Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) The first question is from Victor Miller of Bear Stearns.
Victor Miller - Bear Stearns
Good morning. Thanks for taking the question. First of all, on the 10-K this morning you put out, it seemed to suggest that in L.A. and New York, unit rates for the fiscal year were down 14%, units sold up about 0.2%, but the numbers that you just talked about seem to be even worse than that. Is the decline actually accelerating in New York and L.A.?
Secondly, can you give a little bit more granularity -- you said that domestic expenses were flat I think for second quarter, but you are giving mid-single to high-single. Could you maybe compartmentalize that expense growth a little bit?
Lastly, Jeff, would you comment on whether you think it’s appropriate for you to look at asset sales other than the TV assets? Thanks.
Jeffrey H. Smulyan
Well, let me answer the last one, Vic. We always look at a wide variety of acquisitions and divestitures. Lately, it seems like there is a lot of speculation about that, but that’s been an ongoing hallmark of the company since day one, so we always look at all of our options.
As far as the unit rate, Pat.
Patrick Walsh
I think as we’ve had, and Rick can speak to this in addition, as the market and our particular stations have had some ratings challenges in New York, and that’s continued, particularly at KISS, throughout the third and fourth quarter there has been some additional pressure on rates. I think it is probably not surprising that you see some fall-off in average unit rate in the fourth quarter compared to the full fiscal year, where we started with a much stronger four book average on KISS, and that’s weakened throughout the year.
In terms of expense growth, Rick, do you want to give additional color on that?
Rick Cummings
Just very quickly, Pat. Hi, Victor. I don’t think the decline in Q4 is significantly better or worse. It’s about the same as the rest of the year. The year finished down 9 and the quarter finished down 9. Looking ahead at the first quarter, it looks like it is going to be about the same, so I don’t think it’s any worse than it has been. But there’s no question that you have a whole of issues here. You’ve got ratings that are not stellar in New York. You’ve got a turnaround in Los Angeles, which we still believe fervently will become a successful radio station, but two books in we are barely ahead of where we were as a country station so we’ve got a ways to go there.
| TRANSCRIPT SPONSOR |
- To read the full transcript on Seeking Alpha, click here »
