Global Media & iHeart

[TheBigA]

When it comes to the future of radio, I often ask where is the money coming from. Here's one answer: The UK. The FCC has approved an investment by a British company, Global Media Investments, in iHeart.

FCC Approves Global Media Investments To Increase Stake In iHeartMedia

The FCC has approved iHeartMedia and Global Media Investments Limited's petition from last summer to allow Global, a subsidiary of

radioinsight.com

The background for the FCC approval goes back a few years. iHeart & Global have been in talks since 2021. Last year, there was this announcement:

A Bigger Heart In iHeart For Ashley Tabor-King? | Radio & Television Business Report

The company has asked the FCC to give its blessing to changes in its foreign ownership structure — moves that would allow new individuals and entities tied to Global Media & Entertainment Investments Ltd., to hold ownership stakes. Among these individuals is the son of Michael Tabor, the...

rbr.com

iHeart seeks FCC approval to transfer Global ownership stake – RadioToday

radiotoday.co.uk

This investment doesn't mean iHeart will be going back and hiring all the local talent they just laid off. This is more about where iHeart is going beyond local radio stations.

 

[lanceventa]

This investment doesn't mean iHeart will be going back and hiring all the local talent they just laid off. This is more about where iHeart is going beyond local radio stations.

A procedural move filed a year ago had no impact on layoffs done two weeks ago. But I would closely watch for Ashley Tabor-King and the role he plays in directing iHeart over the coming months. Global has fully nationalized its brands in the UK, which Pittman has been adverse to doing here.

Also a good way to know if a news story about iHeart is important? Did Inside Radio report on it? In this case the answer so far is no, which means Pittman doesn't want his sycophants knowing about it just like the layoffs.

 

[TheBigA]

Global has fully nationalized its brands in the UK, which Pittman has been adverse to doing here.

The approval by the FCC basically puts no limits on what Global can do. And Pittman has already announced he will retire at the end of his current contract, which is in June 2029.

 

[ted chittenden]

This move will give IHeart the cash it needs to be able to move forward. Also, given @lanceventa's note about how the son runs Global Media, we may see IHeart moving towards a model that @davideduardo says that ad agencies want.

My only real concern (beyond how that kind of philossophy will affect employment at IHeart) is one that I have with companies outside of the media business doing the same thing; namely that leaders of these multinational companies tend to thumb their noses at the laws of individual countries in their quests for evermore profits for themselves and their shareholders. This concern, of course, is something that really can't be discussed here as it goes way beyond media issues into political issues and the growing rift between the haves and havenots in the world.

@lanceventa's report does raise another question for me as it says that the FCC has granted a company called Pinto up to 32% of ownership in IHeart. However, nowhere is either the location or primary ownership of Pinto identified. I would argue that this is important to know since this company may be influencing, though not controlling, future decisions made by IHeart.

 

[lanceventa]

@lanceventa's report does raise another question for me as it says that the FCC has granted a company called Pinto up to 32% of ownership in IHeart. However, nowhere is either the location or primary ownership of Pinto identified. I would argue that this is important to know since this company may be influencing, though not controlling, future decisions made by IHeart.

It's PIMCO. A big private equity investment firm. PIMCO - Wikipedia

 

[Miss Tuned]

This investment doesn't mean iHeart will be going back and hiring all the local talent they just laid off.

You can say that again. Global have spent the past 15 years going from 50+ local stations in the UK to a few national networks. Local isn't what they do - it's in the name! Anyone who thinks they have any plans to invest in local at iHeart is daft. They can see a business that is ripe for change in the way GCap, Chrysalis and all the UK radio groups that became part of Global were.

 

[Miss Tuned]

My only real concern (beyond how that kind of philossophy will affect employment at IHeart) is one that I have with companies outside of the media business doing the same thing; namely that leaders of these multinational companies tend to thumb their noses at the laws of individual countries in their quests for evermore profits for themselves and their shareholders. This concern, of course, is something that really can't be discussed here as it goes way beyond media issues into political issues and the growing rift between the haves and havenots in the world.

Global have done nothing against UK law. They, along with other major radio owners, have lobbied hard for rule changes to allow fully national programming but that's not illegal. They have lobbied for changes and taken advantage of those changes when they have come around.