The revenue from podcasts from iHeartMedia was up 13 per cent during the period that ended on June 30 2023, at $97 million. In contrast, the remainder of the company’s revenue was affected by the sluggishness of the market for advertising.
iHeartMedia reported total revenues of $920 million for the second quarter of 2018, lower by 3.6 per cent from the same period a previous quarter but still better than its guidance range that was “down mid-single digits.” Multiplatform revenues were down 5.9 per cent of $37.4 million due to a decline in broadcast ads “due to a challenging macroeconomic environment” and an increase in political ads.
In the earnings call, CEO Bob Pittman noted that the decrease in revenue from multiplatform platforms is less severe than in the 2020 economic recession, where the group’s multiplatform revenues for Q2 decreased by 53.4 percent over the previous 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 stated.
Audio & Media Services revenue declined $5.3 million over the past year due to an increase in the revenue from political.
The total revenues for the digital audio group, including podcasting, grew by 8 per cent year-over-year due to the increased demand for podcast advertising. With podcasting excluded, revenue in the segment fell by 2 per cent.
The company posted an operating deficit of $897 million following the company reported earnings of $83 million during Q2 2022 because of $961 million in non-cash impairment charges for intangible assets. The charges were related to an “impairment of our goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets balances.”
Pittman said his company was “seeing indications of improving macroeconomic trends” in the advertising industry and this is something iHeartMedia believes it can achieve in the fourth quarter, which is typically the most profitable quarter.
In the quarter that ended March 3, iHeartMedia expected consolidated revenue to decrease in the mid-single per cent, with July’s total revenue dropping by about 5 per cent.
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