Posted on 03/15/2018 9:23:40 AM PDT by Enlightened1
fter months of delays, discussions and last-minute attempts to avoid an unfortunate financial necessity, the inevitable has finally happened to one of America’s biggest entertainment companies: iHeartRadio has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The radio titan officially filed for protection late on Wednesday, ending speculation that has been swirling for months. The company has been suffering due to more than $20 billion in debt. That load, which has been crippling the entertainment giant for a decade now, is a result of a 2008 leveraged buyout that also saw the company rebrand into the conglomerate the world knows now.
iHeart announced the filing on its press page, stating that the company has “reached an agreement in principle with holders of more than $10 billion of its outstanding debt and its financial sponsors,” and that agreement will reduce its crippling debt by more than $10 billion, effectively cutting it in half. That could be a game-changer for the company, though it still has a long road ahead as the bankruptcy protection proceedings have only just started.
There have been rumors for months that bankruptcy was on its way, and lately, it seemed as if every week some new sign appeared that signaled it was coming sooner than later. The company missed its first interest payment just last month, which seemed to herald that bankruptcy was imminent, though there were plenty of reports about other companies stepping in to offer up cash, either in the form of some kind of loan or for a share of the iHeart empire.
iHeartRadio owns 850 radio stations across the U.S., including many of the most popular outlets in top-tier markets. In addition to ruling traditional radio, the company also runs one of the most popular streaming music platforms in the world...
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
All media conglomerates should be broken.
Media consolidation is a bad thing in a free country.
s/b
All media conglomerates should be broken up.
Yep. The suits say that “no one” listens to radio anymore. White people are supposed to get pay-radio and new equipment.
Plenty of takeover of the old spectrum in foreign languages. And not much variety there. Where is the rock-en-espanol?
I am very fond of a lot of shows on I heart. I love talk radio.
Me too. My commute is through the hills where radio stations don’t come in well. I put i heart on my phone and I can still hear them all. And many of the shows have podcasts on I heart so I can hear the shows later without commercials.
Gee, maybe when they decided to constantly promote their online crime drama podcasts about a lesbian truck driver looking for her “wife’s” murderer, they had no idea that wasn’t going to be an easy sell here in southern Georgia on the conservative talk station ... ya think?
Is anyone else tired of Ricky from Banyan hill?
There's a simple reason why FM music channels tend to play the same songs repeatedly: The corporate giants that own these radio stations also own the record labels for the artists whose music they're playing repetitively.
All of these media companies and their various subsidiaries are cutting their high-paid personalities loose because they can't afford to pay them anymore in this new business climate.
I wonder how this bankruptcy filing might impact existing the existing contracts iHeartRadio has with big names in the radio business.
Their phone app sucked.
It’s that 1,000.00 the give away every hour.
Surprised you? This has been known for a few years that they couldn’t sustain the debt load. There last debt refinancing a few years ago was done at credit card rates. They finally couldn’t kick the can down the road anymore.
Rush’s stream is provided by iHeart’s Premiere subsidiary.
Apparently they also own 850 conventional radio stations in the US. Like you, I didn't know that before today until I read it in this story; I also thought they were just a streaming service.
Rush and Hannity are bankrupt. Syndicated by iHate Media....er iHeart Media
Yeah. I wasn’t following it. That’s why it surprised me. :)
Yep. A LBO for IHeart and for Toys R Us. Load them up with debt, skim all the money off the top, then force them into bankruptcy where they actually make more money.
I have been telling my wife for years that good companies should never go "public" as the Wall Street vampires will always get a controlling interest and run it into the ground on purpose.
It IS Clear Channel.
Clear Channel sold off some larger stations, and worked with Bain Capital to reincorporate as the private company iHeart Media.
-PJ
I’ve been listening to Rush on I Heart for the past several weeks, but the last two days I can’t get Rush on I Heart. I get the buffering circle, and when I try another radio channel that he comes on I get the same thing.
I’ve been listening to Rush on I Heart for the past several weeks, but the last two days I can’t get Rush on I Heart. I get the buffering circle, and when I try another radio channel that he comes on I get the same thing.
thanx
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