And like most companies there has been monthly improvements since the April bottom caused by COVID. July was down 27%, August was off 21% and September declined 18%. October is actually up 2% but political had a lot to do with that.
iHeart’s $744 million in Q3 revenue was an increase of 53% over Q2. Broadcast revenue declined in Q3 by 29%, coming in at $573 million. Network revenue was off 26%. Sponsorship and events revenue was down 48% due to the cancellation of physical events. iHeart has been converting its events to virtual which did save some of that revenue.
Digital was up 17% on the strength of a 74% increase in podcasting in the quarter.
Political revenue came in at $40 million in Q3 for iHeart. Another $55 million was added in October. CEO Bob Pittman said 2020 was the best year ever for political revenue.
On the cost savings side the company is planning to save about $250 million total by the middle of 2021. $200 million of that will be permanent as the company says the COVID-19 downtown has resulted in new ways to operate.
For the past week additional iHeart employees have been let go to help meet the cost-savings goal of $250 million,
