And have the content they want – that is the strategy going forward at radio’s largest company. It is making strides to capitalize on terrestrial radio’s awesome 93% reach by engaging with consumers on as many different media platforms as possible.
Pacings are up and there are no major debt events on the immediate horizon.
iHeartMedia is doing its best to make maximum use of technology to the advantage of its marketing partners. It is partnering with other companies to increase the number of places where iHeart content can be found – prime examples being the recent deal with AT&T that puts iHeartRadio on U-verse, and a deal with Virgin America that takes iHeart content into the skies.
Pacing is up 3.3%. Political is knocking a $10M hole in comps looking ahead, and that is accounted for in the pacing figure. Bressler added the lines between local, national and other categories are increasingly being blurred.
The company has a bit of a breather when it comes to debt maturities, giving it time to focus on growing diverse revenue streams. The next maturity on the calendar is $196M due in 2016, followed by a $934M maturity due in 2018.
Asked about the sustainability of iHeart’s ability to outperform peers, Bressler said that we’re in the very early innings of getting radio’s mojo back. He said radio is perhaps the most under-monetized medium in the United States. “Radio has 93% reach, we’re the last wide reach medium,” and that holds with millennials.
Look at all the trends and look at how we’re capitalizing on the brands that we’ve built and we’re delivering a huge audience.
He brought up the stat that documents that a dollar spend on radio returns six for the advertiser. He noted increased listening statistics. With those kind of positives, it becomes a matter of execution to bring monetization in line.
Bressler said all assets are constantly on review. It’s happy with its spin-offs of non-core assets and will consider other opportunities going forward – it’s a way to unpack working capital.
The key to iHeart’s ability to grow local business, Bessler noted, is testimony to the company’s ability to engage with consumers on multiple platforms. They don’t care if the content comes over the air or on a digital platform, they just want the content.
Content is the differentiator for iHeartMedia, said Bressler. The goal is to constantly give consumers what they want, when they want it – that means extending iHeart’s reach to all platforms. He earlier claimed that radio is the true original mobile medium, and added that iHeartMedia is also a major social medium.
Bressler noted that events are a big part of the iHeart plan and it goes far beyond its high profile national happenings – he said there are some 20,000 local events on iHeart’s calendar each year.
