Report: iHeartMedia Will Not Survive Another Year

 iHeartRadio's parent company iHeartMedia  is warning it's investors that the media company that owns over 800 radio stations around the country, will not be around a year from now. The company also owns Cleaar Channel Outdoor Billboard advertising. So what's to happen to some of the most highly rated stations and the on-air personalities that currently work at iHeartMedia.

Some of those highly rated stations include Lite 106.7, Z100, and Power 105.1 in New York. KIIS 102.7 in Los Angeles, WVAZ V103 Chicago, and 105.3 WDAS-FM in Philadelphia. iHeartMedia also includes the popular syndicated personalities Ryan Seacrest, Elvis Duran, Steve Harvey, Mario Lopez, Big Boy's Neighborhood, Angie Martinez, and The Breakfast Club with Charlamagne Tha God, Angela Yee, and DJ Envy along with conservative radio talk show hosts Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.

MarketWatch reports the following: Read More[...]

• iHeartMedia Inc., the biggest operator of radio stations in the U.S. and headed by Bob Pittman of MTV fame, plans to include language in its next quarterly report warning investors that it may not survive another year. 

• The company has almost $350 million of debt coming due this year, part of a massive $20 billion debt load it took on as part of a $24 billion leveraged buyout of then Clear Channel Communications Inc. by private-equity firms Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners in 2008. It has another $8.3 billion of debt coming due in 2019. 

•  Some experts said bankruptcy is now almost inevitable.

• “I think it will go into Chapter 11 and what will happen is what has happened in most of these LBO cases,” said Chuck Tatelbaum, international bankruptcy expert and senior attorney at the Tripp Scott law firm. “The lender will take back the company as part of a Chapter 11 plan, the other creditors will get nothing and the shareholders will be wiped out.” 

Now what will happen to these stations after bankruptcy? iHeartMedia will probably ask their top rated personalities to take pay cuts. For instance Rush Limbaugh reportedly makes over $28 million per year. For other staff, they will eliminate more on-air staff positions. iHeartRadio, as a corporate practice, has many of their personalities do voice tracking to several cities. We can imagine the company incorporating this practice even further along with even more syndication. Now you know why Charlamagne and Steve Harvey don't just settle on being just radio personalities.

Get the full details from the MarketWatch article.