Radio, International Outdoor Fuel iHeartMedia Growth

iHeartMedia, formerly known as Clear Channel Communications, announced that total revenues increased 3% from $1.59 billion in the third quarter of 2013 to $1.63 billion in the third quarter of 2014, due to growth in radio advertising and its international outdoor advertising business.

The overseas gains more than offset a small decline in domestic outdoor advertising.

Total revenues at iHeartMedia’s iHeartRadio division rose 1% from $823.9 million to $830.5 million, powered by growth in national broadcast radio, political advertising, and traffic and weather services. These increases were partially offset by lower local broadcast radio revenues.

International outdoor ad revenues rose 6% from $391.7 million to $413.3 million, due mostly to growth in Western Europe, as well as emerging markets, such as China. When foreign currency fluctuations are taken into account, the increase was 5%.

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The company’s domestic outdoor ad business, still known as Clear Channel Outdoor, saw total revenues slip 1% from $331.3 million to $329.5 million, as growth in digital outdoor advertising was canceled out by declines in the traditional formats.

The company also struck a long-term deal with Omnicom Media Group to create customized, cross-platform campaigns for OMG advertising clients, as well as offering improved measurement and analytics around these campaigns. On the financial front, iHeartMedia worked to refinance a portion of its debt in the third quarter, helping push back some debt payments that were set to come due in the next few years.

The news was not quite so cheery for other broadcast radio groups.

Beasley Broadcast Group, which owns over 40 stations in eight states, announced that total revenues fell 5.1% from $13.7 million in the third quarter of 2013 to $13 million in the fourth quarter of 2014. The company said the decline drops at its Wilmington and Greenville-New Bern-Jacksonville operations. The company is currently in the midst of a station swap with CBS Radio.

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