It’s all about “unique scale” at CC Media these days.
In releasing the company’s latest financial numbers, CEO Bob Pittman stated: “Since the start of 2012, we have continued to invest in our rapidly growing digital products and services, while strengthening our operations to better serve our marketing partners and our consumers. We have enhanced our ability to help our partners take advantage of the unique size and scale of our media, entertainment and outdoor assets, with a particular focus on multi-platform solutions that no other company is able to deliver.”
CC Media Holdings issued its first quarter numbers. It said that despite a slow recovery in advertising, the company grew revenue 3% during a “traditionally slow first quarter,” to $1.36 billion. The company’s consolidated net loss grew to $144 million in the quarter compared to a loss of $131 million a year earlier.
It is the parent of what used to be called Clear Channel Radio. That piece of the company, now called Media and Entertainment, saw revenue grow 6% to $671.5 million in the quarter, much of it due to its 2011 Metro/Shadow Traffic acquisition but also partly because it brought in more money from national ads and “digital” radio services in Q1.
John Hogan is chairman/CEO of Clear Channel Media and Entertainment. His division’s OIBDAN — a financial measure that CC uses to evaluate operating performance — was off 3% in the quarter, while the parent company’s OIBDAN was off 17%.
The numbers give insight into the impact of the traffic acquisition. Of the division’s $39 million growth in revenue in the quarter, $32 million was from the traffic buy. Yet operating expenses also grew, also largely due to that acquisition, including severance costs.
Also, “The company’s digital initiatives led to higher expenses in connection with the February 2011 purchase of a cloud-based music technology business that has enabled the company to accelerate the development and growth of the next generation of iHeartRadio digital products, including the iHeartRadio Player.”
One of the highlights for the company in Q1 is that it has reported 75 million downloads and upgrades of its iHeartRadio application, and it said it hit 107 million total listening hours in March, more than double the rate of a year before.
Related:
Clear Channel Drops ‘Radio’ From Its Name (Jan. 2012)