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Largest US Radio Company iHeartMedia Files For Bankruptcy (reuters.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the sign-of-the-times dept.

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.

4 of 159 comments (clear)

  1. Monopoly won't help you now by nitehawk214 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ClearChannel is one of the reasons people don't want to listen to terrestrial radio anymore. They have a near monopoly in so many regions, and instantly make radio bland and corporate. I'm a bit surprised their attempts at payola with their awards and festivals haven't saved them.

    --
    I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
  2. Radio has been dying for a long time by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I seem to recall that radio stations were already failing left and right before the Internet was a thing. It’s hardly surprising that a large corporation whose main business model is the purchase and consolidation of cash-strapped radio stations would in turn fail at some point. It’s basically the old “we sell everything at a loss, but make it up in volume” model.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  3. Re:Not surprising. by spoot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I hate to break it to you, but broadcast radio listenership is doing just fine. With 93% reach, 271 Million listen weekly, and for a well run station, it's still a license to print money.

    https://www.newsgeneration.com...

    The problem here is the debt incurred by iHeart (Clear Channel) with their overreach paying huge sums of money for broadcast properties trying to create their own little major market fiefdom. They are 10 Billion in debt. Honestly, it couldn't have happened to nicer bunch of duchebags.

  4. Re:Not surprising. by humankind · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This network didn't die because radio is dead.

    iHeart, aka "Clear Channel" killed terrestrial radio.

    They took over thousands of local, mom-and-pop radio stations that actually served their local communities, and replaced them with homogenous, centrally-controlled corporate radio full of flag waving, auto-tuned crap music and ads for fake viagra and gold investment schemes.