Broadcast.com Inc, the internet audio and video broadcaster set to be acquired by Yahoo! Inc, has reported better-than-expected first quarter results. The Dallas-based company posted a net loss of $3.8m, or $0.11 per share, on revenue up 127% at $10.3m. Results included a one-time charge of $462,000 for the acquisition of NetRoadshow, which closed in March. Net of that charge, loss for the quarter was just $0.09, matching the year- ago figure. Analysts surveyed by First Call were expecting a loss of $0.12 for the quarter. The results include the operations of NetRoadshow, and prior periods have been restated to include them as well.
The strong top line growth included revenue from business services that rose 155% year-over-year to $7.1m. Advertising revenue, meanwhile, jumped to $3.2m for the quarter, an increase of 83% over last year’s quarter. The company said it added 239 new business services customers and delivered 660 business services events in the quarter, compared with 132 new customers and 502 events in the fourth quarter of 1998. Traffic to the broadcast.com web sites also grew, with unique users up 38% to an average of 1.1 million a day. For February, Media Metrix ranked the company’s site 14th among all web properties and 6th in the News/Information/Entertainment category.
