Breaking News: IHeart absolute Bloodbath across US Today

[PTBoardOp93]

It’s a DEBT problem. MUCH more than a sales problem.

IHeart Podcast revenues: UP 26%

IHeart Digital Audio Ex-Podcast UP 7%

Broadcast radio is down 4%, sure absolutely ..

The percentages tell a sordid tale because the dollar amounts are not comparable.

iHeart Podcast revenues for 2025: $174 million, up $34 million
iHeart Broadcast revenues for 2025 (including Premiere Networks): $2.2 billion down $101 million

The company is a long way from being a podcasting first company.

But when you have to fork over $675 million of your whopping $686 million in actual revenues to debt holders…you see who this company 100% serves.

Uh, no. iHeart had almost $4 billion in revenue in 2025. A company that paid 99% of its revenue in debt payments would be immediately bankrupt.

The company lost about $25 million on an operating basis in 2025, before considering any debt payments. So the debt is a big problem, but even if they didn't have the debt, they'd still be in trouble.

 

[TheBigA]

iHeart had almost $4 billion in revenue in 2025. A company that paid 99% of its revenue in debt payments would be immediately bankrupt.

Which may explain why they keep kicking the can down the road. The size of the debt hasn't changed substantially since the bankruptcy. Last year, they did a debt extension that moved payments due this year to 2029.

iHeartMedia Finalizes Debt Swap, Adds Three Years To The Clock - Radio Ink

iHeartMedia has finalized a series of debt exchanges and consent solicitations aimed at improving its financial stability through 2029.

radioink.com

So I'm not convinced that the company is devoting a lot of attention to debt service.

 

[XCountry285]

So you believe that the advertising revenue these stations make is enough to cover all of the increasing costs of rent, salaries, insurance, etc?

Read the Forbes article:



Soft ad markets. That's where the money comes from to pay local talent. Here's more from Forbes:



People are using digital media. That's what you're doing right now.



Once again, that's not what the problem is. The problem is local advertising revenue isn't enough to keep up with rising costs.

The big markets, such as Boston, are paying for the smaller markets.

Their digital business is where the growth is. By next year, iHeart's digital revenue will exceed broadcasting. So this is about shifting expense to where the growth is. Every business has debt. There is nothing iHeart can do that will change people's behavior from using their phones to using radios. So they need to transfer their staff to where the audience is. That's not broadcast radio.

I wouldn't be surprised if they literally had Kiss FM out of LA or Z100 in NYC syndicated on all their Pop stations all over the country.

 

[TheBigA]

I wouldn't be surprised if they literally had Kiss FM out of LA or Z100 in NYC syndicated on all their Pop stations all over the country.

That would effectively cannibalize two of their highest billing stations.

As a company, iHeart has stayed away from that kind of 24/7 format system that's offered by Westwood One.

 

[Theater of My Mind]

Which may explain why they keep kicking the can down the road.

Bob Pittman and Rich Bressler have been kicking the same financial can down the road for well over a decade. While iHeart occasionally manages to eke out a quarterly profit, the business model remains fundamentally broken under their shell game. They have excelled at one thing above all else, enriching themselves.

iHeart employees continue to be treated as expendable tools in the executives' shed, strategically disposed of in the company's power rotation of layoffs to hit the cost-reduction numbers needed for Bob and Rich to get their multi-million dollar performance bonuses and contract extensions.

These guys steered the company straight into bankruptcy and instead of being ousted, they not only kept their jobs but have continued to pad their wealth. Meanwhile, the company remains buried under a mountain of debt, surviving as an executive piggy bank while local radio talent (the ones with actual talent), pay the ultimate price.

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[TheBigA]

iHeart employees continue to be treated as expendable tools in the executives' shed,

Depends on the employee. They were very loyal to Rush Limbaugh at a time when it would have been easier to let him go. They continue to renew deals with their top talent year after year. Look how long they've stuck with Elvis Duran. Same with Bobby Bones, Steve Harvey, Ryan Seacrest, and others. They've built a stable of very durable hosts.

A lot of their programming people have bounced back several times. They give preferential treatment to former employees. Not everyone does that. If you look at the lists of the people just let go, you'll see many of them have worked at several iHeart stations over their career. It's likely that if they're willing to move, they'll get rehired again.

Anyone who works there knows the risks. They see the trades just like everyone else. There are no secrets about what will happen. It's not if, but when for most of them.

These guys steered the company straight into bankruptcy and instead of being ousted, they not only kept their jobs but have continued to pad their wealth.

They now work for the very lenders who lost money. They wouldn't have done the bankruptcy without the support of those lenders. They were able to drop almost $15 billion in debt. Nobody knows this company better than them. I doubt anyone else could run it better. But we'll see. Bob may retire at the end of his current deal.