Video Podcasts Expand iHeartMedia’s Reach Without Replacing Audio.

Podcasting continued to be the biggest growth engine at iHeartMedia during the first quarter, as the company posted another strong gain in podcast revenue while executives said video its going live this month on its flagship iHeartRadio app as its vision stretches from traditional audio into video, streaming platforms and even Netflix.

Yet for all its gains, CEO Bob Pittman says while video represents a major new revenue opportunity, he still doesn’t see it overtaking audio listening. Pittman instead says it remains incremental to audio episodes.

“It’s not the same usage case. It’s another time in which people are doing it. And now that we’re able to get the video podcast in there, it opens up a new revenue stream,” Pittman told analysts during a call with analysts Monday. “The big concept here is that we found yet another market that we can play in,” he said.

One of the biggest validations came in recent weeks as part of iHeartMedia’s alliance with Netflix, which announced in December that it had inked a deal with iHeartMedia to make video episodes for more than 15 shows available to its viewers. Television data and analytics company Samba TV says iHeartMedia’s “The Breakfast Club” podcast dominated.

“One podcast got over 40% of all their podcast views,” Pittman said. “And that’s our own ‘Breakfast Club’ with Charlemagne. Why? Because they talk about it on the radio every morning.” He argues the success illustrates how broadcast radio still acts as a powerful promotional tool even as podcasting expands into video and streaming environments.

Even as video is growing in importance, Pittman used the earnings call to repeatedly position podcasting as a natural extension of broadcast radio rather than a separate business. “We believe we have the most profitable podcasting business in the U.S.,” Pittman told analysts, crediting the company’s broadcast radio footprint as a major factor behind that success. “A major key to our success in building our podcast business has been our broadcast radio assets,” he said.

Despite growing investor interest in standalone podcast companies, Pittman also pushed back on the idea that iHeartMedia’s podcast operation could be separated from its radio business. When asked whether the company had considered spinning off podcasting into an independent entity, Pittman instead described podcasting as a natural extension of broadcast radio that benefits from iHeartMedia’s scale, promotion and audience reach. “If Netflix is in essence TV on demand, then podcasting is radio on demand,” he said. “As the number one radio company in America that gives us a great advantage.”

Executives stressed that one of the company’s biggest advantages remains its ability to use its massive broadcast radio footprint to promote podcasts and grow audiences across platforms. Pittman argued that radio’s reach continues to create a discovery engine many digital-first podcast companies cannot replicate. “A major key to our success in building our podcast business has been our broadcast radio assets,” he told analysts.

The company also highlighted how increasingly important local radio sales teams have become to podcast monetization. Roughly half of all iHeartMedia podcast revenue during the quarter was generated by its local sales force.

President and COO Rich Bressler pointed to that local integration as another advantage of the company’s scale. “We have 1,000-plus ad salespeople that can sell anything, anywhere, anytime,” Bressler said.

First quarter podcast revenue increased 26.9% year-over-year to $147 million at iHeartMedia, beating the company’s own guidance for growth in the low 20% range. The broader Digital Audio Group, which includes podcasting and streaming audio, generated $327 million in revenue during Q1, up 18% from a year earlier. Overall, iHeartMedia revenue increased 9.6% during Q1. It was the company’s strongest quarterly revenue growth rate since the post-pandemic rebound period in 2021.