Even as the U.S. advertising market’s slowdown stunted iHeartMedia’s post-pandemic recovery, the company posted record revenue of $3.9 billion in 2022, up 9.9% from 2021
. “I think there were people who thought they were buying [market] share, but were really buying losses,” he said.
Digital revenue other than podcasts improved 14% to $663.4 million. Broadcast radio, by far iHeartMedia’s biggest revenue source, grew 4.1% to $1.89 billion. Network revenue was flat at $503.2 million. Revenue from sponsorships and events climbed 17.9% to $189 million. Revenue from the audio and media services group jumped 22.7% to $304.3 million.
In the fourth quarter, iHeartMedia’s revenue grew 6% year over year to $1.13 billion, the high end of guidance of 2% to 6%. Adjusted EBITDA was $316 million, in the middle of its guidance range of $305 million to $325 million. Both revenue and adjusted EBITDA hit record highs for any quarter in the company’s history.
Although the company started 2022 strong, “increased volatility and uncertainty” moderated annual results, Pittman said. Some of that slowdown was “self-inflicted,” he admitted. During the fourth quarter, iHeartMedia put greater emphasis on “sales initiatives and commission structures on targeting certain incremental revenue streams,” he explained. “In retrospect, we believe those decisions had a negative impact on our revenue growth and margin for the quarter.
As a result, iHeartMedia has “initiated steps to realign” its focus on “higher-margin digital revenue opportunities,” said Pittman. “We believe we’ll start seeing the positive impact of those adjustments in both revenue growth and margins as early as Q2.”
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