iHeartMedia has released its fiscal report for the first quarter of 2020, noting that it had a strong first two months before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of the world. iHeart noted that “Although revenue growth was strong in the first two months of 2020 compared to the same period of 2019, March revenue declined sharply primarily as a result of a decrease in broadcast radio advertising spend.”In Q1, iHeart reported revenue of $780.6 million, down 1.9 percent year-over-year driven by effects of the COVID-19 pandemic; excluding political revenue, revenue decreased 4.8 percent. Digital revenue increased 22.2 percent from Q1 2019 led by an 80 percent increase in podcasting revenue. Notably, revenue from sponsorship and events decreased by $10.4 million, primarily as a result of the postponement or cancellations of events in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As America’s #1 audio company, with unparalleled reach both nationally and locally, we play a critically important role in providing companionship, connection and key information to all the communities we serve, and we are incredibly proud of our employees’ commitment to that mission in response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Bob Pittman, Chairman/CEO of iHeartMedia. “Although businesses and brands across the country have been impacted, we are working closely with them on their marketing needs and are focused on helping them generate the consumer demand to reopen or ramp up. Our multiplatform offering, our unparalleled reach and our unique data and analytics position us well to benefit as a company from this returning advertising demand.”
“Given the current economic environment, iHeart has taken actions that we believe expand the Company’s financial flexibility and provide sufficient liquidity to operate effectively even in an extended period of economic weakness,” said iHeartMedia President/COO/CFO Rich Bressler. “We believe that iHeart’s fundamentally strong free cash-generation model, substantial current cash balances, incremental benefits from our cost savings initiatives, and flexible capital structure will enable us to build effectively on our audio market leadership and position us favorably to capitalize on the eventual recovery in advertising demand. With our experienced management team and our unparalleled assets, we are confident in our business and continue our focus on driving shareholder value.”
