Podcasts Drive Revenue As iHeartMedia Looks for Broader Ad Market Recovery

Caitlin Huston
·2 min read

Podcast revenue at iHeartMedia continued to grow in its fourth quarter, reaching $132 million for the quarter, up 17 percent year-over-year.

The increase, which the company attributed to continued increases in demand for advertising in the medium, drove the 6 percent increase in revenue for the digital audio group, which contains podcasting – without it the group’s revenue was down 1 percent.

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Overall, iHeartMedia reported fourth-quarter revenue of $1.067 billion, down 5.2 percent year-over-year, but slightly above its guidance range of down high-single digits. Excluding fourth-quarter political revenue from the prior year, fourth-quarter revenue was flat year-over-year.

The iHeartMedia Multiplatform Group, which includes the company’s broadcast radio segment and the iHeartMedia Markets Group, with its 860+ radio stations in 160 markets, reported revenue of $684 million, down 7 percent.

The company reported operating income of $80 million, down from $173 million in Q4 2022.

In the first quarter, iHeart expects consolidated revenue to be flat to down 2 percent and consolidated Adjusted EBITDA of $100 million to $110 million, up from $93 million a year ago. Digital audio group revenues are expected to be up mid-single digits.

“We’re pleased to report that our fourth quarter results were in line with our previously provided Adjusted EBITDA and Revenue guidance ranges.” said Bob Pittman, iHeartMedia’s Chairman and CEO. “This quarter the Digital Audio Group achieved the highest Adjusted EBITDA and margin in its history, illustrating the success of this high growth business. We view 2024 as a recovery year in which the company returns to growth mode — we expect to see our Multiplatform Group performance improve quarter by quarter throughout the year, and we expect our Digital Audio Group, including our industry leading podcast business, to continue to grow and reinforce its leadership position in the segment.”

Asked on the earnings call about his view on the podcasting sector, which executives reiterated they still believe is in the early days of attracting advertising, Pittman said he believes the industry is now “more rational.” He estimated that iHeartMedia has a 20 percent share of the podcasting marketplace.

“I think the marketplace has gotten a lot more rational. I think people who have ideas about subscriptions, about exclusivity, about paying tons of money for people in hopes that one day it would be profitable have all sort of fallen by the wayside,” Pittman said. “And we’ve gotten back to very clear basics, which is obviously helpful to us because it turns into a rational marketplace in terms of dealing with both talent and dealing with advertisers.”

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