Saga Details Digital Strategy Shift As Revenue Slips In 2025.

Saga Communications is pushing forward with a digital transformation strategy aimed at offsetting declines in traditional radio advertising, even as political revenue swings and one-time charges pushed the broadcaster to a net loss in 2025. During the company’s fourth-quarter and year-end earnings call, President and CEO Chris Forgy said the company has spent the past several years reshaping its business model to combine radio’s reach with expanding digital offerings. “We immediately went to work on the transformational change we've been talking about for the past three years,” Forgy said, describing a strategy designed to diversify revenue while protecting Saga’s core radio business.

For the quarter ending December 31, 2025, Saga reported revenue of $26.5 million, down 9.3% from $29.2 million a year earlier, according to CFO Sam Bush. A major factor in the decline was reduced political advertising, with gross political revenue totaling $254,000 in the fourth quarter compared to $2 million in the same period in 2024. For the full year, net revenue fell 5.1% to $107.1 million from $112.9 million. Political revenue accounted for nearly half the drop, with $650,000 recorded in 2025 compared with $3.3 million the previous year. Station operating expenses were essentially flat at $91.8 million for the year.

Saga reported an operating loss of $9.5 million for the fourth quarter and a net loss of $6.9 million, largely due to a $20.4 million non-cash impairment charge that eliminated the remaining goodwill on the company’s balance sheet and reduced the value of an FCC license in one market. Without the impairment, operating income would have totaled $10.9 million for the quarter, and net income would have reached $8.2 million, or $1.27 per share. For the full year, Saga reported an operating loss of $11 million and a net loss of $7.9 million. Excluding the impairment, the company would have posted $7.2 million in net income, or $1.11 per share. A retroactive industry-wide settlement with two music licensing organizations also increased station operating expenses by $2.2 million during the year.

Saga completed the sale of telecommunications towers and related property in October 2025, a transaction in the works for several years. The deal generated $15.1 million in total proceeds, including $9.8 million in net cash after expenses, and the company recorded a gain of $11.6 million. Saga continues to operate from the sites under long-term lease agreements, monetizing 24 towers that were not fully utilized and were valued higher individually than within Saga’s broader market valuation.

The company continued its shareholder return programs, paying a quarterly dividend of 25 cents per share in December and declaring another 25-cent dividend payable in March 2026. Since initiating dividends in 2012, Saga has returned more than $143 million to shareholders. The company also repurchased 219,326 shares of Class A stock for $2.5 million in 2025 and ended the year with $31.8 million in cash and short-term investments, with $31.5 million on hand as of early March.

Executives emphasized that Saga’s long-term strategy centers on building digital revenue streams that complement its radio stations. Interactive revenue increased 25.8% in the fourth quarter and 19.1% for the full year, with digital initiatives spanning e-commerce, streaming, and digital advertising services. Search advertising revenue rose 59% year over year to $2.2 million, targeted display advertising climbed 44.8% to nearly $3.5 million, hyperlocal news websites contributed more than $2.5 million in revenue with margins exceeding 30%, and streaming revenue increased 8.6%. Forgy described the strategy as “the blend,” a combined radio-and-digital approach designed to help local advertisers be “wanted, found and chosen,” capturing consumer follow-up actions driven by radio campaigns.

To accelerate the digital transition, Saga plans to expand infrastructure and staffing in 2026, hiring additional digital campaign managers and sales managers to help local teams develop and manage blended advertising campaigns. The initiative will increase market expenses by approximately $1.5 million, with station operating expenses expected to rise 3% to 4% when including the digital initiative, though expenses would otherwise remain flat. The company expects mid-single-digit revenue declines in the first and second quarters, with growth anticipated in the second half of 2026 as political advertising returns and digital initiatives expand.

Forgy framed the company’s strategy as a continuation of a transformation that began after the death of Saga founder Ed Christian, recalling advice from former executive Al Lucarelli: “Do it fast. Do it with force. And do it with purpose.” He said the company’s leadership, board, and employees remain committed to finishing the transformation. “We will continue to provide and build a digital strategy that is easy to understand, easy to buy, easy to execute, easy to measure and easy to renew,” Forgy said.