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iHeartRadio Has Filed For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
Forbes ^ | 03/15/18 | Hugh McIntyre

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 ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet; Miscellaneous; Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS: bankruptcy; hahaha; hannity; iheartmedia; iheartradio; protection; radio; rush
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To: a fool in paradise

All media conglomerates should be broken.

Media consolidation is a bad thing in a free country.


41 posted on 03/15/2018 10:49:06 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: dfwgator

s/b

All media conglomerates should be broken up.


42 posted on 03/15/2018 10:49:30 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: Mastador1

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?


43 posted on 03/15/2018 10:51:13 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (Wear an orange pin to mourn thvictims of the Tide Pods Challenge.)
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To: Enlightened1

I am very fond of a lot of shows on I heart. I love talk radio.


44 posted on 03/15/2018 10:53:46 AM PDT by Yaelle
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To: Bigbrown

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.


45 posted on 03/15/2018 10:56:47 AM PDT by Yaelle
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To: Enlightened1

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?


46 posted on 03/15/2018 10:58:01 AM PDT by Dr. Sivana (There is no salvation in politics.)
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To: Enlightened1

Is anyone else tired of Ricky from Banyan hill?


47 posted on 03/15/2018 11:01:24 AM PDT by JohnnyP (Thinking is hard work (I stole that from Rush).)
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To: Dilbert San Diego
Competition from other formats has really hurt the radio business, but ownership by corporate conglomerates started the industry down a bad road in the 1990s after the media business was deregulated.

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.

48 posted on 03/15/2018 11:13:38 AM PDT by Alberta's Child ("Go ahead, bite the Big Apple ... don't mind the maggots.")
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To: Enlightened1

Their phone app sucked.


49 posted on 03/15/2018 11:14:35 AM PDT by bmwcyle (People who do not study history are destine to believe really ignorant statements.)
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To: Enlightened1

It’s that 1,000.00 the give away every hour.


50 posted on 03/15/2018 11:18:15 AM PDT by ThomasThomas (Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.)
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To: robroys woman

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.


51 posted on 03/15/2018 11:55:00 AM PDT by joesbucks
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To: wardaddy

Rush’s stream is provided by iHeart’s Premiere subsidiary.


52 posted on 03/15/2018 11:56:32 AM PDT by joesbucks
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To: Snickering Hound
Umm, how do you get over $20 billion in debt for streaming radio?

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.

53 posted on 03/15/2018 11:56:36 AM PDT by SFConservative
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To: Enlightened1

Rush and Hannity are bankrupt. Syndicated by iHate Media....er iHeart Media


54 posted on 03/15/2018 11:58:37 AM PDT by joesbucks
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To: joesbucks

Yeah. I wasn’t following it. That’s why it surprised me. :)


55 posted on 03/15/2018 1:01:11 PM PDT by robroys woman (So you're not confused, I'm using my wife's account.)
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To: C19fan
Bain sucked the life out of another company.

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.

56 posted on 03/15/2018 1:31:22 PM PDT by OldMissileer (Atlas, Titan, Minuteman, PK. Winners of the Cold War)
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To: morphing libertarian
Is it owned by Clear Channel?

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

57 posted on 03/15/2018 2:03:48 PM PDT by Political Junkie Too (The 1st Amendment gives the People the right to a free press, not CNN the right to the 1st question.)
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To: Enlightened1

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.


58 posted on 03/15/2018 2:54:38 PM PDT by murron
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To: Enlightened1

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.


59 posted on 03/15/2018 2:54:38 PM PDT by murron
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To: Political Junkie Too

thanx


60 posted on 03/15/2018 5:38:10 PM PDT by morphing libertarian (Build Kate's Wall)
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