iHeartMedia is the latest broadcaster to report their financial results for the second quarter of 2021 and the latest to see massive gains vs. Q2 a year ago, which was hit hard across the board by the early days of the pandemic. Revenue for Q2 was up to $862 million, a 77 percent jump over $487.6 million a year ago. The Broadcast Radio division of iHeart saw an 84.9 percent jump in revenue, from $224 million in Q2 2020 to $451.1 million this year. The Multiplatform Group, which includes radio, saw its revenue was up 69.7 percent to $605.8 million, compared to $357.1 million last year.
iHeart’s Digital Audio Group revenue grew by 112 percent to $197.9 million vs. $93.2 million in 2020’s second quarter, with a 151.5 percent increase in podcast revenue alone to $53.4 million.
“The strong recovery of our Multiplatform Group and the continued growth of our Digital Audio Group, including our industry-leading podcast business, continue to validate our multiplatform strategy for consumers, advertisers and creators,” said Bob Pittman, Chairman/CEO of iHeartMedia. “Our strength with all of our audiences, coupled with our unparalleled reach and supported by our unique ad tech and data resources, positions our company as a one-of-a-kind leader in today’s audio industry. And the high operating leverage characteristics of all of our businesses position us well to participate in the macroeconomic recovery of the economy.”
“We continue to make strong progress in our recovery, generating Adjusted EBITDA of $185 million in the second quarter, driven by our strict cost discipline, the investments we have made in high-growth areas, and the gradual improvements to the macroeconomic environment. We look forward to continuing our business’ recovery and remain confident that we’ll be back to 2019 Adjusted EBITDA levels by the end of 2021, and to continuing the significant progress we’ve made in our deleveraging activities, as evidenced by the fact we improved our leverage by 3.3 turns since the end of the first quarter,” said iHeartMedia President/COO/CFO Rich Bressler.
