iHeartMedia Q4 Revenue Down 5.2% to $1.06 Billion
| RADIO ONLINE | Thursday, February 29, 2024 | 3:45pm CT |
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 iHeartMedia |
iHeartMedia reported fourth quarter revenue fell 5.2% to $1.06 billion from $1.12 billion in 2022. Excluding Q4 political revenue, revenue was flat. Broadcast Radio declined 6.9% to $484.6 million from $520.7 million, while Podcast revenue climbed 16.6% to $131.6 from $112.9 million. Operating income fell to $80 million from $173 million and Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA was $208 million down from $316 million. The company posted a net income of $13.9 million as compared to $80.6 million in the year-ago period.
"We're pleased to report that our fourth quarter results were in line with our previously provided Adjusted EBITDA and Revenue guidance ranges," said iHeartMedia Chairman and CEO Bob Pittman. "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."
"We continue to see signs of improvement throughout our business and the broader advertising marketplace. Our results this quarter are a strong indication that the reallocation of resources towards our high growth Digital Audio Group has been successful - through our relentless focus on efficiencies we have reduced our Multiplatform Group expenses by approximately 7% since 2019, which has in part enabled us to build a Digital business that generated $1 billion of revenue in 2023 with an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 33%," added iHeartMedia President, COO and CFO Rich Bressler. "We expect to see a significant year over year improvement in our 2024 financial performance, supported by our ongoing efficiency efforts and what is anticipated to be record-setting political advertising year."
