我說槓桿。其中的另一件事是我們花了多少現金編程與我們攤銷的金額。我剛剛給你們的數據顯示，目前我們的現金使用量為 1000 萬美元。因此，如果我們最終節省其中的一部分，那麼這也會增加自由現金流。

And sorry, if I might have missed this sooner, but have you disclosed, if you've bought any bonds back post the quarter?

抱歉，如果我可能早點錯過了這一點，但是您是否透露過，您是否在本季度後購買了任何債券？

I'm sorry, Marlene I couldn't hear the question. It's a bit faint.

抱歉，瑪琳，我聽不到這個問題。是有點淡了。

Sorry, I was just curious, and apologies if I missed this, have there been any bonds repurchased post 3Q?

抱歉，我只是好奇，如果我錯過了這一點，我很抱歉，第三季後是否有任何債券回購？

No. The last one we did was a 35.5% in Q2. We haven't done any more since then.

不。我們最後一次做的是第二季的 35.5%。從那以後我們就沒有再做過任何事。

Got it. Thank you very much. That’s all I have.

知道了。非常感謝。這就是我所擁有的一切。

[Kevin Kaplan], PRV.

[凱文卡普蘭]，PRV。

Yes. Hi. Thank you. I would like you to expand if you can on the political advertising. I know you're very optimistic about it. Are you seeing interest with both parties? At historic levels when you look at that what you're seeing so far?

是的。你好。謝謝。如果可以的話，我希望您能擴大政治廣告的範圍。我知道你對此非常樂觀。您看到雙方都有興趣嗎？當你看看到目前為止你所看到的情況時，處於歷史水平嗎？

The answer is yes, we're seeing interest from both parties. However, the ratio of what IMS spend against our audience to what ours spend is, it's very, very, very, very wide, right? So an increase in interest from ours is not a move the needle, right? On a percentage-wise off a low base, I think it's a substantial increase. I mean, but it still doesn't compare to what the DIM spend between the campaigns and the packs and all that, because the primary audience that we have is obviously critical to Democratic success.

答案是肯定的，我們看到雙方都有興趣。然而，IMS 針對我們受眾的支出與我們的支出比率非常非常非常大，對嗎？所以我們興趣的增加並不是重大舉措，對嗎？從較低基數的百分比來看，我認為這是一個大幅成長。我的意思是，但這仍然無法與 DIM 在競選和競選活動之間的支出以及所有這些相比，因為我們擁有的主要受眾顯然對民主黨的成功至關重要。

We also got some significant exposure in some key markets. So we've got a big Atlanta, position Georgia has been our most robust political market over the last two cycles. We are in Charlotte and Raleigh, so North Carolina is in play. Pennsylvania is in play.

我們也在一些關鍵市場獲得了一些顯著的曝光。因此，我們有一個大型的亞特蘭大，喬治亞州在過去兩個週期中一直是我們最強勁的政治市場。我們在夏洛特和羅利，所以北卡羅來納州正在發揮作用。賓州正在比賽中。

We're in Philadelphia and so, we've got some decent exposure. And then we've got a big digital business, right? And I would say, over half of the spend, that's going to come from the DIM this year is going to be in digital. So in comparison and to other cycle, Peter what was the big year that we had?

我們在費城，所以我們有一些不錯的曝光。然後我們就有了一個龐大的數位業務，對嗎？我想說，今年 DIM 的支出有一半以上將用於數位化。那麼，與其他週期相比，彼得，我們度過的重要一年是哪一年？

Yes, we've had two, right? So, the high watermark in 2020 in Radio alone we did $18.8 million in 2020. So that was the biggest. And then in 2022, we did about $13 million in Radio. So they were at about $2 billion.

是的，我們已經有兩個了，對吧？因此，光是在廣播領域，2020 年的高水位就達到了 2020 年的 1,880 萬美元。這是最大的。然後到 2022 年，我們在廣播領域的收入約為 1300 萬美元。所以它們的價值約為 20 億美元。

Yes. And Peter, if you want to elaborate, well--.

是的。彼得，如果你想詳細說明，那麼——。

Yes. No Alfred, I think you've covered it. But yes, it's not just a presidential race. It was the only point I was going to make.

是的。不，阿爾弗雷德，我想你已經涵蓋了。但是，是的，這不僅僅是一場總統競選。這是我唯一要表達的觀點。

Yes.

是的。

There were some raise in the markets you mentioned the North Carolina government race, the Maryland Senate and the Ohio Senate, and then some other issues, redistricting issues. So it's not all going to be presidential money. There are other things that we're participating in as well.

您提到的北卡羅來納州政府競選、馬裡蘭州參議院和俄亥俄州參議院的市場出現了一些上漲，然後還有其他一些問題，重新劃分選區的問題。所以這並不全是總統的錢。我們也參與了其他一些事情。

Correct.

正確的。

But obviously that change on the demographic side is going to help us in some of those markets that will probably may not be in play that now are like Georgia and Pennsylvania and where we're well positioned in.

但顯然，人口方面的變化將有助於我們進入一些可能不會發揮作用的市場，例如喬治亞州和賓夕法尼亞州，而我們在這些市場中處於有利地位。

Just one follow-up. Will you update as these bands from come in?

只是一個後續行動。隨著這些樂團的到來，你會更新嗎？

I'm sorry will we update us what comes in?

抱歉，我們會更新最新內容嗎？

As you get buys advertising.

當你獲得購買廣告。

We'll give an update when we do our next earnings call. Just as we have here and it will flow into whatever our guidance is.

我們將在下次財報電話會議時提供最新情況。正如我們在這裡所做的那樣，它將流入我們的指導中。

Right.

正確的。

Our next yes we'll give the market a view of we always give a view on where we're pacing and the last couple of years we've given guidance and we feel we'll have an obligation to continue to update that guidance as we report.

我們的下一個目標是，我們將讓市場看到我們始終對我們的步伐以及過去幾年我們給出的指導意見給出看法，我們認為我們有義務繼續更新該指導意見我們報告。

Okay. Thank you.

好的。謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) Ben Briggs, StoneX.

（操作員說明）Ben Briggs，StoneX。

Hi, this is James Barten on for Ben Briggs. Thank you guys for taking the question. I was wondering can you provide any clarity on what the revenue and EBITDA impact of TV ONE and CLEO joining the Xfinity line for TV?

大家好，我是詹姆斯·巴滕（James Barten）代表本·布里格斯（Ben Briggs）發言。謝謝你們提出問題。我想知道您能否澄清一下 TV ONE 和 CLEO 加入 Xfinity 電視系列對收入和 EBITDA 的影響？

Actually it's not the Xfinity lineup. It's TV Now which is their over-the-top skinny bundle. It's a $20 a month service. And it will be positive although we just launched I think Jody we just launched in August right beginning of August?

實際上這不是 Xfinity 陣容。這是 TV Now，這是他們誇張的瘦身捆綁包。這是每月 20 美元的服務。儘管我們剛剛推出，但這將是積極的，我想喬迪我們剛剛在八月初推出？

In July.

七月。

In July. We launched in July and it's a growing service. So it's a small number of subs now that we think will ultimately grow larger. So it's a positive impact but it's not a hugely positive impact to our numbers.

七月。我們於七月推出，這是一項不斷發展的服務。因此，現在潛艇數量很少，我們認為最終會變得更大。所以這是一個正面的影響，但對我們的數字來說並不是一個巨大的正面影響。

Awesome. Thank you guys.

驚人的。謝謝你們。

Sure.

當然。

(Operator Instructions) We have no more questions in queue.

（操作員說明）我們隊列中沒有更多問題。

All right. Thank you everyone and we look forward to talking with you next quarter. And as usual we're available offline. Thank you very much.

好的。謝謝大家，我們期待下個季度與您交談。像往常一樣，我們可以離線使用。非常感謝。

Ladies and gentlemen, once again a replay for this conference call will be available through midnight on August 15 to access the replay from the US dial 402-970-0847. Use access code 1733-886 International participants use for access code. International calls use 402-970-0847. Domestic caller use 866-207-1041 and again that access code is 1733-886. That does conclude your conference call for today. You may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，本次電話會議的重播將在 8 月 15 日午夜之前進行，您可以透過美國撥打 402-970-0847 觀看重播。使用訪問代碼 1733-886 國際參與者使用訪問代碼。國際電話請撥 402-970-0847。國內來電者使用 866-207-1041，存取代碼再次為 1733-886。今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。