June 3, 2008 - Following the conclusion of its first shareholders meeting as a publicly traded company, Debut Broadcasting Corporation Inc. (OTCBB: DBTB), a media and entertainment company, today released the following summary of the items discussed during its annual meeting held Tuesday, May 20, 2008 in Franklin, Tenn.
Robert Marquitz, Debut Broadcasting’s chairman of the board, conducted the inaugural meeting and brought the following matters brought before the shareholders and approved by a majority vote:
| -- Selection and sustaining of the new board members, made up of the following shareholders: Robert Marquitz (chairman), Steven Ludwig, Garrett Cecchini, Suresh Saraswat, M.D. and Frank Woods; the new board is a majority independent board |
| -- Ratification of Maddox Unger Silberstein, PLLC, as the company's registered independent auditor |
According to Steven Ludwig, Debut’s chief executive officer (CEO), highlights of the items discussed during the meeting included
| -- A review and summary of the unaudited first quarter results of 2008 (ended March 31), including information management believes was instructive, such as comparing Debut's results on a quarter-by-quarter basis. Specifically, |
| -- Debut's net revenue in the first quarter of 2008 grew 41 percent on a year-over-year basis versus the first quarter of 2007 ($451,000 versus $263,000) |
| -- Additionally, Debut lowered its net operating loss by more than 50 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007 (ended December 31) to the first quarter of 2008 |
| -- This is on top of a more than 16 percent reduction in net operating loss and an 8.5 percent reduction in expense in the fourth quarter of 2007 versus the third quarter of 2007 (ended September 30) |
| -- Additionally, a review of the ongoing sales efforts throughout Debut's operating companies, showed that |
| -- Debut is bucking industry trends by proving to be a growth company in an industry with little or no growth in 2008. Specifically, |
| -- Top-line sales numbers at Debut are keeping pace with internal expectations, with |
| -- National advertising sales growth outpacing industry reports |
| -- Revenue from local radio stations outperforming comparable stations in larger markets |
| -- Debut's new media efforts (announced earlier in the year) are also beginning to gain traction and are expected to contribute three to seven percent of total monthly sales by the end of 2008 |
| -- In addition, Debut's non-traditional revenue (NTR) in the radio market has been growing at a pace of 25 percent on a year-over-year basis, and is being driven by |
| -- Debut's new media efforts |
| -- Its sports marketing outreach (sponsorship of NASCAR(R), college, and high school play-by-play coverage) |
| -- Event-based promotions |
“In spite of difficult challenges in the national and global economies, our national advertising results related to the syndication unit were very strong,” Ludwig said. “We’ve seen an influx of new advertising typically earmarked for television that has shifted to radio because of its ability to deliver targeted reach and frequency more affordably. We also continue to see strong growth from our owned and/or operated stations in smaller markets. Industry-wide, small markets continue to be the real growth spots in radio. Advertising sales in our O&O radio markets are continuing to experience very positive results and growth year over year. For example, in Vicksburg, Mississippi we are seeing double-digit growth right out of the gate.”
Ludwig went into greater detail about some of the cost-saving efficiencies that Debut was beginning to experience through its Super-Regional Cluster strategy.
“As we acquire multiple stations in a specific market, as we did in Greenville, Miss., we streamline operations by having a single, regional manager instead of having a separate general manager at each station,” Ludwig said. “We do the same thing with engineering and with business managers, as we only require one of each position to fill their respective roles across multiple stations in one market or (in other words) across a cluster of media properties within one city or market. That’s a fairly common industry practice.
“What we’ve done, however, that is uncommon is to apply this same strategy across stations in multiple markets or cities. That’s where the concept of a Super-Regional Cluster comes from, and what we’re finding is that one top-notch performer can handle multiple stations throughout an entire region. On average, this works out to an annual saving on salaries and benefits of $100,000 per station, or a cost-reduction at the supervisory level of close to 80 percent per station. Those are big numbers, and since we didn’t expand into our second market (in Vicksburg, Mississippi) until late in the first quarter, we really don’t expect to see measurable results from the beginnings of our first Super-Regional Cluster until we report our Q2 results. That being the case, we also expect to see similar cost savings as we expand our Super-Regional Cluster model into other markets as well.”
Other highlights of Debut’s first annual shareholder meeting discussion included an update on Debut’s move to its Hands-Free Digital Delivery Initiative, which will provide online digital delivery of both syndicated programming content and radio commercials. Originally slated to take place during a three-year period with a target completion of 2010, Debut has moved up its implementation deadline and expects its Digital Delivery Initiative to be fully operational by the end of 2008.
“This will bring an immediate cost savings of $3,500 per week just by eliminating CD replication and fulfillment costs,” Ludwig explained. “Within the radio syndication industry, our aggressive conversion to digital capabilities will give us a competitive advantage with national advertisers, since digital helps shorten the turnaround time of advertising. Syndication companies that do not convert to digital will be at a competitive disadvantage, an advantage for us that we are poised to exploit.
“With seven ‘Owned and Operated’ (O&O) stations folded into Debut since mid-2007, we are also in a stronger position to create and produce new programming content that we will own and can also roll-out to our syndication network of more than 1,400 stations throughout North America. Given the ongoing and anticipated growth of HD radio as stations continue to add up to two high-definition radio signals for every existing frequency they currently operate, we believe that our Impact Radio Networks division is well-equipped to either supplement or completely provide the new music-based content needed for these HD side-channels.”
Finally, Ludwig further explained that Debut has broadened its executive team in the past few weeks with the promotion of Sariah Hopkins to chief financial officer from controller and the addition of Bill Sutton as chief corporate engineer.
In conclusion, Ludwig added the following to his presentation:
“One year ago, we set some aggressive growth objectives for Debut that were centered around a roll-up of radio stations and synergies with our existing syndication operation,” he said. “It has always been anticipated that the pace of acquisitions would be driven largely by access to capital. We are prepared to grow, unfortunately the markets are not. So we will continue to focus on the profitability of existing operations, and we’ll monitor capital markets into the future for appropriate opportunities to fund additional growth.”
A copy of the slide show delivered during Debut’s annual shareholder meeting and an audio version of the presentation are available online at www.debutbroadcasting.com/investorre...
About Debut Broadcasting Corporation, Inc. A media and entertainment company, Debut Broadcasting Corporation, Inc. (OTCBB: DBTB) supports its clients throughout North America while also improving shareholder value through targeted turnaround opportunities in the southeastern United States. Through its entertainment arm, Impact Radio Networks, Debut sells pre-recorded radio programs and related services to more than 1,400 AM and FM stations in the U.S. and Canada, and reaches more than 45 million listeners per week, making it one of the leading syndicators in the industry. The company also provides marketing, consulting and media buying for its radio broadcast stations. Through its media division, Debut identifies and acquires (or manages) underperforming and undervalued media properties in the southeastern U.S., and its first five acquisitions have given Debut radio dominance in the greater Greenville, Mississippi marketplace. For more information about Debut Broadcasting, please visit www.debutbroadcasting.com or email ir@debutbroadcasting.com.
Debut Broadcasting and Super-Regional Cluster are trademarks of Debut Broadcasting Corporation, Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this news release may not be based on historical facts and are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements may be identified by reference to a future period or by the use of forward-looking terminology, such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “foresee,” “may,” “might,” “will,” “intend,” “could,” “would,” “plan,” “forecast” or future or conditional verb tenses and variations or negatives of such terms. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, those relating to the services provided by our Chief Financial Officer, our entry into new markets and fields and our earnings potential.
We caution you not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this news release because actual results could differ materially from those indicated in such forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors. These factors include, but are not limited to, our ability to provide and market competitive services and products, our ability to attract, train and retain qualified personnel, our ability to operate and integrate new technology, changes in consumer preferences, changes in our operating or expansion strategy, changes in economic conditions, our ability to identify and effectively integrate potential acquisitions, FCC and government approval of potential acquisitions, geographic concentrations of our assets and susceptibility to economic downturns in that area, our ability to compete with other companies that produce and distribute syndicated radio programs and/or own radio stations, other factors generally understood to affect the financial condition or results of companies that produce and distribute syndicated radio programs and/or own radio stations and other factors detailed from time to time in our press releases and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect the occurrence of changes or unanticipated events, circumstances or results that occur after the date of this news release.
Politis Communications for Debut Broadcasting
Media Contacts:
Jonathan Bacon, 801-523-3730
Cell: 801-660-7820
jbacon@politis.com
Lindsay Thomson, 801-523-3730
Cell: 973-224-2569
lthomson@politis.com
Investor Contact:
David Politis, 801-523-3730
Cell: 801-556-8184
dpolitis@politis.com