Salem Media Narrows Loss, Grows Same-Station Revenue Amid Strategic Refocus.

Salem Media Group reports an uptick in same-station revenue and a smaller third-quarter loss as the broadcaster continued to restructure around its core conservative and Christian media assets following a series of station sales. The latest update will likely give investors confidence in the reconfiguration.

“It was a solid quarter and an encouraging step forward for Salem,” CEO David Santrella said. “The strong same-station results show the power of our brands and the effectiveness of our strategy as we look to 2026.”

Total third-quarter revenue declined 13% on a year-over-year basis to $51.3 million at Salem, reflecting lower broadcast and publishing income following the sale of the company’s Contemporary Christian music stations. But a deeper review of the results reveals bright spots.

Net broadcast revenue decreased 11.6% to $40.7 million, in part due to a $5.9 million impact from station sales. But on a same-station basis, Salem says net broadcast revenue increased by 1.5% in Q3 to $40.2 million. The company says both local station and Salem Radio Network spot advertising revenue declined, in part since the company saw political revenue decline 12% vs. a year ago. But it was made up in part through a $2.1 million increase in broadcast digital sales.

While radio station digital revenue gained ground, Salem says its pureplay digital business was softer. Net digital media revenue decreased 3.1%, which it blames on a decrease in programmatic revenue and a dip in digital download revenue from its church product website. It also had small declines for its Eagle Financial Publications product, which it blames on softer sales for DayTrade Spy SP products. The recent acquisition of the Jim Fink newsletter helped make up for some of that weakness.

Salem also closed the books on its publishing business. The company reported it didn’t have any publishing revenue during Q3 after it closed the sale of its self-publishing business Salem Author Services on July 1. The filing shows the unit was sold for $100,000, with Salem taking a $1.2 million loss on the deal.

During 2025 Salem executed a broad restructuring plan. It completed the $80 million sale of its remaining contemporary Christian radio stations in April to K-Love, and used the proceeds to retire a $72 million secured note.

Salem still has two other pending deals to sell some radio assets in Honolulu and Greenville, SC. One other pending sale has fallen through, however. Salem reached a $9.5 million deal in October 2023 to sell some land in Sarasota, FL used for an AM tower, but it tells investors the buyer backed out of the sale in June.

According to Salem’s disclosures, operating expenses dropped sharply, declining 9% from a year ago aided by station divestitures and cost-reduction efforts. That helped the company to report a smaller third-quarter loss. For the third quarter, Salem posted a net loss of $2.3 million, compared with a $6.6 million loss a year earlier.

Salem didn’t offer any fourth-quarter outlook in its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. But it does tell investors that it recorded a $25.2 million impairment charge to broadcast license values in 11 markets, including Los Angeles, Dallas, and Philadelphia, amid lower industry-wide growth forecasts.