iHeartMedia plans to cut more costs in 2026 than originally projected, with savings made possible through technology and AI.
The company updated its projection while releasing financial results for the first three months of this year.
Overall revenue grew by 9.6% in the first quarter compared to the same period a year prior.
Its net revenue in Q1 was $884 million, led by its Digital Audio Group, up 18%. Broadcast revenue in the quarter for the largest U.S. radio group was up 4% to $493 million.
It said another phase of “cost reduction work and the new savings” will generate $50 million of annual savings, which it will begin realizing in the second half of the year. This is in addition to $100 million in annualized savings it had previously projected, savings made possible by technology and AI, of which about $28 million was to come from “head count” reductions.
Chairman/CEO Bob Pittman led off Monday’s call with financial analysts highlighting the additional reductions.
“As you know, we continually reevaluate our organizational structure, flatten layers of management and push the adoption of new technologies and tools, including AI, to improve our operating efficiency, and this latest announcement is further evidence of that commitment,” Pittman said.
iHeart posted a net loss in the quarter of $96 million, down from $281 million the year prior. Its consolidated operating income was $1.5 million compared to operating loss of $25.4 million in the first quarter of 2025, according to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
At quarter end, its debt was approximately $5 billion. iHeart’s interest cost for 2026 is estimated at $440 million.
iHeart leadership did not address the company’s preliminary merger talks with SiriusXM, first reported in April by Bloomberg. Such a merger would shake up the audio marketplace.
In specific segments of its business, Digital Audio Group revenue for the quarter was $327 million. iHeart said podcast continues, with revenue up 26.9% in the quarter from a year earlier to $147 million.
Broadcast revenue from its 870 stations was up 6.1% to $361 million in Q1. However, Premiere Network saw its revenue drop by 2.2%.
According to the SEC filing, adjusted EBITDA for the Multiplatform Group, of which radio is part, was $47 million compared to $70 million in the prior year. Leadership was confident it can return the radio segment to growth.
Pittman said programmatic advertising is an important part of that. “We have built the ad-tech infrastructure and systems to make our broadcast inventory available through programmatic buying platforms. These partnership agreements with Amazon DSP, Yahoo DSP, Google, DV360 and others will enable our broadcast radio inventory to participate alongside our digital inventory.”
The Audio Media Services Group, which includes Katz Media, reported revenue of $67 million, up 12.2% year over year, driven primarily by the continued growth of its digital revenues. Excluding the impact of political revenue, Audio Media Services Group revenues were up 13%.
As a result of changes to the U.S. tax code, the company expects to have minimal cash taxes over the next three years, according to COO/CFO Rich Bressler, assuming current laws remain in effect.
“When we think about our free cash flow generation, this will preserve approximately $150 million to $200 million of cash from 2026 to 2028,” Bressler said on the call with investors.
In the first quarter, iHeart’s five largest advertising categories in terms of absolute dollars were health care, financial services, auto and home building and improvement, he said.
The second quarter 2026 outlook is for total revenue to be up low single digits, with digital up 10% and the radio station group flat. The company expects political advertising tied to the midterm elections to lift revenue performance levels later this year.
