Slashdot Mirror
Largest US Radio Company iHeartMedia Files For Bankruptcy (reuters.com)
The largest U.S. radio station owner, iHeartMedia, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as it "struggles with $20 billion in debt and falling revenue at its 858 radio stations," reports Reuters. The company has reportedly reached an agreement with holders of more than $10 billion of its outstanding debt for a balance sheet restructuring, which will reduce its debt by more than $10 billion. From the report: Cash on hand and cash generated from ongoing operations will be sufficient to fund the business during the bankruptcy process, said iHeartMedia, which owns Z100 in New York and Real 103.5 KISS FM in Chicago. The filing comes after John Malone's Liberty Media Corp proposed on Feb. 26 a deal to buy a 40 percent stake in a restructured iHeartMedia for $1.16 billion, uniting the company with Liberty's Sirius XM Holdings Inc satellite radio service. Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc, a subsidiary of iHeartMedia, and its units did not commence Chapter 11 proceedings. The company had 14,300 employees at the end of 2016, according to its most recent annual report.
This is so true. My spouse and I took a cross-country road trip. We played a game on the way down as we drove. We kept finding that one station in each city that played the exact same feed. Once the radio started breaking up, we would start changing channels to find what station was playing the feed. Didn't have a city that didn't and playing the same 12 songs (or at least it felt like the same 12) made it real obvious. Luckily, when not on the edge of broadcast range, there were plenty of unique stations to listen to, especially the AM ones.