iHeartMedia Q2 2022: Political Ads Lift Revenue as Podcasts Surge 21%

iHeartMedia reported Q2 2022 revenue of $977 million, up 4.7% year over year, driven by political primary advertising ahead of the November US midterm elections, according to Billboard.

The company's own investor release, filed on 4 August 2022, put revenue at $954 million, up 11%. The two figures reflect different reporting bases. Billboard's later publication treats $977 million as the headline number; the company's filing presents $954 million on a consolidated basis, which it said was in line with its earlier guidance of 10–14% growth. The GAAP operating income for the quarter was $83 million, up from $28 million a year earlier, per the investor release.

CEO Bob Pittman told analysts that early political ad demand was performing at the level of a presidential election year — a mid-term, not a presidential cycle. Executives expected political placements to intensify through the second half of 2022 as television airways filled, pushing adjusted EBITDA growth for the multiplatform division. The company later confirmed that Q4 2022 multiplatform revenue rose $6.5 million, or 0.9%, primarily because of that midterm political spend.

Adjusted EBITDA — a profitability measure that strips out interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation — fell 2.9% to $152 million for the quarter, down from $156 million, according to Billboard. The investor release reported consolidated adjusted EBITDA of $237 million, up 29%, a figure that appears to cover a broader consolidated base. The discrepancy reflects different segment scopes and adjustments between the two sources.

The numbers split sharply by division. The multiplatform group — iHeartMedia's traditional radio business — saw revenue slip 2% to $536 million, with its adjusted EBITDA margin contracting to 10.9%. The digital audio group moved in the opposite direction: revenue rose 12% to $364 million, and segment adjusted EBITDA climbed 14% to $123 million, carrying a margin of 33.8%.

Within digital, the podcast division reported $164 million in revenue, up 21% year over year. Digital revenue excluding podcasts rose 7% to $202 million. The company also said it expected total programmatic revenue — ads bought and sold through automated platforms rather than direct sales — to grow roughly 50% to approximately $200 million.

Free cash flow turned positive at $46 million, compared to a loss of $13 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Cash provided by operating activities was $65 million. iHeartMedia reaffirmed its full-year guidance of $800 million in adjusted EBITDA and $200 million in free cash flow.

The quarter also brought layoffs across radio stations, management and sales positions. The company did not disclose the total number of jobs eliminated. No single advertiser accounts for more than 2% of iHeartMedia's overall ad revenue, and no industry segment exceeds a 5% share — a diversification that, combined with the political ad windfall, underpinned management's confidence in the back half of the year.