iHeartMedia targets $200 million in programmatic ad revenue
iHeartMedia is focusing on programmatic advertising as a core strategy to drive continued revenue growth, aiming for $200 million in programmatic revenue by 2026. The company is integrating its broadcast inventory into programmatic buying systems through partnerships with Amazon DSP, Yahoo DSP, and Google DV360. This move is intended to modernize ad sales for radio and unlock new growth by enabling advertisers to achieve reach through combined digital and broadcast campaigns.
Key Takeaways
- Programmatic revenue is expected to hit roughly $200 million in 2026, up about 50% from about $135 million in 2025.
- iHeartMedia has partnership agreements with Amazon DSP, Yahoo DSP, Google DV360, and others to package broadcast ads with digital.
- CEO Bob Pittman said programmatic buying is one of iHeartMedia’s biggest long-term opportunities and compared its growth path to podcasting.
- President/COO Rich Bressler said the company is aligning its ad sales with how agencies and advertisers already transact.
- The Multiplatform Group posted 4% growth in Q1 to $493 million, while the Digital Audio Group rose 18% year over year, led by a 27% increase in podcast revenue.
Why It Matters
iHeartMedia is trying to make broadcast inventory easier to buy inside the same DSP workflows used for digital audio and video. That matters because the company is explicitly tying radio monetization to programmatic pipes from Amazon, Yahoo, and Google DV360, not just to direct sales. The move also sits alongside a new $50 million cost reduction program and a prior $100 million savings initiative, showing that ad-tech modernization and expense control are being run in parallel. Watch the company’s next quarterly mix for programmatic revenue and whether the second-half uplift from programmatic and political advertising shows up in guidance.
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