iHeartMedia has reported its financial results for the third quarter of 2020, showing an improvement from Q2 but a noted declined from Q3 2019, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Revenue fell 21.5 percent in Q3 to $744.4 million compared to a year ago, with net income down from $12.374 million to a loss of $32.1 million.
During the quarter, radio revenue was down 29.4 percent to $404.46 million, digital revenue grew 16.5 percent to $112.59 million. Network revenue declined 25.7 percent to just under $118.9 million, sponsorship & events revenue dropped 48 percent to approximately $28.9 million and audio & media services revenue grew 25 percent to $75.039 million.
However, compared to the second quarter of 2020, revenue was up by 53 percent and in October alone, revenue was up two percent compared to October of 2019, thanks to election season political ad dollars.
“I am pleased that we have seen strong signs of recovery this quarter as we continue to address challenges resulting from the macroeconomic impact of COVID-19; in the third quarter, our revenue has substantially improved when compared to the second quarter and continues to improve sequentially month-over-month,” said iHeartMedia Chairman/CEO Bob Pittman. “As the number one audio company in America, we feel our results this quarter are strong validation of our multiplatform product and revenue strategy, our ongoing modernization efforts and the investments we have made in new areas, like podcasting, where we are the number one commercial podcast publisher and continue to grow our leadership position. Our relationship with our consumers has grown even stronger during this downturn, and we are seeing encouraging trends across the markets that indicate we are on a path toward normalcy and growth. We expect further improvement in both revenue and Adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter.”
“The early action we took during the pandemic to focus on cost management and maximize liquidity prepared us for a potential protracted recovery scenario, and the fact that we’ve been able to quickly return to meaningfully positive Adjusted EBITDA of $162 million in Q3 and free cash flow generation is proof of our strict cost controls, of our sequentially improving revenue trends, and most importantly, of the Company’s strong free cash flow characteristics,” said iHeart COO/CFO Rich Bressler. “We continue to focus on cost management and maximizing liquidity and we believe that we are poised to take full advantage as the economy continues to recover.”
