iHM Betting On Digital Radio Streaming

After emerging from bankruptcy restructuring on May 1, iHeartMedia is now trading as a public company and working to grab more ad dollars along the way.

While the Texas-based media company has a stable of radio stations across the country, chief marketing officer Gayle Troberman said iHeartMedia is eyeing emerging audio touchpoints – and the influx of ad revenue that ideally will follow.

The Drum reports Troberman called podcasting a notable growth engine and said digital audio streaming accounts for a “big chunk” of listening – especially through smart speakers, which has "voice top of mind for everyone".

Gayle Troberman

This fragmentation and diversification in audio has Troberman calling for brands to consider their “sonic identity” and develop audio toolkits if they want to successfully play in the space.

“What do most brands do? They create one spot with no contextual relevance, and they run the same spot on Rush Limbaugh and the Breakfast Club,” said Troberman, noting that creative elements aren't always used the "right" way in audio.

According to Nielsen, broadcast radio reaches around 90% of US listeners each week, with iHeartMedia saying 84% of its radio consumption coming through broadcast and the rest through streaming.

Now, as a newly emerged company with a bolstered internal audio suite, iHeartMedia is partnering with outside groups such as WPP to educate the marketplace on how best to integrate their brands into audio.

Troberman said that media agencies and creative groups such as Ogilvy and Wunderman Thompson are on board with the WPP co-initiative, dubbed Project Listen, where brands are exploring different ways of entering audio, such as original storytelling in podcasts and reach replacement for digital video.

At the end of trading on its first day, iHeart’s stock was trading at $16.5 per share, down almost 3% from its opening price of $17.

iHeartMedia’s digital segment makes up only 7% of the firm’s top-line but is responsible for most of its top-line growth. The digital radio streaming is expected to grow 23% over the next three years. iHeartRadio is the number one streaming broadcast radio platform, with its service & app currently having 128 million registered users. If it is able to continue to gain market share, this segments could propel them back into profitable growth.

Podcasts are also going to be a central focus for iHeartMedia moving forward.