Cost Cuts, Digital Growth Balance Broadcast Losses In iHeart Q2

“Podcasting is just roaring,” said iHeartMedia Chairman and CEO Bob Pittman during Monday’s Q2 earnings call – and for the nation’s largest radio broadcaster, that momentum in digital audio drove a revenue gain that helped offset broadcast declines.

Consolidated revenue rose 0.5% year-over-year to $937 million, or up 1.5% when excluding political advertising.

The digital audio group reported $324 million in revenue, up 13.4% from Q2 2024, with podcasting revenue jumping 28.5% and non-podcast digital revenue growing 4.7%. CEO Bob Pittman credited the company’s leadership in podcast publishing, complementary platforms, and local sales strength for the results.

“Our unparalleled local sales organization gives us an important and unique advantage for both our current and future revenue growth,” Pittman emphasized. In Q2, about half of podcasting revenue came from the local sales force, up from 14% in 2020.

iHeart’s Multiplatform Group generated $545 million in Q2, down 5.4% year-over-year and 4.8% excluding political. Broadcast Radio revenue fell 7.0% to $395.8 million, still, Pittman noted positive advertiser momentum, with the group’s top 50 advertisers increasing spending by 4% and its four largest agency partners up 7% over last year. “These results give us added confidence that our plan to return the multi-platform group to revenue growth is on the right track,” Pittman said.

Ultimately, iHeart’s net loss came in at $83.99 million, compared to $981.99 million in the second quarter of 2024.

As such, cost efficiency remains a focus, with $40 million in net savings realized in Q2 toward the company’s full-year goal of $150 million. “We continue to look for additional cost savings opportunities in both our structure and our operations using the power of AI and our unique scale,” Pittman told investors.

For Q3 2025, iHeartMedia expects total revenue to be down low single digits from last year, or up low single digits excluding political. Digital audio revenue is projected to grow in the high single digits, with podcasting up in the low 20s.