iHeartMedia's first quarter 2020 earnings release was mainly a preview for what could be a painful second quarter. Overall, Q1 wasn't bad: Old-school broadcast radio revenues barely fell and digital revenues improved on the strength of podcasts. But the advertising slowdown became"more pronounced" in April and suffered"a sharp decline" in broadcast, digital and other segments, CEOStarting at the top, Q1 revenue fell 1.9% from $795.8 million to $780.6 million.
The coronavirus pandemic's impact on radio advertising created enough uncertainty that iHeartMedia decided in March to withdraw its forecasts for 2020 results. So without hard numbers for reference, Pittman called the first-quarter downturn"more pronounced in April" with a"sharp decline" in almost all segments. The