iHeartMedia Shares Hit 52-Week Low as Political Ads Miss

The largest U.S. radio company reported a net loss of $8.8 million, or 6 cents a share, compared with a loss of $66.3 million, or 43 cents a share, a year earlier. The prior-year result reflected higher impairment charges in the 2025 period. Revenue rose 3.3% to $1.03 billion.

Chief Executive Bob Pittman said iHeart had expected a “robust political advertising year” and anticipated beating results from the 2024 presidential election. Instead, recent political ad results were slightly below the 2022 midterms, he said on the earnings call.

Pittman said local television broadcasters added inventory to meet strong demand, retaining political ad dollars that historically would have flowed to radio once TV inventory sold out. A greater share of political ads than expected also went to programmatic platforms, he said. For non-political advertising, fuel volatility weighed on budgets, while some brands delayed campaigns until after the election to avoid clutter.

Podcast revenue increased 24% to $173.7 million. iHeartMedia said it expects to make podcasting a separate reporting segment in 2027, providing greater insight into its financial performance and making it easier to value its four segments and the company as a whole.