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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.
OK, I spent nearly 4 decades in Broadcast and Network radio, worked all over the country, nothing under a top 10 market and eventually ending up in NYC in management in network radio and finally as a consultant based in NY, (retired from the biz now).
You are correct about the executive bonuses, same/same. Clear Channel/iHeart became a behemoth and ended up paying huge sums of monies for large market radio properties in big bundles. Hence the debt. As a very large company, they became slaves to the shareholders/Wall Street. They HAD to meet expectations and revenue every quarter to keep their share value. How did they do this, depleting staff, jettisoning higher paid folks who knew how to actually create a product and not just bean-counters. As pointed out here, creating also-rans all over the country with voice-tracking and other network feeds, Program Directors locally couldn't make local decisions because all edicts came from the mother ship in San Antonio. Of course there is much more, but it's exactly the same sort of idiocy that implodes many businesses.