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Company “on track” to save $150 million through tech and AI
By Paul Mclane ⋅
iHeartMedia reported financial results for the second quarter, telling investors that it is delivering positive financial results in an uncertain environment.
The big media company said it is “continuing to outperform in podcasting as we cement our #1 leadership position,” but that it also has a “commitment to reignite growth in [the] broadcast radio business.”
It also updated the business community on its effort to save $150 million through the use of technology and AI, partly through staff reductions.
Bright spots for the second quarter included podcast revenue of $134 million, up 28% from Q2 of last year, and non-podcast digital revenue of $190 million, up 5%. The company said it is experiencing continued increases in demand for digital advertising.
But its broadcast revenue fell 7% to $396 million, and overall revenue for the Multiplatform Group, of which broadcast is a part, was down 5.4%. The company blamed “continued uncertain market conditions” for the decrease in broadcast advertising.
Overall, iHeart reported revenue in the second quarter of $934 million, just a tad (0.5%) above its performance in Q2 last year. It posted operating income of $35 million compared to an operating loss of $910 million in the same period last year.
iHeart has about $4.6 billion in net debt.
Chairman/CEO Bob Pittman called the quarter’s performance “solid and slightly ahead of our initial expectations.” He said in the official announcement of results, “We continue to make progress on our ad tech platform, specifically building the capabilities to allow our broadcast radio inventory to be bought and sold like digital advertising, and to be a part of the key integrated buying systems.”
The company has hired Lisa Coffey in the newly created role of chief business officer. Pittman cited her background in ad tech, and digital and mobile advertising, including for Amazon advertising.
President/COO/CFO Rich Bressler also said in the statement, “We are still on track to our previously announced modernization initiatives, which will generate net savings of $150 million in 2025 when compared to 2024.”
The company published a slide show summary about the quarter. It includes the chart below showing the expected savings through the use of technology and AI. It shows 65% of these savings being accomplished through reductions in head count (HC). Click the image to enlarge:
The company reported that in Q2 it cut 5% or $23.4 million in operating expenses within the Multiplatform Group, “driven primarily by a decrease in employee compensation cost due to our modernization initiatives, as well as lower sales commissions related to the decline in broadcast revenue, partially offset by an increase in non-cash trade and barter expense.”
Looking ahead the company expects its overall revenue to decline in the low single digits in Q3.
[Read the financial summary.]
Paul McLane
Paul McLane is editor in chief of Radio World, which he joined in 1996. He directs the editorial content of its print issues; RW’s daily SmartBrief newsletters; webcasts; and a growing library of 140+ ebooks. He has interviewed directors of engineering, FCC chairs, Hall of Fame radio personalities and C-suite leaders about digital radio, connected cars, industry standards and other topics. Prior to RW he was an award-winning broadcast journalist and technology sales/marketing executive.
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