iHeartMedia Revenue Dips Amid Continued Weakness in Broadcast Advertising Market

Podcasting revenue at iHeartMedia jumped 13 percent in the three months ended June 30, 2023, reaching $97 million, while the rest of the company’s revenues continued to be impacted by softness in the advertising market.

iHeartMedia reported total revenue of $920 million in the second quarter, down 3.6 percent from a year ago but better than the company’s guidance range of “down mid-single digits.” Multiplatform revenue was down 5.9 percent, or $37.4 million, due to decreases in broadcast advertising “due to a challenging macroeconomic environment” as well as a decline in political advertising.

On the earnings call, CEO Bob Pittman noted that the decline in multiplatform revenue is still less than it was during the 2020 economic downturn, when Q2 multi-platform group revenues were down 53.4 percent year over year.

“While there was some softness in our larger advertisers in Q2, our smaller advertisers remained resilient, and we saw a gradual improvement from our larger advertisers as well, which leads us to believe that we will continue to see improvements in the business through the remainder of the year,” Pittman said. 

Audio & Media Services revenue fell $5.3 million year-over-year due to a decrease in political revenue.

The total revenue for the digital audio group, which contains podcasting, increased 8 percent year over year, thanks to the demand for podcast advertising. Excluding podcasting, revenue in the segment was down 2 percent. 

The company reported an operating loss of $897 million after reporting income of $83 million in Q2 2022, due to $961 million of non-cash intangible impairment charges. The charges were related to the “impairment of our goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets balances.”

Pittman added that the company is “seeing indications of improving macroeconomic trends” in the advertising market, which iHeartMedia believes it will be able to realize in Q4, which is usually its largest quarter. 

For Q3, iHeartMedia expected consolidated revenue to decline in the mid-single digits, with July consolidated revenue down about 5 percent.

This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.