Long-time listener, first-time IPO'r... With 848 stations, iHeartMedia is America's biggest radio broadcaster. And it just filed paperwork to list its shares on public markets.
- 1 catch: It filed for bankruptcy last year with $20B in debt from the '08 financial crisis. So it needs to thank a bankruptcy judge who said it only has to pay a portion of that debt back.
Battle of the bands 2019... is Spotify vs. iHeart. And antenna-loving iHeart is putting up a shockingly good fight:
- Total $$: The two brought in about the same revenue last year (~$6B), but Spotify's growing much faster.
- Total Ears: iHeart has 275M US listeners. Spotify has 207M (with 62M in North America).
- Live Events: iHeartMedia leads with 20K/year, featuring Cardi B, Ed Sheeran, and iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina.
- Podcasts: Spotify has acquired 3 podcast companies this year. But iHeart already connects 16.6M podders, making it the #2 podcast creator behind NPR.
- Social: iHeart's radio hosts and personalities enjoy 145M followers, compared to the 28M following Spotify's.
"Companionship" is the jingle... iHeart dropped that word 21 times in its IPO filing. Talk radio personalities bond powerfully with daily commuters or anybody enjoying an AM/FM dial. It barely veils resentment for Spotify's core biz of "music collection...which essentially replaced downloads and CDs." It hopes advertisers agree.
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