Podcasting continues to emerge as one of iHeartMedia’s most powerful growth engines, and CEO Bob Pittman says the company now sees video as opening an additional marketplace rather than simply shifting listeners and advertisers away from audio. iHeart’s podcast revenue climbed 20.7% year-over-year during the second quarter to $162 million, up from $134 million a year ago. That puts the company’s podcast revenue at $309 million through the first half of 2026, up 23.5% from $25

Spanish Broadcasting System is asking the Federal Communications Commission to clear the way for a sweeping ownership change that would accompany its emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy — one that would end CEO Raúl Alarcón’s longtime voting control of the company and potentially put nearly two-thirds of SBS in the hands of foreign investors. SBS is asking the FCC to allow as much as 100% aggregate foreign ownership of both the equity and voting interests of the reorganized

In the 20 non-embedded PPM markets reporting on Days 1 and 2 in Nielsen’s July survey (covering June 25-July 22), adult contemporary is the clear winner, with seven stations in the format leading their markets, and four more ranking second or third. Taking into account all “AC” formats, and total market leaders go from seven to 11, with two hot ACs, one soft AC and one urban AC also on top. It’s also the best survey this year for news/talk stations, with five ranked number on

Podcast advertising picked up steam during the second quarter, with spending climbing 9% from Q1 and finishing 23% above year-ago levels, according to Magellan AI’s Q2 Podcast Advertising Benchmark Report. Unlike the uneven start to the year, when spending weakened in January and February before rebounding in March, each month of Q2 topped the first quarter’s average monthly spending level. April spending ran 8% above the Q1 monthly average, followed by a more modest 2% incre

Montreal-based Stingray Group says its acquisition of TuneIn is continuing to reshape the company’s advertising business, helping drive significant revenue growth while creating new opportunities to sell audio inventory across platforms. For the first quarter of fiscal 2027, Stingray reported revenue of CAD 158 million, up 65.2% year-over-year. Organic revenue growth was 27.5%, with the company attributing much of the increase to the TuneIn acquisition and growth in its FAST

Executives at iHeartMedia say the transformation of its business has reached a notable milestone as digital audio operations are now consistently generating more earnings than its broadcast radio stations. However, CEO Bob Pittman says that widening gap is not the result of listeners abandoning radio. Instead, he argues radio has a monetization problem — one the company believes it can address by making broadcast inventory look and transact more like digital media. The compan

Cumulus Media says Nielsen may have finally put a standalone Nationwide ratings offer on the table, but that does not end their latest court fight. The broadcaster is telling a federal judge the price and terms Nielsen proposed still fail to comply with the preliminary injunction governing how Nielsen can sell its national radio ratings product. The latest back-and-forth between the two companies means the two sides are now essentially fighting over what constitutes complianc

Advertisers looking to reach consumers who increasingly watch television and video content without commercials may find an effective alternative in podcasts, according to a new study from Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights reported in the latest Westwood One blog. For the 16th edition of the Podcast Download series, Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights retained Quantilope to conduct an in-depth study of 600 weekly podcast consumers in April 2026. The Spring 2026 report

While adult contemporary and news/talk-formatted stations can pull off two or more wins just-like-that in the eight non-embedded markets reporting on Day 1 of Nielsen’s PPM ratings, that’s never been easy for hot AC to do. For Day 1 of July 2026’s survey (covering June 25-July 22), however, it’s a different story, one which reflects hot AC’s strong year-to-date performance in PPM markets. While Hubbard’s “101.9 The Mix” WTMX Chicago repeats at the top, iHeartMedia’s “104.3 M

iHeartMedia reported second-quarter revenue of $977.2 million, up 4.7% from a year ago, as continued growth in digital audio and podcasting helped offset declines in parts of its traditional radio business. Excluding political revenue, consolidated revenue increased 3.5%. GAAP operating income was essentially flat at $36 million, compared with $35.4 million in Q2 2025, while Adjusted EBITDA declined 2.9% to $151.5 million. The company generated $65 million in cash from operat