As iHeartMedia Teeters, Talks Continue...

A new forbearance filed with the SEC on Wednesday morning gives iHeartMedia yet another day to come to terms with its $20 billion in creditors. Today marks the sixth extinction in talks in the last two weeks.

iHeartMedia's latest bankruptcy deadline is 11:59PM CST on Wednesday March 14, 2018. The company owns 855 U.S. radio stations, a popular streaming service and other assets.

Without an agreement , bankruptcy experts say that iHeartMedia will be forced into bankruptcy today or tomorrow.  And while a deal between the radio broadcast giant and creditors or another extension are still possible, a once high-flying iHM appears closer than ever to a messy demise, according to hypebot.com.

A proposed reorganization plan filed with recent forbearance documents reduces iHeartMedia's debt from $20.6 billion to $5.8 billion. Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, iHeart's billboard and outdoor advertising division, would be spun off.  Bondholders would receive both stock in Clear Channel and equity in a newly recapitalized iHeart.

But, reports Forbes,  as iHeart teeters on bankruptcy—and teeters and teeters—one ought to be thinking not of  music at all but of billboards, many many thousands of them across the U.S. and indeed around the world.

These are the billboards that belong to Clear Channel Outdoor, a division of iHeartMedia.

And while the outdoor division of iHeartMedia doesn’t get near the media coverage as the radio end of the business, it may hold the most promise for iHeart’s creditors as they haggle over terms for assuming control of the debt-hobbled company.

Consider this:

• Clear Channel Outdoor makes money, lots of it, approaching what the radio business takes in. For the first nine months of 2017, the most recent figures available, the company reported revenues of $18.6 billion, versus $2.5 billion for radio.
• More to the point, the outdoor division runs in the black, whereas radio loses money after it pays out interest on debt.
• As a major player in the U.S.—it’s among the top three—and worldwide, the outdoor business has a huge competitive advantage. It also isn’t threatened by new entrants or technologies, as radio is by digital players like Spotify.
• Out of home as a medium is hot. Revenues have been on the rise, driven in part by growth in digital out of home. Think of those electronic billboards along the highway. Out of home is also attracting major investment dollars, no small share of them coming from investors fleeing radio and newspapers.
• Outdoor properties fetch a premium in the marketplace, reflecting investor demand.