iHeartMedia CEO Says Ad Environment Won’t Get Worse

iHeartMedia President and CEO Bob Pittman believes that the advertising slowdown in the media and entertainment industry will not be worse than it is now.

“I don’t feel like anything is expected, I think we’re on it,” Pittman said Tuesday.

Pittman was speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology conference, taking the podium in particular after iHeartMedia, which owns more than 850 radio stations and a podcast business, beat second-quarter earnings expectations and saw revenue rise 11% year by year. . . The year was not as “strong” as expected, Pittman said, although iHeartMedia is still on track for its best annual EBITDA on record.

In May, Pittman said the company saw a drop in advertising in April but expected May and June to be bigger.

Pittman said he thinks advertisers haven’t regressed as much as they have in previous economic downturns because of this period’s proximity to the start of the pandemic, which has had a huge impact on advertising and every sector of business.

And now, iHeartMedia is building its business on the assumption that it’s as bad as it sounds.

Pittman continues to see advertising growth, particularly in the broadcast radio space, as more companies build unified advertising platforms and follow consumers in the space. He noted that the ad load on podcasts is still relatively low, but the ads are being sold at premium prices. The ad load for podcasts could increase if there is greater demand, he said.

However, Pittman says he thinks the podcast industry has moved from a state of rapid expansion to one where the biggest brands and podcasts are growing, but other smaller shows may struggle to keep up.

“I think we’re in a consolidation phase,” he said.