Buyout debt costs a quarter of revenue and drive iHeartMedia’s programming cuts

Evidence

In 2014, Clear Channel renamed itself iHeartMedia, a rebranding effort officially meant to signal its broader digital media goals, but most likely an attempt to disassociate from its poor performance. Despite being the country’s largest terrestrial radio network, with a growing digital presence, iHeartMedia hasn’t turned a profit since 2007 because interest paid on its debt eats up a quarter of its yearly revenues, having been saddled with $20 billion of debt by its PE owners as part of the buyout. In 2018, iHeartMedia filed for bankruptcy to restructure its debt. Further job cuts and even more dreary, homogeneous programming have resulted from meeting its debt obligations. — Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, 195

Categorization

• XREF: The interest-drains-quarter-of-revenue detail is precisely the kind of traceable financial fact the reader wants — a link between capital structure and ongoing aesthetic output.