Beasley Broadcast Group owns a cluster of stations at ground zero for the housing bubble bust – Las Vegas – and Ft. Myers, FL was hit pretty hard as well. The construction industry still hasn’t rebounded in those markets, but COO Bruce Beasley says there is a ray of hope: Tourism.
“In regards to both of those markets, we do see it getting better because the service industries are improving,” he said in response to a question during the company’s quarterly conference call. That pickup in the service industries is due to “the positive impact of increased tourism.”
CFO Caroline Beasley had reported that the Las Vegas market was down 3.9% in Q3, with the Beasley cluster’s ad revenues down 6.1%, which she attributed to the lack of $1 million in political advertising from Q3 of 2010. The Beasley stations actually outperformed the market in local advertising, but took a big hit on the national side.
The Ft. Myers market was down almost 5% in Q3, while the Beasley cluster was down 2%.
