Townsquare Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results; Digital Advertising Revenue Accelerates to 11% Growth Year-Over-Year
Digital Represents 57% of 1H'26 Net Revenue and 59% of 1H'26 Segment Profit
Media Partnerships on Pace to More Than Double Revenue in 2026; Now Serving 16 Partners
PURCHASE, N.Y. , Aug. 06, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Townsquare Media, Inc. (NYSE: TSQ) (“Townsquare”, the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our”) announced today its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026.
“I am pleased to share that Townsquare once again delivered results in line with the net revenue and Adjusted EBITDA guidance we previously provided, reflecting the continued execution of our Digital First Local Media Strategy,” commented Bill Wilson, Chief Executive Officer of Townsquare Media, Inc. “Digital Advertising delivered another quarter of accelerating growth, our Media Partnerships business continued to scale rapidly, Townsquare Interactive achieved record profitability, and our Broadcast business generated meaningful cash flow while outperforming the industry. Together, these businesses drove second quarter net revenue of $115.4 million. For the second quarter, we reported a net loss of $41.8 million, which included significant non-cash impairment charges related to FCC licenses, as well as Adjusted EBITDA of $24.8 million and Adjusted Net Income of $3.7 million.”
“Our Digital Advertising business, Townsquare Ignite, grew revenue 11% year-over-year, accelerating meaningfully from 7% year-over-year growth in the first quarter (and 2025’s growth rate of 2%), and we expect that momentum to further strengthen in the third quarter. Our Media Partnerships business, which did not exist just over two years ago, now extends our Digital Advertising platform into 41 incremental markets through 16 media partners (and growing). Together with Townsquare’s 74 owned markets, we have a digital programmatic advertising presence in 115 markets across the United States. Importantly, Media Partnership revenue is expected to more than double in 2026. Townsquare Interactive, our Subscription Digital Marketing Solutions business, delivered another quarter of record Segment Profit margins of nearly 38% while revenue stabilized sequentially in the quarter. As a result, our Digital businesses represented 57% of Townsquare’s net revenue and 59% of Segment Profit in the first six months of the year.”
“We believe the combination of multiple scalable, high-margin digital growth platforms and a durable Broadcast cash flow business creates a differentiated company with significant long-term opportunities to drive shareholder value through sustained net revenue, Adjusted EBITDA and cash flow growth, net leverage reduction, and future dividend payments,” concluded Mr. Wilson.
The Company announced today that its Board of Directors approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.20 per share. The dividend will be payable on November 2, 2026 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on October 26, 2026. As of the last closing price, this reflects a dividend yield of approximately 13%.
Segment Reporting
We have three reportable operating segments, Digital Advertising, Subscription Digital Marketing Solutions, and Broadcast Advertising. The Digital Advertising segment, marketed externally as Townsquare Ignite, includes digital advertising on our digital programmatic advertising platform and our owned and operated digital properties, and our first party data digital management platform. The Subscription Digital Marketing Solutions segment includes our subscription digital marketing solutions business, Townsquare Interactive. The Broadcast Advertising segment includes our local, regional, and national advertising products and solutions delivered via terrestrial radio broadcast, and other miscellaneous revenue that is associated with our broadcast advertising platform. The remainder of our business is reported in the Other category, which includes our live events business.
Second Quarter Results*
Year-to-Date Highlights*
*See below for discussion of non-GAAP measures.
Guidance
For the third quarter of 2026, net revenue is expected to be between $108 million and $110 million, and Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $22.5 million and $23.5 million.
For the full year 2026, net revenue is expected to be between $425 million and $431 million, and Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $87 million and $90 million, both within our original guidance ranges.
Quarter Ended June 30, 2026 Compared to the Quarter Ended June 30, 2025
Net Revenue
Net revenue for the three months ended June 30, 2026 decreased $0.1 million, or 0.1%, as compared to the same period in 2025. Broadcast Advertising net revenue decreased $2.7 million, or 5.5%, due to decreases in the purchases of advertising by our clients, Subscription Digital Marketing Solutions net revenue decreased $1.6 million, or 8.5%, due to reduced sales velocity as a result of lower sales headcount, and Other net revenue decreased $0.5 million, or 9.9%. These decreases were largely offset by an increase in Digital Advertising net revenue of $4.7 million, or 11.0%, due to increases in the purchases of advertising by our clients.
Excluding political revenue of $1.3 million and $0.6 million for the three months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025, net revenue decreased $0.9 million, or 0.8%, to $114.0 million, Broadcast Advertising net revenue decreased $3.5 million, or 7.2%, to $45.3 million, and Digital Advertising net revenue increased $4.7 million, or 11.1%, to $47.1 million.
Net (Loss) Income
For the three months ended June 30, 2026, we reported net loss of $41.8 million, a decrease of $43.8 million, as compared to net income of $2.0 million in the same period in 2025. The decrease was primarily due to a $25.1 million increase in non-cash impairment charges related to FCC licenses, an $11.7 million increase in the income tax provision driven by the valuation allowance for interest expense carryforwards resulting from higher non-cash impairment charges and non-deductible compensation, a $6.0 million decrease in net gain on sales and retirement of assets and a $1.7 million increase in direct operating expenses, partially offset by a $1.2 million decrease in interest expense. Adjusted Net Income increased $0.1 million to $3.7 million, as compared to $3.6 million for the second quarter of 2025.
Adjusted EBITDA
Adjusted EBITDA for the three months ended June 30, 2026 decreased $1.6 million, or 6.2%, to $24.8 million, as compared to $26.4 million for the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA (Excluding Political) decreased $2.3 million, or 8.8%, to $23.7 million, as compared to $25.9 million in the same period in 2025.
Six Months Ended June 30, 2026 Compared to the Six Months Ended June 30, 2025
Net Revenue
Net revenue for the six months ended June 30, 2026 decreased $2.0 million, or 0.9%, as compared to the same period in 2025. Broadcast Advertising net revenue decreased $5.4 million, or 6.0%, due to decreases in the purchases of advertising by our clients, Subscription Digital Marketing Solutions net revenue decreased $3.1 million, or 8.2%, due to reduced sales velocity, and Other net revenue decreased $0.6 million, or 10.0%, due to the performance of certain events in 2026 as compared to 2025. These decreases were partially offset by an increase in Digital Advertising net revenue of $7.2 million, or 9.1%.
Excluding political revenue of $2.0 million and $1.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025, respectively, net revenue decreased $2.9 million, or 1.3% to $210.1 million, Broadcast Advertising net revenue decreased $6.3 million, or 7.1%, to $83.3 million, and Digital Advertising net revenue increased $7.2 million, or 9.2%, to $86.4 million.
Net (Loss) Income
For the six months ended June 30, 2026, we reported net loss of $38.8 million, a decrease of $39.3 million as compared to net income of $0.5 million in the same period last year. The decrease in net income was due to a $33.7 million increase in non-cash impairment charges related to FCC licenses, a $5.6 million decrease in gain on sale and retirement of assets, the $2.0 million decrease in net revenue discussed above, and a $1.4 million increase in direct operating expenses. These amounts were partially offset by a $1.5 million loss on the early extinguishment of debt recognized in 2025 due to the repurchase of our 2026 Notes. Adjusted Net Income decreased $1.8 million to $1.0 million, as compared to $2.8 million for the same period last year.
Adjusted EBITDA
Adjusted EBITDA for the six months ended June 30, 2026 decreased $3.4 million, or 7.6%, to $41.2 million, as compared to $44.6 million in the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA (Excluding Political) decreased $4.1 million, or 9.4%, to $39.5 million, as compared to $43.6 million in the same period in 2025.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of June 30, 2026, we had a total of $1.2 million of cash and cash equivalents and $462.2 million of outstanding indebtedness, representing 5.46x and 5.44x gross and net leverage, respectively, based on Adjusted EBITDA for the twelve months ended June 30, 2026 of $84.7 million.
The table below presents a summary, as of August 3, 2026, of our outstanding common stock (net of treasury shares).
Conference Call
Townsquare Media, Inc. will host a conference call to discuss certain second quarter 2026 financial results and 2026 guidance on Thursday, August 6, 2026 at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The conference call dial-in number is 1-800-717-1738 (U.S. & Canada) or 1-646-307-1865 (International) and the conference ID is “Townsquare.” A live webcast of the conference call will also be available on the investor relations page of the Company’s website at www.townsquaremedia.com.
A replay of the conference call will be available through August 13, 2026. To access the replay, please dial 1-844-512-2921 (U.S. and Canada) or 1-412-317-6671 (International) and enter confirmation code 1196403. A web-based archive of the conference call will also be available at the above website.
About Townsquare Media, Inc.
Townsquare is a community-focused digital and broadcast media and digital marketing solutions company principally focused outside the top 50 markets in the U.S. Townsquare Ignite, our robust digital advertising division, specializes in helping businesses of all sizes connect with their target audience through data-driven, results-based strategies, by utilizing a) our proprietary digital programmatic advertising technology stack with an in-house demand and data management platform and b) our owned and operated portfolio of more than 400 local news and entertainment websites and mobile apps along with a network of leading national music and entertainment brands, collecting valuable first party data. Townsquare Interactive, our subscription digital marketing services business, partners with SMBs to help manage their digital presence by providing a SAAS business management platform, website design, creation and hosting, search engine optimization and other digital services. And through our portfolio of local radio stations strategically situated outside the Top 50 markets in the United States, we provide effective advertising solutions for our clients and relevant local content for our audiences. For more information, please visit www.townsquaremedia.com, www.townsquareinteractive.com and www.townsquareignite.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Except for the historical information contained in this press release, the matters addressed are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements often discuss our current expectations and projections relating to our financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance and business. You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements may include words such as “aim,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “outlook,” “potential,” “project,” “projection,” “plan,” “intend,” “seek,” “believe,” “may,” “could,” “would,” “will,” “should,” “can,” “can have,” “likely,” the negatives thereof and other words and terms. Actual events or results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors. While it is impossible to identify all such factors, factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those estimated by us include the impact of general economic conditions in the United States, or in the specific markets in which we currently do business including supply chain disruptions, inflation, labor shortages and the effect on advertising activity, industry conditions, including existing competition, artificial intelligence and future competitive technologies, the popularity of radio as a broadcasting and advertising medium, cancellations, disruptions or postponements of advertising schedules in response to national or world events, our ability to develop and maintain digital technologies (including artificial intelligence) and hire and retain technical and sales talent, our dependence on key personnel, our capital expenditure requirements, our continued ability to identify suitable acquisition targets, and consummate and integrate any future acquisitions, legislative or regulatory requirements, risks and uncertainties relating to our leverage and changes in interest rates, our ability to obtain financing at times, in amounts and at rates considered appropriate by us, our ability to access the capital markets as and when needed and on terms that we consider favorable to us and other factors discussed in this section entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in this report and under “Risk Factors” in our 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K, for the year ended December 31, 2025, filed with the SEC on March 16, 2026, as well as other risks discussed from time to time in our filings with the SEC. Many of these factors are beyond our ability to predict or control. In addition, as a result of these and other factors, our past financial performance should not be relied on as an indication of future performance. The cautionary statements referred to in this section also should be considered in connection with any subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements that may be issued by us or persons acting on our behalf. The forward-looking statements included in this report are made only as of the date hereof or as of the date specified herein. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Definitions
In this press release, we refer to Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA (Excluding Political), Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Net Income Per Share which are financial measures that have not been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”).
We define Adjusted EBITDA as net (loss) income before the deduction of income taxes, interest expense, net, (gain) loss on repurchases and extinguishment of debt, transaction and business realignment costs, depreciation and amortization, stock-based compensation, impairments, net (gain) loss on sale and retirement of assets and other expense (income), net. We define Adjusted EBITDA (Excluding Political) as Adjusted EBITDA less political net revenue, net of a fifteen percent deduction to account for estimated national representative firm fees, music licensing fees and sales commissions expense. Adjusted Net Income is defined as net income before the deduction of transaction and business realignment costs, impairments, net (gain) loss on sale and retirement of assets, (gain) loss on repurchases and extinguishment of debt and net income attributable to non-controlling interest, net of income taxes stated at the Company's applicable statutory effective tax rate. Adjusted Net Income Per Share is defined as Adjusted Net Income divided by the weighted average shares outstanding. We define Net Leverage as our total outstanding indebtedness, net of our total cash balance as of June 30, 2026, divided by our Adjusted EBITDA for the twelve months ended June 30, 2026. These measures do not represent, and should not be considered as alternatives to or superior to, financial results and measures determined or calculated in accordance with GAAP. In addition, these non-GAAP measures are not based on any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles. You should be aware that in the future we may incur expenses or charges that are the same as or similar to some of the adjustments in the presentation, and we do not infer that our future results will be unaffected by unusual or nonrecurring items. In addition, these non-GAAP measures may not be comparable to similarly-named measures reported by other companies.
We use Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA (Excluding Political) to facilitate company-to-company operating performance comparisons by backing out potential differences caused by variations in capital structures (affecting interest expense), taxation and the age and book depreciation of facilities and equipment (affecting relative depreciation expense), which may vary for different companies for reasons unrelated to operating performance, and to facilitate year over year comparisons, by backing out the impact of political revenue which varies depending on the election cycle and may be unrelated to operating performance. We use Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Net Income Per Share to assess total company operating performance on a consistent basis. We use Net Leverage to measure the Company’s ability to handle its debt burden. We believe that these measures, when considered together with our GAAP financial results, provide management and investors with a more complete understanding of our business operating results, including underlying trends, by excluding the effects of net, (gain) loss on repurchases and extinguishment of debt, transaction costs, net (gain) loss on sale and retirement of assets, business realignment costs and impairments. Further, while discretionary bonuses for members of management are not determined with reference to specific targets, our board of directors may consider Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA (Excluding Political), Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Net Income Per Share, and Net Leverage when determining discretionary bonuses.
Investor Relations
Claire Yenicay
(203) 900-5555
investors@townsquaremedia.com
(1) Represents total advertising services provided by the Company in exchange for property and equipment during each of the six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025, respectively.
** not meaningful
The following table presents Net revenue by segment and Segment Profit for the three and six months ended June 30, 2026, and 2025, respectively (in thousands):
** not meaningful
The following table reconciles Net revenue to Net revenue, excluding political revenue on a GAAP basis by segment for the three and six months ended June 30, 2026, and 2025, respectively (in thousands):
The following table reconciles net (loss) income, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP, to Adjusted Net Income for the three and six months ended June 30, 2026, and 2025, respectively (in thousands, except per share data):
(1) Income tax provision for the three and six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025, respectively, was calculated using the Company's statutory effective tax rate.
The following table reconciles net (loss) income, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP, to Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA (Excluding Political), and Adjusted EBITDA Less Interest, Capex and Taxes for the three and six months ended June 30, 2026, and 2025, respectively (dollars in thousands):
(a) Other includes net loss (gain) on sales and retirements of assets and other expense (income), net.
The following table reconciles net (loss) income, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP, to Adjusted EBITDA on a quarterly basis for the twelve months ended June 30, 2026 (dollars in thousands):
(a) Other includes net loss (gain) on sales and retirements of assets and other expense (income), net.
The following tables provide the calculation of Segment Profit for the three months ended June 30, 2026, and 2025 (in thousands). Segment Profit (Loss) represents net revenue less direct operating expenses, excluding depreciation, amortization, and stock-based compensation:
The following tables provide the calculation of Segment Profit (Loss) for the six months ended June 30, 2026, and 2025 (in thousands). Segment Profit (Loss) represents net revenue less direct operating expenses, excluding depreciation, amortization, and stock-based compensation: