ATLANTA, GEORGIA – APRIL 25: Tika Sumpter attends the 2026 Black Effect Podcast Festival at Pullman Yards on April 25, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)
Getty Images
iHeartMedia reported Quarter One 2026 results on May 11, 2026, showing a 9.6 percent revenue increase to $884 million driven by a 26.9 percent surge in podcast revenue ($147M). However, adjusted EBITDA fell 11.4 percent to $93 million due to soft ad markets, and the company announced further cost-cutting, posting a $96 million net loss.
For podcast industry followers and fans, the big news here is the significant contribution made by iHeart podcasts to these quarterly results and more specifically, profits.
The company reported that: “Podcasting continued to be a robust growth area at iHeartMedia during the first quarter, as the company posted another strong gain in podcast revenue.”
Despite the plans to deploy video, CEO Bob Pittman claims that video represents a major new revenue opportunity, but he still doesn’t see it overtaking audio listening. Pittman instead says it remains incremental to audio episodes.
“It’s not the same usage case. It’s another time in which people are doing it. And now that we’re able to get the video podcast in there, it opens up a new revenue stream,” Pittman told analysts during a call with analysts Monday. “The big concept here is that we found yet another market that we can play in,” he said.
iHeartMedia made a deal with Netflix, announced in December 2025, to make video episodes for more than 15 shows available to Netflix subscribers. Television data and analytics revealed that iHeartMedia’s “The Breakfast Club” podcast dominated.
“One podcast got over 40 percent of all their podcast views,” Pittman said. “And that’s our own ‘Breakfast Club’ with Charlemagne. Why? Because they talk about it on the radio every morning.” He argues the success illustrates how broadcast radio still acts as a powerful promotional tool even as podcasting expands into video and streaming environments.
Number one in the industry
As of early 2026, their podcasting segment produces ~180 million monthly downloads and generated $147 million in revenue in Q1 2026 alone, marking a 27% percent increase year-over-year. iHeart consistently holds the #1 spot in the industry, according to Podtrac, maintaining top-ranked shows across all 19 podcast categories. The company has a massive content library, with over 250,000 podcasts on their platform and a reach that includes hundreds of millions of listeners.
It’s no surprise to podcast followers that podcasting is the fastest-growing part of iHeartMedia’s business, with its Digital Audio Group (including podcasts) seeing high double-digit revenue growth. Beyond just owning shows, iHeart has grown by acquiring podcast hosting platforms like Spreaker and technology firms like Triton Digital.
In its own State Of Podcasting Study 2026, the company laid out the growing influence of podcasting on consumers, and, more importantly, on advertising.
iHeart is currently resisting the AI push into podcasting with this statement: “Every podcast iHeart releases is created by real people. No synthetic voices. No AI hosts. That authenticity resonates with audiences and gives brands a more credible place to tell their stories through Podcast ads.”
Pixabay
The Study reported: “On average, adults now spend more time listening to podcasts than scrolling social platforms. Listening time has more than doubled in the last eight years and now averages nearly an hour per day. That’s a strong foundation for high-impact Podcast Ads. Listeners finish episodes, follow hosts, and engage deeply. Most listeners stay through all or most of every episode and often accumulate more than six hours of listening per week. Cultural moments increasingly start or spread through podcast conversations. Brands that Advertise on Podcasts align themselves with the creators driving those moments.”
While traditional radio (“multiplatform”) revenue has faced challenges, iHeart’s Digital Audio Group—led by podcasting—has shown strong, consistent growth. One of iHeart’s competitive advantages is that it can leverage local sales by utilizing its massive local sales force of over 1,000+ people to monetize podcasts locally, which has been a major factor in their revenue growth.
For the second quarter of 2026, iHeartMedia expects low-single-digit percentage growth in consolidated revenue and adjusted EBITDA between $140 million and $160 million. Key drivers include a 10 percent revenue increase for the Digital Audio Group (with podcasting up low-20s), flat revenue for the Multiplatform Group, and high-teen growth for Audio Media Services.
Stuff You Should Know (SYSK) surpassed three billion downloads by 2023. It consistently ranks in the top 25, averages 30 million monthly downloads, and has over 2,700 episodes covering diverse topics.
Stuff You Should Know
“iHeart is significantly stronger than some of its competitors because of its early foray into podcasting,” says Dan Gage, podcast marketing consultant. “iHeart got into podcasting as early as 2008, with the launch of the show Stuff You Should Know, which has become a massive hit. The company officially expanded its digital footprint by launching iHeartRadio Talk in 2013, which was rebranded to Podcasts in 2016, setting the stage for its current position as the top commercial podcast publisher.”
Leave a comment