iHeartMedia on November 9, 2026 lowered its full-year Adjusted EBITDA forecast to between $550 million and $600 million, from the approximately $800 million it reaffirmed in August, after a third quarter in which revenue rose 3.3% to $1.03 billion but segment profit at its broadcast radio business fell 42.9%.

The company, which owns more than 860 broadcast stations, missed its own targets on both lines. Third-quarter Adjusted EBITDA came in at $170.5 million, below the $180 million to $220 million range management had given, and down from $204.8 million a year earlier. Revenue growth of 3.3% fell short of the "up mid-single digits" the company had guided to. Full-year free cash flow is now expected at approximately $50 million, a quarter of the roughly $200 million forecast three months ago. Shares closed the regular session on November 9 at $1.77 and dropped to $1.15 in after-hours trading, a fall of 35.03%, according to Investing.com.

In Short

iHeartMedia's radio stations made far less money than expected this summer, and the company now says its 2026 profit will be roughly a quarter lower than it forecast in August. If you buy radio or podcast ads, the company you are buying from is betting that selling radio spots through the same automated systems used for digital ads will bring in about $100 million of new money in 2027. Podcasts kept growing at 24%, and from 2027 iHeartMedia will report them as a separate business so investors can see how much they really earn.

From $800 million to $550 million

The guidance change is the number that matters most for anyone tracking the company's financial health. When iHeartMedia reported second-quarter results on August 10, 2026, full-year guidance was reaffirmed at approximately $800 million of Adjusted EBITDA and $200 million of free cash flow, with year-end net leverage expected "in the mid-fives." Three months later, the Adjusted EBITDA range sits $200 million to $250 million lower, a reduction of 25% to 31% by PPC Land's arithmetic. The free cash flow target dropped by $150 million, or 75%.

The press release does not mention the earlier $800 million figure. It lists the new range under a heading reading "Full Year 2026 Guidance" alongside free cash flow of approximately $50 million and total programmatic revenue of approximately $200 million, up approximately 50%. On the conference call, President and Chief Operating Officer Rich Bressler said the company was "adjusting our full year Adjusted EBITDA guidance to $550 million-$600 million," according to a transcript published by Investing.com.

The fourth-quarter outlook explains most of the gap. iHeartMedia expects Adjusted EBITDA of $135 million to $185 million for the final three months of the year, and says that range includes approximately $100 million of net negative impact from non-cash marketing. Nine-month Adjusted EBITDA stood at $414.6 million, so the full-year range is simply the nine-month total plus the fourth-quarter range. A year earlier, the fourth quarter of 2025 generated about $220.3 million of Adjusted EBITDA, derived from the company's full-year 2025 figure of $685.8 million minus the nine-month figure of $465.5 million. The new fourth-quarter range therefore represents a decline of 16% to 39% year over year. In August, PPC Land noted that a full-year target of $800 million implied a fourth quarter well above the $315 million the company generated in the fourth quarter of 2022, the last midterm cycle.

Revenue guidance for the fourth quarter remains positive. Consolidated revenue is expected to rise mid-single digits. Bressler said October revenue was tracking up mid-teens, and approximately flat excluding political advertising. By segment, the company expects:

  • Digital Audio Group revenue up mid-teens, with podcasting up approximately 20% and digital excluding podcasts up high single digits
  • Multiplatform Group revenue down low single digits
  • Audio & Media Services Group revenue up approximately 30%

Bressler gave the free cash flow inputs behind the new figure: interest expense of approximately $440 million, capital expenditures of approximately $90 million, cash restructuring expenses of approximately $50 million, and minimal cash taxes. He said the company would avoid approximately $150 million to $200 million of cash taxes over the next three years "as long as the current tax laws are in effect." Nine-month free cash flow was negative $78.9 million, which means the company needs roughly $130 million of free cash flow in the fourth quarter to reach $50 million for the year. Bressler said that is what it expects.

Why such a wide range? Bressler's answer was blunt. "This is one of the most uncertain periods in the advertising environment that we have managed through, including COVID-19, which is what makes it difficult for us to narrow the range of our expected results," he said.

A quarter split three ways

Consolidated revenue for the three months ended September 30, 2026 was $1,029.8 million, up $32.8 million from $997.0 million. Excluding political advertising, revenue rose 0.9% to $1,000.1 million. GAAP operating income was $73.0 million, compared with an operating loss of $116.3 million a year earlier, a swing the company attributes mainly to a $208.5 million impairment charge on its FCC licenses in the prior-year quarter. The net loss narrowed to $8.2 million from $65.8 million, or $0.06 per share against $0.43.

Direct operating expenses rose 4.8% to $418.5 million, driven by podcast profit share and third-party digital costs. Selling, general and administrative expenses rose 7.6% to $445.9 million. According to the 10-Q filed the same day, that increase was "primarily driven by a $48.9 million increase in non-cash trade and barter expense mostly related to previously executed strategic marketing agreements," partly offset by lower share-based compensation and bonus expense.

Multiplatform Group

The Multiplatform Group, which contains the 860-plus broadcast stations, Premiere Networks and the live events business, produced revenue of $562.4 million, down 4.9% from $591.2 million. Excluding political advertising, the decline was 6.6%. Broadcast radio revenue fell 4.5% to $407.8 million on lower spot sales. Networks revenue fell 12.0% to $100.6 million. Sponsorship and events was the only growth line of size, up 5.4% to $48.0 million.

Segment Adjusted EBITDA fell to $68.0 million from $119.2 million, and the margin dropped from 20.2% to 12.1%. Operating expenses in the segment rose $22.4 million, or 4.7%, which the 10-Q attributes mainly to higher non-cash trade and barter expense. Management said non-cash marketing expenses tied to co-marketing partnerships supporting AudioGraph "drove the majority of the negative impact" on the segment's profit in the quarter. Over nine months, Multiplatform Group Adjusted EBITDA fell 39.2% to $173.6 million.

That deterioration follows the second quarter, when Multiplatform Group profit fell 39.2% to $58.6 million when rising trade and barter expense also weighed on the segment.

The investor presentation contained two data points the company presented as evidence of resilience. In Miller Kaplan measured markets, iHeartMedia accounted for 43% of radio revenue, and in 2026 through September it outperformed the industry in Miller Kaplan's select PPM markets by 4.0 percentage points, according to the deck. The presentation does not give the industry's own growth rate, so the absolute direction of the market cannot be read from that figure.

Category data in the deck showed where the money moved. The largest year-over-year gains came from political, financial services, gambling and professional services. The largest declines came from homebuilding and improvement, food and beverage, entertainment and telecom. The five biggest sectors by total advertising revenue in the quarter were healthcare, financial services, auto, homebuilding and improvement, and entertainment. The deck shows no dollar values for these categories.

Digital Audio Group

The Digital Audio Group grew revenue 13.8% to $388.7 million. Podcast revenue rose 24.4% to $173.7 million from $139.7 million, above the guidance of approximately 20%. Digital revenue excluding podcasts rose 6.4% to $215.0 million. The 10-Q attributes that second increase "primarily" to "an increase in non-cash trade and barter revenue resulting from strategic marketing initiatives, as well as an increase in demand for digital advertising," which means part of the non-podcast digital growth was barter rather than cash advertising.

Profit moved the other way. Segment Adjusted EBITDA fell 2.3% to $127.4 million, and the margin narrowed to 32.8% from 38.1%, because operating expenses rose 23.6% to $261.4 million. The company cited podcast profit share, third-party digital costs and non-cash trade and barter expense.

Audio & Media Services Group

The smallest segment had the best quarter. The Audio & Media Services Group, which includes Katz Media Group and RCS, increased revenue 22.6% to $81.6 million. Political revenue in the segment rose to $14.2 million from $1.1 million, driven by television political advertising sold through Katz. Excluding political, segment revenue rose 2.9%. Operating expenses were flat at $44.2 million, so almost all of the extra revenue reached profit: segment Adjusted EBITDA climbed 65.9% to $37.5 million, a margin of 45.9%.

The segment's growth came from the same place as radio's shortfall. Katz represents television stations, and television captured the political money that radio did not.

The political cycle radio did not get

Total political revenue for the quarter was $29.7 million, up from $5.5 million. That $24.2 million increase accounts for nearly three-quarters of the company's $32.8 million revenue growth, by PPC Land's calculation. Still, it was far less than management expected.

Chairman and CEO Bob Pittman named four reasons for the Multiplatform Group's shortfall. The first was political. "We actually came in slightly below the 2022 non-presidential election year on Multiplatform Group revenue," he said, after expecting a result better than the 2024 presidential year. He said lower political revenue accounted for about a third of the revenue underperformance in the quarter.

Pittman's explanation centered on television capacity. "In response to strong political advertising demand, local TV broadcasters created more inventory and therefore held onto a lot of the political advertising dollars that historically would spill over to broadcast radio when TV reached sellout," he said. Citing AdImpact, he said "approximately 50% of all political spending this cycle was on broadcast television, which is much larger than its typical 15% share of overall advertising spend." He added that a larger share of political audio spending moved to programmatic platforms than iHeartMedia had anticipated.

The television side of that story has been visible in other earnings. In early November, FOX reported more than $350 million of political revenue across the cycle, with more than $250 million coming from its local stations. In late October, PPC Land reported that midterm demand lifted premium CTV CPMs to $43, with AdImpact expecting about $8.2 billion of the cycle's political spend to go to broadcast, cable and connected TV combined.

The second factor was brand delay. "Second, a number of advertisers, especially larger advertisers, delayed their advertising spend until after the election," Pittman said, attributing it to clutter, higher commercial loads and "the negative environment of wall-to-wall political advertising." Local TV broadcasters, he said, "were able to make up for this delayed brand advertising with political advertising. Unfortunately, we did not make up that deficit."

The third was the speed of the shift to programmatic buying. Citing AdExchanger, Pittman said "the percentage of advertising agencies that buy audio programmatically has grown from 41% in 2022 to 82% this year." The fourth was the economy. Pittman cited fuel volatility, inflation and the World Economic Policy Uncertainty Index, which he said had "recently spiked to an all-time high."

Bressler explained why the political miss hit profit so hard. "I think the reminder that political is our highest margin business. When you fall short on political, it significantly impacts your EBITDA number more than other categories do," he said.

Trade and barter: revenue that does not bring cash

The figure that drew the most analyst questions on the call was neither podcasts nor radio. It was trade and barter: advertising that iHeartMedia runs in exchange for goods, services or other advertising rather than cash.

Beginning in the third quarter of 2025, the company entered into "non-cash strategic marketing initiatives designed to expand our digital audience and engagement and support the growth of our broadcast radio programmatic sales capabilities," according to the 10-Q. Bressler described them on the call as part of the investment in the company's proprietary audience database, "which is the foundation of our broadcast programmatic and AudioGraph offerings," intended to drive engagement with the iHeartRadio digital service.

The accounting matters because these deals are booked as revenue when iHeartMedia runs the agreed advertising, and as expense when the counterparty delivers its side. The two halves often fall in different quarters. According to the 10-Q, trade and barter revenues were $142.4 million in the third quarter of 2026, against $131.5 million a year earlier. Trade and barter expenses were $117.1 million, up from $68.2 million. The net contribution to the quarter was $25.3 million, down from $63.3 million.

Over nine months, trade and barter revenues reached $371.2 million against $256.9 million in 2025, and expenses $310.7 million against $166.8 million.

PPC Land's arithmetic on those filing figures puts the scale in context:

  • Trade and barter revenue made up 13.8% of third-quarter revenue and 12.8% of nine-month revenue.
  • The $114.3 million increase in trade and barter revenue accounts for about 74% of the company's $153.5 million nine-month revenue growth.
  • Excluding both trade and barter revenue and political revenue, third-quarter revenue was about $857.7 million against $860.0 million a year earlier, a decline of 0.3%. On the same basis, nine-month revenue was flat at about $2.46 billion.
  • Excluding net trade and barter, third-quarter Adjusted EBITDA was about $145.1 million against $141.4 million a year earlier, an increase of about 2.6%.

The company does not present any of these measures, and trade and barter existed in the business before the strategic initiatives began. They are offered as a way to separate cash-paying demand from contractual timing, not as company-reported figures.

The investor deck added a timing chart. It showed net trade and barter adding $86 million to Adjusted EBITDA in full-year 2025 and an expected net drag of approximately $40 million in 2026. For the fourth quarter, iHeartMedia projects approximately $80 million of trade and barter revenue against approximately $180 million of expense. The cumulative mismatch between revenue recognized and expense recognized reached $146 million at the end of the third quarter and is expected to fall to about $46 million by year end. The balance sheet reflects the same pattern: prepaid expenses rose to $271.2 million on September 30 from $190.4 million at the end of 2025.

Analysts pressed on the change in tone. Sebastiano Petti of JPMorgan said: "I think last call you talked about it declining in the back half of the year, and here we have a $100 million impact in the fourth quarter." Chief Financial Officer Mike McGuinness answered that the company is "no longer entering into these partnerships" and that about $40 million of expense will roll into 2027. "So this should be completely resolved by Q1, at the latest Q2, because we have accomplished what we needed to accomplish with the launch of AudioGraph," he said.

Pittman drew a distinction between the deals and their accounting. "When we said we were cutting, that we are rolling it off at the end of the year, that means we are rolling off doing the deals, but what you are seeing now is the impact of them," he said.

Bressler insisted that the $100 million was not new to the forecast. Aaron Watts of Deutsche Bank asked whether the company had changed its methodology. "No, we were expecting the Trade & Barter before," Bressler said, and later added that "it was always baked into the guidance." Asked how investors should adjust the full-year guidance for the $100 million, Bressler replied: "Well, I'll let you all do the calculation." By PPC Land's arithmetic, adding back the net trade and barter drag of approximately $40 million expected for 2026 would put the full-year range at about $590 million to $640 million. Removing the $86 million net benefit from 2025 would put that year at about $600 million. On that basis, the underlying comparison is roughly flat, a long way from the 17% growth the original $800 million target implied against 2025's reported $685.8 million.

The wording in the filing is slightly softer than on the call. The 10-Q says the company "reduced the amount of new strategic marketing initiatives in the third quarter of 2026 and expect[s] to continue to reduce new initiatives through the remainder of 2026," while McGuinness said on the call: "Now that we've launched AudioGraph, we're no longer pursuing these partnerships."

AudioGraph and the $400 million programmatic bet

All of that spending was in service of AudioGraph, the platform iHeartMedia is using to sell broadcast radio inventory through the same automated channels advertisers already use for digital media. Bressler said AudioGraph "comes fully to market in Q4."

The company's argument rests on reach. "90-plus percent reach on broadcast radio is contrasted with the ad-supported digital players, where no one is greater than about 20% reach," Pittman said in response to Watts. "The problem has been that you've not been able to access radio off of your DSPs and the way in which you're accustomed to buying your media."

Connecting radio to demand-side platforms has been a multi-year effort. StackAdapt integrated iHeartMedia broadcast radio in November 2025. Viant gained programmatic access to iHeartMedia's over-the-air inventory through Triton Digital in December 2025. In June 2026, iHeartMedia expanded its reseller relationship with Amazon, and on the August call Bressler said the company expected to be in the Amazon DSP in the fourth quarter. The November call gave no update on that integration.

The financial targets are specific. Programmatic revenue across all iHeartMedia inventory is expected to reach approximately $200 million in 2026, up approximately 50% from $135 million in 2025, and approximately $400 million in 2027. Of that 2027 total, approximately $100 million is expected to be incremental broadcast radio programmatic revenue. "Our expectation is that the $100 million of broadcast programmatic will be mostly incremental," Pittman said, describing the goal as getting broadcast radio into the digital total addressable market.

The current contribution is small. "We are generating revenue now. It is immaterial," Bressler said of AudioGraph. He said confidence in the 2027 figure rests on "the numerous campaigns that we've been running with advertisers," and on those campaigns drawing from digital budgets. No campaign results, client names or pricing were disclosed. Pittman said broadcast inventory "comes with a higher EBITDA margin," and that broadcast programmatic revenue would carry "a much higher margin than the non-broadcast programmatic."

The 10-Q describes the investment more broadly. Management "monitors revenue generated through our programmatic advertising offerings, including AudioGraph and related automated advertising technologies," and continues to invest in broadcast radio programmatic sales capabilities "that enhance advertisers' ability to plan, buy, target, measure, and optimize campaigns across our platforms." Pittman said the data work behind AudioGraph also feeds measurement, targeting and attribution for radio advertising that is not bought programmatically.

Automation is also being pushed further. Pittman said Triton Digital, iHeartMedia's ad tech unit, had developed capabilities that let AI agents transact directly across the audio advertising ecosystem, and that "Triton recently completed its first agent-to-agent media buy, automating the process from campaign request and negotiation through booking." He did not name the buyer. In October, PPC Land reported that Triton's seller agent booked an Otrium audio campaign with Talpa Media without manual steps, with no budget or volume disclosed. Pittman said the company was excited about the potential of agentic buying, and argued that it could make audio substantially easier for advertisers to purchase.

Podcasting becomes its own segment in 2027

Podcasting remains the company's growth engine. Bressler said podcasting comprised 17% of total third-quarter revenue. Beginning in 2027, iHeartMedia plans to report it as a separate segment, taking the company from three reporting segments to four.

"This additional granularity is expected to make it easier for the investor community to fully value all four of our segments and our entire company," Pittman said. Asked by Stephen Laszczyk of Goldman Sachs about the margin profile of the future podcast segment, Bressler said there was "nothing else to add at this point in time."

The investor deck traced how the sales mix has changed. In the third quarter of 2020, podcast revenue was $23 million, with 89% sold nationally and 11% locally. In the third quarter of 2026, podcast revenue was $174 million, split 50% national and 50% local. Bressler said "over 50% of the revenue is originated locally." Pittman listed the drivers as more listeners, more inventory and pricing. "I think we are getting better CPMs and expanding our roster of podcasts as well," he said.

Audience data in the deck came from Podtrac's September 2026 ranker. iHeartPodcasts recorded 162,301,000 US streams and downloads and 31,960,000 US unique monthly listeners, according to the presentation. iHeartAudienceNetwork, its podcast sales representation network, recorded 285,627,000 monthly downloads and 57,562,000 monthly listeners. A month earlier, Triton's August ranker put iHeart's weekly downloads at 4.4 times Audioboom's.

Video is the newer revenue stream. Pittman said iHeartMedia's video podcasts are now distributed on Netflix, Apple, Amazon, Disney+ and Hulu, as well as YouTube and the iHeartRadio app. In August, Disney+ and Hulu took six iHeartMedia podcasts and Netflix added two Martha Stewart shows. Pittman said that when Netflix licensed a group of podcasts, "one podcast accounted for 40% of all the video views. That was The Breakfast Club," which he said Netflix turned into a live daily show. The call did not quantify video podcast revenue.

Other audio companies reported their own pressures in the same season. At SiriusXM, podcast advertising growth slowed to 20% in the third quarter while total ad revenue was flat at $456 million. At Spotify, direct ad sales fell €53 million while automated channels added €91 million, the same shift toward automated buying that Pittman described for radio.

Debt, covenants and the share price

The guidance cut lands on a balance sheet with little room. Total debt was $5,024.3 million on September 30, 2026, and net debt was $4,680.1 million, according to the deck. Net debt was 7.4 times trailing twelve-month Adjusted EBITDA of $634.9 million, up from 6.6 times at the end of 2025 and from 7.0 times at the end of June. The weighted average cost of debt was 9.0%. About 46% of the principal bears floating rates; a 100 basis point change would have altered nine-month interest expense by $16.9 million, according to the 10-Q.

The August expectation of year-end net leverage "in the mid-fives" does not appear in the November materials. Dividing September's net debt by the $575 million midpoint of the new Adjusted EBITDA range gives about 8.1 times, by PPC Land's arithmetic, before any fourth-quarter cash generation reduces net debt.

The 10-Q contains two leverage tests tied to near-term maturities. Thirty days before the May 2027 maturity of the 8.375% senior unsecured notes, if more than $50 million of those notes remains outstanding, the company must have a maximum total net leverage ratio of 6.35 times. Thirty days before the January 2028 maturity of the 4.75% senior secured notes, the same test applies at 6.55 times if more than $50 million remains outstanding. On September 30, $72.4 million of the 2027 notes and $276.9 million of the 2028 notes were outstanding. The company said it was in compliance with all covenants on that date. The 10-Q does not set out how the covenant ratio is calculated, and it may differ from the net debt to trailing Adjusted EBITDA measure in the investor deck.

Bressler addressed the 2027 notes directly. "We have a small $72 million tranche of notes due in May 2027, which we expect to repay by their maturity," he said, adding that $277 million is due in 2028, with "the more meaningful maturities coming in 2029." He said the company remains "laser-focused on getting additional cost efficiencies out of the business and optimizing our capital structure."

Liquidity was $415.8 million: $139.7 million of cash plus $276.1 million of availability under the $450 million asset-based revolving credit facility, of which $125.0 million was drawn. On August 7, an amendment extended the facility's maturity from May 17, 2027 to January 30, 2029, cut the advance rate on eligible receivables from 90% to 85%, and carried about $6.2 million in transaction costs. The aggregate market value of iHeartMedia's quoted debt was approximately $3.9 billion on September 30, against $4.4 billion at the end of 2025, according to the 10-Q.

The filing also shows how far the equity had fallen before the results. Shares tendered by employees for tax withholding were repurchased at an average of $4.35 in July, $3.46 in August and $2.70 in September. The 10-Q states that after the July 1 impairment test, "the trading prices of the Company's Class A common stock and debt securities declined significantly." The company concluded this did not require a further write-down at September 30, but warned that continued declines "may result in material impairment charges in future periods."

That warning sits next to specific numbers. The annual test on July 1 produced a $16.0 million impairment of FCC licenses, driven by "recent radio station transactions at prices generally below historical levels." The licenses were carried at $586.3 million after the charge. A 100 basis point increase in the discount rate would reduce their fair value by $107.6 million, according to the 10-Q. The fair value of the Multiplatform reporting unit exceeded its carrying value by less than 20%.

The after-hours move reported by Investing.com, from $1.77 to $1.15, came after the release at 4:04 p.m. Eastern Time and the call at 4:30 p.m., and reflects extended-hours trading on November 9 rather than a full session.

Cost cuts and the profit bridge

The company is cutting where it can. iHeartMedia's 2026 modernization program totals $150 million of annualized cost reductions in three phases of $50 million, with $125 million of in-year impact expected for 2026. The deck and the 10-Q date the three announcements differently, as set out below. The deck shows $45.0 million of savings in the third quarter, and the same figure forecast for the fourth.

For the first two phases, 53% of net savings came from the Multiplatform Group, and 69% of headcount reductions fell in that segment. The deck labels the program "Reducing Costs by Continuing to Leverage Technology and AI." Pittman said plans for further cost efficiencies in 2027 are under way, "leveraging the strategic deployment of AI and other technology solutions."

The deck's Adjusted EBITDA bridge shows the arithmetic of the quarter: from $205 million in the third quarter of 2025, the Multiplatform revenue decline subtracted about $25 million, Audio & Media Services revenue added about $15 million, Digital Audio revenue added about $19 million and cost savings added about $45 million. "Benefits & Other" subtracted about $39 million and non-cash marketing trade about $49 million, leaving $170 million.

Discrepancies in the source material

Several figures do not reconcile across the documents published on November 9.

The press release's segment tables report nine-month Digital Audio Group Segment Adjusted EBITDA of $677.0 million, up 108.3%, with operating expenses of $402.9 million. The same release's reconciliation table, and the 10-Q, give $337.3 million, up 3.8%, with operating expenses of $742.6 million. The release's nine-month Audio & Media Services figure of $150.8 million, up 142.8%, likewise conflicts with $98.6 million, up 58.7%, elsewhere. The errors appear in both the Business Wire version and the copy filed with the SEC as an exhibit to the 8-K. This article uses the 10-Q figures.

On the call, podcast revenue growth was given as 24.6% and digital excluding podcast growth as 6.3%, according to the Investing.com transcript. The release, deck and 10-Q all report 24.4% and 6.4%. This article uses the filing figures.

The cost program is dated two ways. The investor deck labels its three $50 million phases as announced in the third quarter of 2025, the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026. The 10-Q says the first two $50 million initiatives were announced in the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, and the third in the second quarter of 2026, with savings from it beginning in the third quarter. The deck's own phasing table, which shows the third phase contributing from the third quarter of 2026, is consistent with the 10-Q.

The Investing.com summary published with the transcript states that earnings per share were "not reported in the provided figures." The 10-Q reports a net loss of $0.06 per share for the quarter. The same summary compares revenue with a consensus forecast of $1.07 billion; the company did not publish a consensus figure, and this article measures the result against iHeartMedia's own guidance instead.

The management statements in the press release do not refer to the guidance misses. Pittman's quote in the release states revenue and Adjusted EBITDA without reference to targets. On the call, he said revenue was "below our guidance range of up mid-single digits" and Adjusted EBITDA "below our previously provided guidance range of $180 million-$220 million."

Why this matters for advertisers and publishers

For media buyers, the quarter is a measurement of how quickly audio money is moving. The AdExchanger figures Pittman cited, with agencies buying audio programmatically going from 41% to 82% in four years, describe budgets that now flow through buying software first, and sellers that are not connected to that software miss them. The company that reaches nine out of ten Americans each month, by its own description, found that reach alone did not protect its broadcast revenue when buyers moved faster than its pipes.

That makes the 2027 programmatic target a test for the whole radio industry, not only for iHeartMedia. If approximately $100 million of broadcast programmatic revenue arrives and is mostly incremental, as Pittman expects, it would support the argument PPC Land has followed through Triton Digital's 2026 predictions on curation and identity in audio and Triton's RCS integration covering stations in 120 countries: that over-the-air radio can be sold like digital audio. If it does not, the company has fewer options. Net leverage above 7 times, an Adjusted EBITDA target 25% to 31% below the August figure and a leverage test tied to the May 2027 notes leave little margin for error.

For podcast buyers, the 2027 segment split should bring the first separate profitability disclosure for the publisher Podtrac ranks first in the US. iHeartMedia has not yet said what costs will move with the segment, or what margin it expects, so the figures will matter more than the announcement.

Timeline

Summary

Who: iHeartMedia, Inc. (Nasdaq: IHRT), led by Chairman and CEO Bob Pittman, President and COO Rich Bressler and CFO Mike McGuinness, with analysts from Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan questioning management on the call.

What: Third-quarter revenue rose 3.3% to $1,029.8 million and Adjusted EBITDA fell to $170.5 million, below guidance. Multiplatform Group profit fell 42.9% to $68.0 million, podcast revenue rose 24.4% to $173.7 million, and full-year Adjusted EBITDA guidance was lowered to $550 million to $600 million from approximately $800 million, with free cash flow cut to approximately $50 million from $200 million. The company expects approximately $400 million of programmatic revenue in 2027 and will report podcasting as a separate segment from 2027.

When: Results were released on November 9, 2026, at 4:04 p.m. Eastern Time, with the conference call at 4:30 p.m. and the 10-Q filed the same day, covering the quarter ended September 30, 2026.

Where: The results cover iHeartMedia's US radio, podcast, digital and media representation businesses, with principal executive offices in San Antonio, Texas, and more than 860 broadcast stations in over 160 markets.

Why: Political advertising went to local television rather than radio, larger brands delayed spending until after the election, agencies moved audio budgets to programmatic channels faster than iHeartMedia could connect its broadcast inventory, and non-cash trade and barter expense from marketing partnerships behind AudioGraph rose sharply. The company now depends on AudioGraph, cost cuts and podcast growth to return its radio business to earnings growth while carrying net leverage of 7.4 times.