Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

BASIS OF PRESENTATION

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BASIS OF PRESENTATION
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2011
BASIS OF PRESENTATION

NOTE 1. BASIS OF PRESENTATION

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements of Salem Communications Corporation (“Salem,” “we” or the “company”) include the company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated.

Information with respect to the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010 and 2011 is unaudited. The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 8 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, the unaudited interim financial statements contain all adjustments, consisting of normal recurring accruals, necessary for a fair presentation of the financial position, results of operations and cash flows of the company. The results of operations for the interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results of operations for the full year. For further information, refer to the consolidated financial statements and footnotes thereto included in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010.

The balance sheet at December 31, 2010 included in this report has been derived from the audited financial statements at that date, but does not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP.

Description of Business

Salem is a domestic multi-media company with integrated business operations covering radio broadcasting, publishing and the Internet. Our programming is intended for all audiences interested in Christian and family-themed content and complementary programming. Our primary business is the ownership and operation of radio stations in large metropolitan markets. Upon the close of all announced transactions, we will own and/or operate 96 radio stations across the United States. We also own and operate Salem Radio Network® (“SRN”), SRN News Network (“SNN”), Salem Music Network (“SMN”), Solid Gospel Network (“SGN”), Salem Media Representatives (“SMR”) and Vista Media Representatives (“VMR”). SRN, SNN, SMN and SGN are radio networks that produce and distribute programming, such as talk, news and music segments to radio stations throughout the United States, including Salem owned and operated stations. SMR and VMR sell commercial air time to national advertisers on radio stations and networks that we own, as well as on independent radio station affiliates.

We also operate Salem Web Network™ (“SWN”), our Internet businesses that provide Christian and conservative-themed content, audio and video streaming, and other resources on the web. SWN’s Internet portals include OnePlace.com, Jesus.org, HotAir.com, Crosswalk.com®, Christianity.com, GodTube.com, Townhall.com®, Samaritan Fundraising and WorshipHouse Media. SWN’s content is accessible through our radio station websites that feature content of interest to local listeners throughout the United States. SWN operates these Salem radio station websites as well as Salem Consumer Products, a website offering books, DVD’s and editorial content that is developed by many of our on-air radio personalities and are available for purchase. The revenues generated from this segment are reported as Internet revenue on our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.

We also operate Salem Publishing™, that produces and distributes Christian and conservative opinion print magazines. Salem Publishing operates Xulon Press™, a print-on-demand self-publishing service for Christian authors. The revenues generated from this segment are reported as publishing revenue on our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Significant areas for which management uses estimates are allowance for bad debts, income tax valuation allowance, impairment analysis for indefinite-lived intangible assets including broadcast licenses and goodwill, impairment analysis on other long-lived assets, stock-based compensation expense, and liabilities incurred under our partial self-insurance plan.