Quiver Quantitative

Risk Factors Dashboard

Once a year, publicly traded companies issue a comprehensive report of their business, called a 10-K. A component mandated in the 10-K is the ‘Risk Factors’ section, where companies disclose any major potential risks that they may face. This dashboard highlights all major changes and additions in new 10K reports, allowing investors to quickly identify new potential risks and opportunities.

View risk factors by ticker

Search filings by term

Risk Factors - TSQ

-New additions in green
-Changes in blue
-Hover to see similar sentence in last filing

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

An investment in Townsquare involves a variety of risks and uncertainties. The following factors and other factors discussed in this Annual Report could cause our actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements made in this Annual Report or presented elsewhere in future SEC reports or statements made by our management from time to time. These factors may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows, and should be carefully considered. We may update these factors in our future periodic reports.

Risks Related to Economic Conditions and Our Business

Macroeconomic factors such as inflation, rising interest rates, and changes in the economy have had, and may continue to have a material adverse effect on our business.

A substantial majority of our net revenue is generated from the sale of local, regional and national advertising on our digital properties and radio stations. In addition, our target clients for our digital marketing solutions business are SMBs. Periods of economic slowdown and uncertainty, recession or recessionary indicators, increases in unemployment rates, interest rates and inflation rates, prolonged supply chain disruptions or labor shortages, market volatility, political instability or a reduction in consumer confidence in the U.S. economy may have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Decisions by advertisers and subscribers to delay, reduce or cancel their advertising, campaign, or subscription spending on our platforms based on changes in economic conditions could also slow our revenue growth or reduce our revenues, and SMBs, who generally have less resources than larger companies, may limit their spending. Furthermore, because a substantial portion of our revenue is derived from local advertisers, our ability to generate advertising revenue in specific markets (including concentrations in and around the Northeast, Upper Midwest, Texas and the Mountain West) could be adversely affected by local or regional economic downturns. A downturn in the U.S. economy could also adversely affect our advertising revenue and our results of operations.

These industries, among others, have been adversely affected by prior downturns in the economy, and may be adversely affected by any future downturns in the economy, and a significant decrease in advertising revenue from advertisers in these industries in the future could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Decisions by SMBs targeted by Townsquare Interactive, our digital marketing services business, to delay or reduce their spending based on economic conditions could slow our subscriber growth or increase our subscriber attrition.

A decline in attendance at or reduction in the number of concerts and live events may have an adverse effect on revenue and operating income from our live events business. During periods of economic slowdown and recession, many consumers have historically reduced their discretionary spending. Consumer discretionary spending is sensitive to many factors such as employment, fuel and energy prices, inflation and general economic conditions, and as a result, the risks associated with our live events business may become more acute in periods of a slowing economy or recession, which may be accompanied by a decrease in attendance at our live events. The impact of economic slowdowns on our business is difficult to predict, but they may result in reductions in ticket sales, sponsorships and our ability to generate revenue from our live events business.

Our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected if we are unable to acquire certain broadcast rights or our broadcast rights contracts are not renewed on sufficiently favorable terms.

We sometimes enter into broadcast rights contracts in the ordinary course of business for both the acquisition and distribution of media content and products, including contracts for both the acquisition and distribution of content rights for sporting events and other programs, and contracts relating to content produced by third parties on our radio stations. If we are unable to renew these contracts, as they expire, on acceptable terms, we may lose these rights, the related content and the related revenue. Even if these contracts are renewed, the cost of obtaining content rights may increase (or increase at faster rates than in the past) or the revenue from distribution of content may be reduced (or increase at slower rates than in the past). The impact of broadcast rights contracts and the terms of the contracts on our results will depend on a number of factors beyond our control, including the strength of advertising markets, effectiveness of marketing efforts, the size of audiences, and the related contract expenses and costs. There can be no assurance that revenue from content based on these rights will exceed the cost of the rights plus the other costs of producing and distributing the content.

Our results are impacted by political advertising revenue, which can vary from even to odd-numbered years.

Political advertising revenue from elections, which is generally greater in even-numbered years and especially the years in which the U.S. President is elected, has the potential to create fluctuations in our operating results on a year-to-year basis. For example, we had political advertising revenue of $13.4 million and $2.9 million, during 2024 and 2023, respectively. In addition, political advertising revenue is dependent on the level of political ad spend and competitiveness of local, state and national elections within each local market.

If we are unable to retain our digital audience, our business may be adversely affected.

Faced with a multitude of media choices and a dramatic increase in accessible information, consumers may place greater value on when, where, how and at what price they consume digital content than they do on the source or reliability of such content. In addition, the undifferentiated presentation of some of our content in aggregation with other content may lead audiences to fail to distinguish our content from the content of other providers. Our reputation for quality journalism and content are important in competing for revenue in this environment and are based on consumer and advertiser perceptions. If consumers fail to differentiate our content from other content providers in digital media, or if the quality of our journalism or content is perceived as less reliable, we may not be able to increase our online traffic sufficiently or retain a base of frequent visitors to our local and national digital properties.

Online traffic is also driven by internet search and social media referrals, including search results provided by Google, the primary search engine directing traffic to our websites, and links from Facebook, the primary social media platform directing traffic to our websites. Any such changes could decrease the amount of revenue that we generate from online advertisements. The failure to successfully manage search engine optimization efforts across our business could result in a significant decrease in traffic to our various websites, which could result in substantial decreases in conversion rates and repeat business, as well as increased costs if we were to replace free traffic with paid traffic, any or all of which would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Even if we maintain traffic levels, the market position of our brands may not be enough to counteract a significant downward pressure on advertising rates.

To remain competitive, we must respond to changes in technology, services and standards that characterize our industry.

The radio broadcasting and digital advertising industries are subject to technological change, evolving industry standards and the emergence of new media technologies and trends. We may not have the resources to acquire new technologies or to introduce new services that could compete with these new technologies and may allow us to adapt to new trends. Various media technologies and services have been or are being developed or introduced, including:

•satellite-delivered digital audio radio service, which resulted in subscriber-based satellite radio services with numerous niche formats;

•audio content by cable systems, direct-broadcast satellite systems, personal communications systems, content available over the internet and other digital audio broadcast formats;

•in-band on-channel digital radio, which provides multi-channel, multi-format digital radio services in the same bandwidth currently occupied by traditional AM and FM radio services;

•Low-Power FM radio stations, which are non-commercial FM radio broadcast outlets, that serve small, localized areas;

•applications that permit users to listen to programming on a time-delayed basis and to fast-forward through programming and/or advertisements (e.g., podcasts);

•iPhone/iPad and similar mobile devices, gaming consoles, in-home entertainment and enhanced automotive platforms, voice activated smart speakers, and streaming internet services such as Netflix, Spotify, and Pandora, all of which provide access to audio and other entertainment content to consumers.

In addition, some automobile manufacturers have removed AM radio functionality from their vehicles. Although Congress is considering legislation to maintain AM radio in vehicles, we cannot predict whether these legislative efforts will be successful, or their impact on our business.

Further, we cannot predict the effect, if any, that competition arising from new technologies may have on the radio broadcasting and digital advertising industries or on our business, financial condition and results of operations, some of which could result in the imposition of significant costs and expenses not previously part of our business operations.

The failure or destruction of transmitter and other facilities that we depend upon to distribute our content could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We rely on third-party contracts and services to operate our origination and distribution facilities. These third-party contracts and services include, but are not limited to, electrical power, satellite uplinks, telecom circuits and internet connectivity. Distribution may be disrupted due to one or more third parties losing their ability to provide particular services to us, which could adversely affect our distribution capabilities. Our ability to distribute content to our radio station audience and/or network affiliates may be disrupted for an undetermined period of time until alternate facilities are engaged and put on-line. Furthermore, until we fix issues that arise or third-party services resume when applicable, the inability to originate or distribute content could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are dependent on key personnel.

The leadership, skills and experience of our senior management team are critical to our operations, and the loss of one or more members of our senior management team could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, including impairing our ability to execute and evolve our business strategy. We believe that our future success will depend greatly on our continued ability to attract, retain and motivate highly skilled and qualified personnel.

Competition for employees with these skill sets is intense and our continued ability to compete effectively depends, in part, upon our ability to attract new employees. We will also need to be able to balance the costs of recruiting and retaining these employees with profitable growth. If we are unable to do so, our business, financial condition or results of operations may be adversely affected.

The success of our radio stations is significantly impacted by our on-air talent, and we compete for on-air talent with other radio stations and radio station groups, radio networks, and other providers of syndicated content and other media such as broadcast television, cable television, satellite television, the internet and satellite radio. Our employees and other on-air talent are subject to change and may be lost to competitors or for other reasons, and the contracts we have with certain talent generally are limited in duration. In addition, the FTC has adopted rules that, would ban most post-termination non-compete clauses and require employers to rescind existing ones. Those rules are stayed pending judicial review, but if upheld, these new rules could have a material adverse impact on our ability to retain key personnel.

Artificial intelligence presents new risks and challenges to our business.

We are currently developing several artificial intelligence (“AI”) initiatives, both internally and with external partners. Our efforts to develop, acquire or integrate these technologies involve time, costs, and other resources. Issues relating to the use of new and evolving technologies such as AI and machine learning may cause us to experience brand or reputational harm, competitive harm, legal liability, and new or enhanced governmental or regulatory scrutiny, and we may incur additional costs to resolve such issues. As with many innovations, AI presents risks and challenges that could undermine or slow adoption and therefore harm our business. Further, if our efforts to develop, acquire or integrate these technologies are unsuccessful, it may have a materially adverse impact on our business, future prospects and financial position.

The use of AI by our business partners and advertisers may lead to novel risks, which could have a material adverse effect on our operations and reputation as well as that of our business partners and advertisers. In addition, the legal and regulatory framework surrounding AI is developing rapidly, and new or changing standards may require significant resources to modify and maintain business practices to comply with United States federal and state laws, as well as international laws concerning the use of AI.

AI may also permit our competitors to be able to devote greater resources to the development, promotion, and sale of their software solutions and services. If our competitors’ products, services or platforms become more accepted than our solutions, or if our competitors are able to respond more quickly and effectively to new or changing opportunities, technologies, or customer requirements, or if their products or services are more technologically capable than ours, it may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

Increases in or new royalties could adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We pay royalties to song composers and publishers through four performing rights organizations (“PROs”). Royalties are currently paid to Broadcast Music, Inc. (“BMI”), the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (“ASCAP”), SESAC, Inc. (“SESAC”) and Global Music Rights, Inc. We also pay royalties to SoundExchange for digital public performance of sound recordings in connection with the streaming of music. Royalty rates are subject to periodic

adjustment and proceedings are currently underway in which certain PROs and SoundExchange are seeking increased royalties. In addition, should one or more new PROs establish that we use compositions to which they have the rights, the royalties we pay could increase.

From time to time, Congress considers legislation that could require that radio broadcasters pay sound recording performance royalties to record labels, recording artists, and other copyright holders for over-the-air broadcasting. We cannot predict whether any proposed legislation will become law. The proposed legislation would add additional royalties to be paid, likely to Sound Exchange, for the benefit of record labels (or other sound recording copyright holders) and artists. If adopted, these royalties would increase the cost of music and other sound recordings. It is currently unknown what proposed legislation, if any, will become law. However, if adopted, such additional royalties could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The DOJ, from time to time, considers whether to reform or terminate the long-standing antitrust consent decrees that govern music licensing by ASCAP and BMI. Any change to the consent decrees could lead to the increase of our royalty rates associated with obtaining rights to use musical compositions and sound recordings in our programming content.

The use of music other than in connection with our broadcast operations and the streaming of our broadcast programming is not covered by our broadcast licenses with ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, GMR and Sound Exchange. In most cases, rights to use music on digital platforms requires direct negotiations with the copyright holders. There is no guarantee that rights to such music uses can be obtained at reasonable costs which could restrict our ability to monetize and grow our online operations.

Our substantial indebtedness could have an adverse impact on us.

We have a significant amount of indebtedness. As of December 31, 2024, we had $465.8 million of outstanding indebtedness, net of deferred financing costs of $1.7 million, with a 2025 cash interest expense requirement of approximately $16.1 million. On February 19, 2025 we entered into a credit agreement (the “Credit Agreement”) with Bank of America, N.A., as administrative agent and collateral agent and the lenders and financial institutions party thereto, that contemplated a five-year $470 million senior secured term loan facility (the “Term Loan Facility”) and a five-year $20 million senior secured revolving credit facility (the “Revolving Credit Facility” and, together with the Term Loan Facility, the “Senior Secured Credit Facility”). We used the approximately $453 million of net proceeds from the Senior Secured Credit Facility (after giving effect to original issue discount, fees, expenses and the $10 million of the

Revolving Credit Facility drawn at closing), together with cash on hand, to redeem the $467.4 million aggregate principal amount outstanding of the 6.875% senior secured notes due 2026. Our substantial level of indebtedness increases the risk that we may be unable to generate cash sufficient to pay amounts due in respect of our indebtedness. We may incur substantial additional amounts of indebtedness, as well as incur significant non-debt obligations, which could further exacerbate the risks associated with such indebtedness. Our substantial indebtedness could have other significant effects on our business.

For example, it could:

•increase our vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions;

•require us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to make payments on our indebtedness, thereby reducing the availability of our cash flow to fund working capital, capital expenditures and other general corporate purposes;

•limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and the industry in which we operate;

•restrict us from taking advantage of opportunities to grow our business;

•make it more difficult to satisfy our financial obligations;

•place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors that have less debt obligations; and

•limit our ability to borrow additional funds for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, the execution of our own business strategy or other general corporate purposes on satisfactory terms or at all.

Our ability to comply with those covenants depends on our future operating performance and cash flow, which are in turn subject to prevailing economic conditions, increases or decreases in advertising spending, changes in the highly competitive industry in which we operate, which may be rapid, and other factors, many of which are beyond our control. Our failure to comply with those covenants could result in an event of default which, if not cured or waived, could result in the acceleration of all of our indebtedness, which would have a material adverse effect on our business.

The Senior Secured Credit Facility matures on February 19, 2030 and, under certain circumstances, will be subject to mandatory prepayments. Any failure to make payments of interest and principal on our outstanding indebtedness on a timely basis would likely result in a reduction of our credit rating, which could harm our ability to incur additional indebtedness.

Capital requirements necessary to operate our business or consummate acquisitions could pose risks.

Our business requires a certain level of capital expenditures. If our cash flows and capital resources are insufficient to fund our debt service obligations, we could be forced to reduce or delay investments and capital expenditures, adversely impacting our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we may be required to increase our debt and/or issue equity securities in order to consummate an acquisition, and we may not have sufficient cash flows and capital resources to consummate one or more acquisitions. In addition, our ability to obtain financing depends on a number of other factors, many of which are also beyond our control, such as interest rates and national and local business conditions. If the cost of obtaining needed financing is too high or the terms of such financing are otherwise unacceptable in relation to the acquisition opportunity we are presented with, we may decide to forego that opportunity. Additional indebtedness could increase our leverage and make us more vulnerable to economic downturns and may limit our ability to withstand competitive pressures.

Risks Related to Our Industry and Competition

Our future revenue and earnings growth will be significantly impacted by our digital lines of business, which are subject to significant competition and rapidly changing technology.

These digital business lines are subject to significant competition, rapidly changing technology, and evolving standards. We will need to cultivate new relationships with customers, third party providers and other partners in each of these markets. We may not be able to compete successfully against current and future competitors, and our business, results of operations and financial condition will be harmed if we fail to meet these competitive pressures. In addition, there can be no assurance that our

digital technologies we use or develop will be adequate, or that we will be able to establish our proprietary right to the technologies we rely upon.

To do so, we must convince prospective subscribers of the benefits of our technology platform and existing subscribers of the continuing value of our products and services. Most of our contracts with subscribers are terminable upon short or no notice. The digital marketing solutions sector is highly competitive.

We may lose audience ratings, market share and advertising revenue to competing radio stations or other types of media competitors.

We operate in a highly competitive industry. Our radio operations compete for audiences and advertising market share with other radio stations and radio station groups, radio networks, other syndicated content and other media such as broadcast television, newspapers, magazines, cable television, satellite television, the internet, internet radio, digital platforms and applications, satellite radio, outdoor advertising, mobile devices and other portable digital audio players. Any adverse change in a particular market or in the relative market positions of the radio stations located in a particular market, or any adverse change in audiences’ preferences could have a material adverse effect on our ratings or revenue. Other radio broadcasting companies may enter the markets in which we operate or may operate in the future, offer syndicated content that competes with our content, or try to acquire distribution rights of media content and products or on-air talent that we use or have under contract, and these companies may be larger and have more financial resources than we do.

In addition, from time to time, other radio stations may change their format or content, or a radio station may adopt a format to compete directly with us for audiences and advertisers. These tactics could result in lower ratings, lower market share and lower advertising revenue or increased promotion and other expenses and, consequently, lower earnings and cash flow for us. Audience preferences as to format or content may also shift due to demographic changes, personnel or other content changes, a decline in broadcast listening trends or other reasons. We may not be able to adapt to these changes or trends, any of which could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. If we elect to make significant changes to our format or content to respond to changes in audience preferences or competition in a number of markets, such changes could utilize significant management resources, capital and time to implement and our new format and content may not be successful.

It has intensified as a result of the continued development of digital media and in recent years, advertisers have shifted dollars toward digital, putting downward pressure on our broadcast revenue. If this trend continues, we may experience a decline in broadcast revenue as a result. In addition, competition from all of these media and services affects our ability to attract and retain advertisers and consumers and to maintain or increase our advertising rates.

Our success is dependent upon audience engagement with our content, which is difficult to predict.

The commercial success of content or a program also depends upon the quality and acceptance of other competing programs released into the marketplace at or near the same time, the availability of alternative forms of entertainment and leisure time activities, general economic conditions and other tangible and intangible factors, all of which are difficult to predict.

Ratings for broadcast radio stations and traffic or visitors to a particular website are also factors that are weighed when advertisers determine which outlets to use and in determining the advertising rates that the outlet receives.

Poor ratings or traffic levels can lead to a reduction in pricing and advertising revenue. For example, if there is an event causing a change of programming at one of our radio stations, there could be no assurance that any replacement programming would generate the same level of ratings, revenue or profitability as the previous programming. In addition, changes in ratings methodology and technology could adversely impact our ratings and negatively affect our advertising revenue. Because of the competitive factors we face, we cannot assure investors that we will be able to maintain or increase our current audience ratings and advertising revenue, which could have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our live events business depends in part on our ability to anticipate the tastes of consumers and to offer events that appeal to them. Since we rely on unrelated parties to perform at certain of our live events, any lack of availability of popular artists could limit our ability to generate revenue. In addition, our live events business typically plans and makes certain commitments to future events up to 18 months in advance of the event, and often agrees to pay an artist or other service providers or venues a fixed guaranteed deposit prior to our receiving any revenue as is standard in the live events industry. Therefore, if the public is not receptive to the event, or we or an artist cancel the event, we may incur a loss for the event depending on the amount of the fixed guaranteed or incurred costs relative to any revenue earned, as well as revenue we could have earned at the event. For certain events, we have cancellation insurance policies in place to cover a portion of our losses but this coverage may not be sufficient and is subject to deductibles. Furthermore, consumer preferences change from time to time, and our failure to anticipate, identify or react to these changes could result in reduced demand for our live events, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Risks Related to Acquisitions

There are risks associated with our acquisition strategy.

We cannot predict whether we will be successful in pursuing these acquisitions or what the consequences of these acquisitions will be. Any acquisitions in the future may be subject to various conditions, such as compliance with FCC and antitrust regulatory requirements.

The FCC requirements include:

•approval of license assignments and transfers;

•limits on the number of radio stations a broadcaster may own in a given local market; and

•other rules and policies, such as the ownership attribution rules, that could limit our ability to acquire radio stations in certain markets where one or more of our stockholders, officers or directors have other media interests.

The antitrust regulatory requirements include:

•filings with the DOJ and the FTC under the HSR Act, where applicable;

•expiration or termination of any applicable waiting period under the HSR Act; and

•possible review by the DOJ or the FTC of antitrust issues under the HSR Act or otherwise.

Completion of any acquisition may be approved by regulatory authorities subject to our compliance with certain conditions. These conditions may be onerous, and may include the requirement that we divest certain assets, which may include radio stations we already own or we propose to acquire. We cannot be certain whether we would be willing to satisfy any of these conditions or whether they can be satisfied, the timing thereof, or the potential impact on us any such conditions may have. In addition, the FCC has in the past asserted the authority to review levels of local radio market

concentration as part of its acquisition approval process, even where proposed assignments would comply with the numerical limits on local radio station ownership in the FCC’s rules and the Communications Act.

Our acquisition strategy involves numerous other risks, including risks associated with:

•identifying acquisition candidates, competing for such acquisitions and negotiating definitive purchase agreements on satisfactory terms, and the related costs of these activities;

•integrating operations, systems, and other internal controls, and managing a large and geographically diverse group of assets;

•unsatisfactory returns on investment or an inability to achieve anticipated synergies on a timely basis or at all;

•diverting our management’s attention from other business concerns;

•entry into new markets and geographic areas where we have limited or no experience;

•retaining key employees, customers, suppliers or other third-party relationships of the acquired businesses;

•assumption of known and unknown liabilities, some of which may be difficult or impossible to quantify;

•non-cash impairment charges or other accounting charges relating to the acquired assets;

•tax costs or inefficiencies; and

•a diminishing number of properties available for sale in appropriately sized and located markets.

In addition, we are not certain that we will be able to acquire properties at valuations as favorable as those of previous acquisitions. Depending upon the nature, size and timing of potential future acquisitions, we may be required to raise additional financing or issue additional securities in order to consummate additional acquisitions. Our debt agreements, as may be in place at any time, may not permit us to consummate an acquisition or access the necessary additional financing because of certain covenant restrictions. Furthermore, we cannot be certain that additional capital will be available to us or, if available, that capital would be on terms acceptable to our management team.

Due to various market and financial conditions, we may not be able to successfully complete future acquisitions or future dispositions of our radio stations, or achieve the related benefits we anticipate.

We engage in strategic sales of our assets from time to time, as it makes financial sense to do so and meets our overall business needs. We have also been required by the FCC to divest radio stations. However, due to financial and economic market conditions, both in the radio industry and in the overall U.S. economy, as well as antitrust, FCC and other regulatory requirements, our consummation of future acquisitions or dispositions, including those requiring radio station divestitures, is uncertain and may be difficult. In addition, we cannot be certain that we will be able to successfully integrate any recent or future acquisitions or manage the resulting business effectively, or that any acquisition or disposition will achieve the benefits that we anticipate.

Risks Related to Our Financial Reporting and Accounting

We have remediated several material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting in prior years. If we experience additional material weaknesses in the future, our business may be harmed.

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting and for evaluating and reporting on the effectiveness of our system of internal control. Our internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external reporting purposes in accordance with U.S. GAAP. As a public company, we are required to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other rules that govern public companies. In particular, we are required to certify our compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which requires us to annually furnish a report by management on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting.

If we identify material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting in the future, our business may be harmed. Such harm may include: (i) failure to accurately report our financial results, to prevent fraud or to meet our SEC reporting obligations on a timely basis or at all; (ii) material misstatements in our Consolidated Financial Statements and harm to our operating results and investor confidence; and (iii) a material adverse effect on the trading price of our stock. In addition, the foregoing could subject us to sanctions or investigations by the NYSE, the SEC or other regulatory authorities, and result in the breach of covenants in our debt agreements, any of which could have a material adverse impact on our operations, financial condition, results of operations, liquidity and our stock’s trading price.

Further, there are inherent limitations in the effectiveness of any control system, including the potential for human error and the possible circumvention or overriding of controls and procedures. Additionally, judgments in decision-making can be faulty and breakdowns can occur because of a simple error or mistake. An effective control system can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the control objectives of the system are adequately met. Finally, projections of any evaluation or assessment of effectiveness of a control system to future periods are subject to the risks that, over time, controls may become inadequate because of changes in an entity’s operating environment or deterioration in the degree of compliance with policies or procedures.

Future losses could be caused by future asset impairment of our FCC licenses and/or goodwill.

Impairment is measured as the excess of the carrying value of the goodwill or intangible asset over its fair value. Intangible assets that have finite useful lives continue to be amortized over their useful lives and are also measured for impairment if events or circumstances indicate that they may be impaired. Impairment losses are recorded as operating expenses.

The valuation of intangible assets is subjective and based on estimates rather than precise calculations. If actual future results are not consistent with the assumptions and estimates used, we may be exposed to impairment charges in the future. The fair value measurements for both our goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets use significant unobservable inputs which reflect our own assumptions about the estimates that market participants would use in measuring fair value including assumptions about risk.

The fair value of FCC licenses and goodwill is primarily dependent on the expected future cash flows of our business. If actual market conditions and operational performance underlying the intangible assets were to deteriorate, or if facts and circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the estimated fair value of the FCC licenses or goodwill below their adjusted carrying amounts, the Company may be required to recognize additional non-cash impairment charges in future periods, which could have a material impact on the Company’s business, financial condition and results of operations.

Refer to Note 5, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets, Net for additional information.

Risks Related to Technology

New technologies could block our digital ads, and new restrictions on third-party cookies could harm our digital advertising business.

As a result, such technologies and tools could adversely affect our operating results. In order to effectively target digital advertising campaigns, we use a combination of first and third-party data. Any restrictions that limit the use of third-party cookies could impact our ability to deliver effective digital advertising results which could adversely affect our operating results.

A disruption, compromise, or breach of our systems or data due to a cybersecurity threat or incident could adversely affect our business.

Our business depends on the availability, reliability, and security of our information systems, networks, data, and intellectual property. Any disruption, compromise, or breach of our systems could interrupt or damage our operations, harm our reputation, and adversely affect our competitive position. Any security breaches of our computer systems, including repeated or sustained attacks or disruptions, could interrupt delivery of services to customers, potentially increasing costs and reducing revenue. If third parties or our employees are able to penetrate our network security or otherwise misappropriate personal information or contact information of our customers, audience, business partners or advertisers, or if we give third parties or our employees improper access to such data, we could be subject to liability. This liability could include identity theft or other similar fraud-related claims, as well as claims that we failed to uphold our contractual obligations or legal duties to protect the privacy and confidentiality of our business partners and other stakeholders. This liability could also include claims for other misuses or losses of personal information, including for unauthorized marketing purposes. Other liabilities could include claims alleging misrepresentation of our privacy and data security practices.

The number and scale of cyber-attacks causing significant business disruptions, such as global ransomware attacks, are increasing and could pose a risk to our ability to deliver our services and operate our business. Recovering from such an attack may require significant resources to restore business operations and our services, including personnel time and capital costs. In some cases, recovery of such data may not be possible. If a security breach results in the exposure or unauthorized disclosure of personal information, we could incur additional costs associated with data breach notification and remediation expenses, investigation costs, regulatory penalties and fines, and legal proceedings.

We rely on encryption and authentication technology licensed from third parties to provide the security and authentication necessary to effect secure online transmission of confidential consumer information. Advances in computer capabilities, new discoveries in the field of cryptography or other events or developments may result in a compromise or breach of the algorithms that we use to protect sensitive customer transaction data. A party who is able to circumvent our security measures could misappropriate proprietary information or cause interruptions in our operations. We may be required to expend capital and other resources to protect against such security breaches or cyber-attacks or to alleviate problems caused by such breaches or attacks. No network or system can ever be completely secure. Our failure to prevent

such security breaches and cyber-attacks could subject us to liability, adversely affect our results of operations and damage our reputation.

Despite due diligence in engaging these third parties and efforts to contractually protect our interests, we cannot guarantee that these third parties will adequately protect the personal information that we share with, or that is collected on our behalf by, such third parties or that such third parties will fully or sufficiently comply with all applicable data protection laws and contractual obligations. The failure of our third-party service providers to adequately protect the personal information we process could result in a security breach of such personal information, potentially exposing us to business interruption, lost revenue, ransom payments, remediation costs, liabilities to affected parties, cybersecurity protection costs, lost assets, litigation, regulatory scrutiny and actions, reputational harm, customer dissatisfaction, harm to our vendor relationships, or loss of market share.

There have been recent developments in U.S. federal and state data protection laws that we may be required to comply with and which may impact our business. For example, the California Consumer Privacy Act (the “CCPA”), among other things, allows California consumers the right to opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of their personal information, which includes any data transferred for the purpose of cross-contextual behavioral advertising. This opt-out right, and similar opt-out rights in other effective and proposed state privacy laws, may have an adverse effect on our business by decreasing the availability of and increasing the cost of data. The CCPA and other state privacy laws also impose broader obligations on covered businesses such as transparency and information security requirements, and additional privacy rights such as rights to access and delete personal information. Enforcement of these laws may carry a variety of consequences, including civil penalties, litigation, private rights of action or damage to our reputation. Moreover, the regulatory landscape is constantly evolving and subject to ongoing interpretations and guidance from regulatory authorities.

We rely on third parties to provide the technologies necessary to deliver content, advertising and services to our audience, and any change in the licensing terms, costs, availability, or acceptance of these formats and technologies could adversely affect our business.

There can be no assurance that these providers will continue to license their technologies or intellectual property to us on reasonable terms, or at all. Providers may change the fees they charge users or otherwise change their business model in a manner that slows the widespread acceptance of their technologies. In order for our services to be successful, there must be a large base of users of the technologies necessary to deliver our content, advertising and services. We have limited or no control over the availability or acceptance of those technologies, and any change in the licensing terms, costs, availability, or user acceptance of these technologies could adversely affect our business.

Risks Related to Governmental Regulation and Legislation

Our business depends upon licenses issued by the FCC, and if licenses are not renewed or we are out of compliance with FCC regulations and policies, our business could be materially impaired.

Our radio stations depend upon maintaining their broadcasting licenses issued by the FCC, which are currently issued for a maximum term of eight years and are renewable. Interested parties may challenge a renewal application. On rare

occasions, the FCC has revoked licenses, not renewed them, or renewed them with significant qualifications, including renewals for less than a full term of eight years. In the last renewal cycle, the FCC granted all of the license renewal applications that were filed for our radio stations for full eight-year terms. If any of our FCC licenses are not renewed, it would prevent us from operating the affected radio station and generating revenue from it. Further, the FCC has a general policy restricting the transferability of a radio station license while a renewal application for that radio station is pending. In addition, we must comply with extensive FCC regulations and policies governing the ownership and operation of our radio stations. The FCC’s rules governing our radio station operations impose costs on our operations and changes in those rules could have an adverse effect on our business. The FCC also requires radio stations to comply with certain technical requirements to limit interference between two or more radio stations. If the FCC relaxes these technical requirements, it could impair the signals transmitted by our radio stations and could have a material adverse effect on our business. Moreover, governmental regulations and policies may change over time, and the changes may have a material adverse impact upon our business, financial condition and results of operations. For further details on federal regulation of radio broadcasting, see “Business-Federal Regulation of Radio Broadcasting.”

The FCC has been vigorous in its enforcement of its rules and regulations, including its indecency and sponsorship identification rules, violations of which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

m. and 10 p.m. Broadcasters risk violating the prohibition against broadcasting indecent material because of the vagueness of the FCC’s definition of indecent material, coupled with the spontaneity of live content.

Furthermore, in recent years the FCC has increased its enforcement of regulations requiring a radio station to include an on-air announcement which identifies the sponsor of all advertisements and other matter broadcast by any radio station for which any money, service or other valuable consideration is received. Fines for such violations can be substantial as they are dependent on the number of times a particular advertisement or other material is broadcast.

We cannot predict whether Congress will consider or adopt further legislation in this area. In the ordinary course of business, we or the FCC may receive complaints and we may become subject to FCC inquiries or proceedings related to our stations’ broadcasts or operations, and any resulting settlement with or fines from the FCC, revocation of any of our radio station licenses or denials of license renewal applications, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are required to obtain prior federal approval for each station acquisition, which approvals may be subject to our compliance with certain conditions, possibly including asset divestitures, which may be material.

The acquisition of a radio station requires the prior approval of the FCC and may require approvals by other governmental agencies, such as the DOJ or the FTC. To obtain that approval, a proposed acquirer is required to file a transfer of control or assignment of license application with the FCC. The Communications Act and FCC rules allow members of the public and other interested parties to file petitions to deny or other objections to the FCC with respect to the grant of any transfer or assignment application. The FCC could rely on those objections or its own initiative to deny a transfer or assignment application or to require changes in the transaction, including the divestiture of radio stations and other assets, as a condition to having the application granted. Although we do not currently expect such divestitures to be material to our financial position or results of operations, no assurances can be provided that we would not be required to divest additional radio stations in connection with obtaining such approval, or that any such required divestitures would not be material to our financial position or results of operations. The FCC could also change its existing rules and policies to

reduce the number of radio stations that we would be permitted to acquire in some markets. For these and other reasons, there can be no assurance that the FCC will approve potential future acquisitions that we deem material to our business. See “-There are risks associated with our acquisition strategy” for additional information regarding FCC and other regulatory approvals required for acquisitions.

The information we collect and process is of increasing business importance and new or changing federal, state or international privacy legislation or regulation create uncertainty for our continued use of the information we collect and process.

In addition to the risk that a security breach may compromise this information, this information may include personal information such as names, contact information, credit card information, geolocation and demographic information that is subject to specific data protection and privacy laws. In addition, we face increasing litigation and business risks related to the use of such cookies and similar tracking technologies. For example, we and our customers face increasing litigation risks related to the recent increase in private litigation alleging that the use of cookies and similar tracking technologies without consent violates state laws governing “wiretapping,” “trap and trace,” “pen registers,” and similar laws.

The legal and regulatory landscape continues to evolve, with new laws being enacted or coming into force. Compliance with CCPA may require that we change or amend activities that involve personal information, which may impact business operations or our ability to effectively use personal information in our control. Furthermore, as mentioned under “Our engagement of third-party service providers increases our exposure to security and data privacy risks” above, such requirements include allowing consumers to limit our use of their personal information, or delete it entirely.

Certain interpretations or implementation of new data protection and privacy laws, as well as the evolving legal and regulatory landscape, could harm our business, including negatively impacting the cost of doing business or our ability to engage in certain business practices. Furthermore, recent disclosures of major data breaches and company data collection, use and disclosure practices to which large segments of the consumer population have objected may result in increased interest in U.S. state and federal enforcement actions and in passing U.S. federal data privacy legislation. Highly publicized data security and privacy incidents or lawsuits in even unrelated industries may result in changes to consumer privacy expectations and demands. Such shifts may restrict our ability to collect and/or process personal information in a particular way or derive economic value from personal, and even non-personal, information.

Some of our internal processes are manual and rely on employees to follow and adhere to our policies and procedures, which can result in employee error and internal compliance failures. Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with our policies or applicable data protection and privacy laws and regulations could result in regulatory enforcement actions against us, proceedings by governmental entities, consumers or others (including our contractual third parties), and loss in brand value and reputation.

New or changing privacy legislation or regulation could hinder the growth of our digital properties.

Not only are existing privacy-related laws in these jurisdictions evolving and subject to potentially disparate interpretation by governmental entities, new legislative proposals affecting privacy are now pending at both the federal and state level in the U.S. Changes to the interpretation of existing law or the adoption of new privacy-related requirements could hinder the growth of our digital presence. Also, a failure or perceived failure to comply with such laws or requirements or with our own policies and procedures could result in significant liabilities, including a possible loss of consumer or investor confidence or a loss of customers or advertisers, and could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, the oversight required to monitor and adapt to the ever-changing regulatory landscape could consume considerable management focus and internal resources, or increase the costs of, or otherwise limit, our ability to do business.

Risks Related to Our Smaller Reporting Company Status

We are a smaller reporting company and intend to avail ourselves of certain reduced disclosure requirements applicable to smaller reporting companies, which could make our common stock less attractive to investors.

We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive because we may rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our stock price may be more volatile. We intend to take advantage of certain of these reporting exemptions until we are no longer a smaller reporting company.

General Risk Factors

The public market for our Class A Common Stock may be volatile.

We cannot assure you that the market price of our Class A common stock will not fluctuate significantly in response to a number of factors, many of which we cannot control, including those described under “Risks Related to Economic Conditions and Our Business” and the following:

•our announcement of earnings or operational guidance or changes to such guidance;

•changes in financial estimates by any securities analysts who follow our Class A common stock, our failure to meet these estimates or failure of those analysts to initiate or maintain coverage of our Class A common stock;

•publications of research reports about us or the industries in which we compete, and downgrades by any securities analysts who follow our Class A common stock or such industries;

•future sales or buybacks of our common stock by us, significant stockholders or our other affiliates;

•market conditions or trends in our industry or the economy as a whole and, in particular, in the advertising sales environment;

•investors’ perceptions of our prospects;

•announcements by us or our competitors of significant contracts, acquisitions, joint ventures or capital commitments; and

•changes in key personnel.

Declines in our stock price may limit our ability to use our common stock as consideration in acquisitions, or our interest or ability to consummate a public equity offering.

In addition, the stock market has experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market prices of equity securities of many companies. In the past, stockholders have instituted securities class action litigation following periods of market volatility. If we were involved in securities litigation, we could incur substantial costs, and our resources and the attention of management could be diverted from our business.

We are subject to risks related to corporate social responsibility.

We are facing increasing scrutiny related to our environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) practices and requested disclosures by investors who are increasing their use of ESG screening criteria in making investment decisions. Our disclosures on these issues or a failure to satisfy evolving shareholder expectations for ESG practices and reporting may impact our reputation and relationships with investors. As ESG best practices, reporting standards, and disclosure requirements continue to evolve, we may incur increasing costs related to ESG monitoring and reporting.

Our certificate of incorporation designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees.

This provision is not intended to apply to claims arising under the Securities Act and the Exchange Act. To the extent the provision could be construed to apply to such claims, there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce the provision in such respect, and our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the provisions of our certificate of incorporation described above. This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and employees. Alternatively, if a court were to find these provisions of our certificate of incorporation inapplicable to, or unenforceable in respect of, one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business and financial condition.

We began paying quarterly cash dividends in 2023, although any future cash dividends will be at the discretion of our board of directors and other factors. You may not receive any return on investment unless you are able to sell your Class A common stock for a price greater than your purchase price.

On March 6, 2023, the board of directors approved a quarterly dividend of $0.1875 per share for holders of record as of March 27, 2023. On February 28, 2024, the board of directors increased the quarterly dividend to $0.1975 per share. We previously paid a quarterly dividend of $0.075 per share starting in 2018, which was ceased in 2020 as a result of uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Any determination to continue to pay dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon results of operations, financial condition,

contractual restrictions, including agreements governing our indebtedness, any potential indebtedness we may incur, restrictions imposed by applicable law and other factors our board of directors deems relevant. Accordingly, if you purchase shares, realization of a gain on your investment may depend on the appreciation of the price of our Class A common stock, which may never occur.

Anti-takeover provisions in our certificate of incorporation or bylaws may delay, discourage or prevent a change in control.

Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that may delay, discourage or prevent a merger or acquisition that a stockholder may consider favorable. As a result, stockholders may be limited in their ability to obtain a premium for their shares.

Unresolved Staff Comments

Not applicable.

Cybersecurity

The Company’s information security is managed by the Executive Vice President, Finance, Operations and Technology, whose team leads enterprise-wide cybersecurity strategy, policy, education and training, standards, architecture, processes, monitoring and implementation. The status of the Company’s cyber risk and threat profile and any proposed plans to strengthen the Company’s information security systems or assessments thereof are reported to senior management and the audit committee of our board of directors.

The Company has implemented and continues to enhance a comprehensive set of cybersecurity measures based on industry best practices that are meant to protect confidential information, minimize vulnerabilities and intrusions, and maximize detection and response and restoration capabilities. Key components of our strategy include employee training, identity management, multi-factor authentication, endpoint security, detection and response SOCs, privileged access and endpoint management, network traffic inspection, email security, local and cloud-based backups, and third party vulnerability testing and remediation.

Our strategy, results of operations and financial condition have not been materially affected by risks from cybersecurity threats, including as a result of previously identified cybersecurity incidents, but we cannot provide assurance that they will not be materially affected in the future by such risks or any future material incidents. For more information on our cybersecurity related risks, see Item 1A Risk Factors in this Annual Report.

Recently Filed

Click on a ticker to see risk factors

Ticker *	File Date
HWBK	15 hours ago
TRSO	15 hours ago
SAIC	16 hours ago
BHRB	16 hours ago
NUVR	17 hours ago
TETEF	17 hours ago
NRC	17 hours ago
PACK	18 hours ago
CVGI	19 hours ago
NEWT	19 hours ago
PACB	20 hours ago
CTGO	20 hours ago
SNDA	20 hours ago
CRVO	20 hours ago
MBX	20 hours ago
PLX	21 hours ago
TSQ	22 hours ago
FMCB	3 days, 8 hours ago
ANIK	3 days, 10 hours ago
ACR	3 days, 10 hours ago
BGSF	3 days, 11 hours ago
NXU	3 days, 11 hours ago
SSBK	3 days, 11 hours ago
BPRN	3 days, 11 hours ago
HNVR	3 days, 11 hours ago
MUX	3 days, 11 hours ago
HYAC	3 days, 11 hours ago
LPSN	3 days, 11 hours ago
NEN	3 days, 11 hours ago
HSON	3 days, 11 hours ago
BMRC	3 days, 11 hours ago
UHG	3 days, 11 hours ago
AMTX	3 days, 11 hours ago
GRI	3 days, 11 hours ago
GAN	3 days, 11 hours ago
USCB	3 days, 11 hours ago
LSBK	3 days, 11 hours ago
SKYT	3 days, 11 hours ago
XPOF	3 days, 11 hours ago
MYPS	3 days, 11 hours ago
FRAF	3 days, 11 hours ago
HBIA	3 days, 11 hours ago
AROW	3 days, 11 hours ago
WMT	3 days, 11 hours ago
MCHX	3 days, 11 hours ago
BZFD	3 days, 12 hours ago
MX	3 days, 12 hours ago
MNTK	3 days, 12 hours ago
KBSR	3 days, 12 hours ago
NRXP	3 days, 12 hours ago

OTHER DATASETS

House Trading

Dashboard

Corporate Flights

Dashboard

App Ratings

Dashboard

Strategies

Alerts

Browse Data

Risk Factors Dashboard

View risk factors by ticker

Search filings by term

Risk Factors - TSQ

-New additions in green
-Changes in blue
-Hover to see similar sentence in last filing

Recently Filed

OTHER DATASETS

House Trading

Corporate Flights

App Ratings

TRADE SMARTER

TRADE SMARTER

Strategies

Alerts

Browse Data

Risk Factors Dashboard

View risk factors by ticker

Search filings by term

Risk Factors - TSQ

-New additions in green-Changes in blue-Hover to see similar sentence in last filing

Recently Filed

OTHER DATASETS

House Trading

Corporate Flights

App Ratings

TRADE SMARTER

TRADE SMARTER

-New additions in green
-Changes in blue
-Hover to see similar sentence in last filing