Saga Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGA) Q2 2023 Results Conference Call August 8, 2023 11:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Chris Forgy - CEO

Sam Bush - CFO

Operator

Good morning, everybody, and welcome to the Saga Communications Inc. Second Quarter Earnings Release and Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] And it is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to your host, Mr. Chris Forgy of Saga Communications. Chris, the floor is yours.

Chris Forgy

Thank you, Jenny. And thanks to all of you on the call for your continued interest in Saga Communications. Welcome to the 2023 Second Quarter Conference Call. And I'm immediately going to turn it over to my partner in crime, Mr. Sam Bush.

Sam Bush

Thank you, Chris. I'll start with the obligatory. This call will contain certain forward-looking statements. 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. 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.

For the quarter ended June 30, 2023, net revenue decreased 2.2% to $29.2 million compared to $29.8 million last year. It should be noted that political impact to this year's performance. As for the quarter, we had $108,000 in gross political revenue this year compared to $787,000 for the same period last year.

Without political, our overall revenue for the quarter would have been flat with last year. Station operating expense increased 2.9% or $621,000 to $22.4 million for the 3-month period. As discussed in the first quarter conference call, after a number of years of giving our employees little to no compensation increases, we made the strategic decision to give our [indiscernible] pay increases in recognition of the tremendous work they do. These pay increases and related payroll taxes amounted to an estimated $446,000 in the first quarter, as previously reported and $444,000 in the second quarter of this year.

Similar to the first quarter, other smaller but still meaningful increases in our station operating expenses included increased utility expenses, music licensing fees, office maintenance and repairs, sales costs, including commissions and sales surveys.

For the 6-month period ended June 30, 2023, net revenue was down 0.6% to $54.5 million compared to $54.8 million last year. Adjusting for political for the 6-month period, gross revenue increased 0.7% for the 6-month period. Gross political revenue year-to-date was $301,000 for the 6 months this year compared to $907,000 for the same period last year.