“We don’t have a broadcast radio audience challenge. We have a broadcast radio monetization challenge,” is the continued diagnosis from iHeartMedia CEO Bob Pittman as America’s largest radio operator bets the rest of its 2026 on politics and programmatic.
Consolidated revenue rose 4.7% to $977 million in the second quarter, iHeartMedia said on its earnings call Monday. The gains came almost entirely from the company’s Digital Audio Group, which posted revenue of $364 million, up 12.4%, with podcast revenue climbing 20.7% to $162 million.
Beneath that growth is a more complicated story. Operating income was essentially flat at $35.5 million, and the broadcaster posted a net loss of $82.4 million for the quarter, only marginally narrower than the $83.5 million loss a year earlier.
The Multiplatform Group, which houses iHeart’s terrestrial radio stations, networks, and live events, posted revenue of $536 million, down 1.6% year over year and down 2.8% excluding political advertising. Chairman and CEO Bob Pittman pointed to broader economic uncertainty, including gas and diesel prices, as a drag on the segment and the industry as a whole.
As for the broadcast radio monetization challenge, Pittman noted that broadcast radio now reaches twice the audience of the largest TV network and four times the reach of the largest digital-only ad-supported audio service. He attributed the gap to advertisers’ preference for buying within digital platforms. In response, iHeartMedia is adding its broadcast radio inventory to demand-side platforms including Amazon, Google, and Yahoo through its audiograph and programmatic offerings.
iHeart President and COO Rich Bressler said on the call that they will be live on the Amazon DSP beginning in the fourth quarter of 2026. Amazon is also among iHeart’s largest advertisers. On advertising categories, Bressler added the largest gainers in the quarter were political, gambling, computers and electronics and appliances, and professional services, while telecom, financial services, auto, and food and beverage saw the steepest declines.
Both executives were bullish on political advertising, saying 2026 had the potential to bring revenue on par with a presidential cycle rather than a typical midterm.
No upcoming workforce reductions were announced on this call, as the company follows a multiyear cost-reduction push that combines AI adoption, layoffs, vendor consolidation, and occupancy savings, weighted most heavily toward the Multiplatform Group.
iHeart announced the same day as the call that six of its podcasts, including video episodes of Hey Jonas! and Pod Meets World, are coming to Disney+ and Hulu. On the call, Pittman also touted its expanding Netflix slate to include podcasts from Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson, Lili Pons, and Martha Stewart, alongside Power 105.1’s The Breakfast Club.
Also revealed is a longer runway for iHeart to deal with its debt. Radio Ink reported in December 2024 that the company finalized a debt exchange pushing loan and note maturities out to 2029, 2030, and 2031, at an average 2.5% higher interest rate. Now iHeart has amended and extended its $450 million asset-based lending facility, keeping the size and pricing unchanged while pushing the maturity from May 2027 to January 2029.
The company still carries roughly $4.7 billion in net debt, and $125 million of that ABL facility remains drawn.
