iHeartMedia has announced a new organizational structure for its local markets group as it “modernizes the company to take advantage of the significant investments it has made in technology and artificial intelligence (AI) and its unique scale and leadership position in the audio marketplace.”

The iHeartMedia Markets Group will continue to be led by President Greg Ashlock. Underneath it will be a Region Division of the company’s largest markets led by Division Presidents Kevin LeGrett and Scott Hopeck. Next is the Metro Division of “large areas that still encompass multiple communities” led by Division Presidents Tom McConnell, Tony Coles and Linda Byrd. The smallest markets will be in the Community Division led by Division Presidents Shosh Abromovich, Nick Gnau and Dan Lankford. Additionally Julie Donohue has been promoted to Multi-Market Partnerships Division President, while Hartley Adkins, President of Integrated Revenue Strategies will also become Chief Operating Officer of the Markets Group.

The company will be using new Centers of Excellence to consolidate “functional areas of expertise in specific locations to deliver the highest quality products and services” for all markets to use shared resources across programming, marketing, digital, podcasts, sales and sales support to provide a better experience for listeners and business partners and a more efficient process for all of its employees.

Now what does this mean? Over the past few days the industry has been buzzing about major cuts coming to the company, in particular to the smallest markets. With the push of the use of technology and AI “to modernize our operations and infrastructure”, we have heard there will be a streamlining in all facets of the broadcast operations. In particular, the programming and on-air talent remaining will be expected to provide content for multiple stations with the use of upgraded automation systems and integrations within.

We expect there will be a lot more written about this announcement in the coming days and weeks.

As it enters the new decade, iHeartMedia today announced a new organizational structure for its Markets Group as it modernizes the company to take advantage of the significant investments it has made in technology and artificial intelligence (AI) and its unique scale and leadership position in the audio marketplace.  The new structure will enable the company to maximize the performance of each of its markets – and the company overall — with its unique scale and multiple platforms; leadership in audio; and its expertise in consumers, monetization and data, and enhance iHeartMedia’s position as the number one audio company in America, continue its successful transformation as a technology- and data-powered 21^st century media company, and accelerate the development of new platforms and services.

The company has made significant technology investments to change everything from how it sells advertising to how it utilizes data and builds new businesses like its digital platform, podcast platform and robust data platform – all of which have given it an undisputed leadership position in the audio world.  Additionally, the company’s technological advancements increase its ability to support its employees and its customers through world class systems and innovation.

iHeartMedia is the #1 audio company in America by reach, and is:

• #1 in broadcast radio;
• #1 in digital radio;
• #1 in commercial podcasting;
• #1 in social among audio players;
• #1 in radio networks;
• #1 in video among audio players, including on YouTube and Snap;
• #1 in targeting, analytics and attribution in the audio sector with its SmartAudio suite of services;
• And iHeart has built the leading brand in radio – iHeartRadio – that functions as its master brand for all of its consumer assets.

“iHeart is the rare example of a major traditional media company that has made the successful transformation into a 21^st century media company – one with unparalleled scale, reaching 91% of Americans each month with our broadcast assets alone, more than any other media company,” said Bob Pittman, Chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia.  “We are now using our considerable investments in technology to modernize our operations and infrastructure, further setting us apart from traditional media companies; improving our services to our consumers and advertising partners; and enhancing the work environment for our employees.”

iHeartMedia Markets Group

The company will now group its markets by common needs and characteristics into three distinctly different divisions to make sharing of resources and experiences easier and more targeted.

Here is the new structure of the iHeartMedia Markets Group, which will continue to be led by Greg Ashlock, President of the iHeartMedia Markets Group:

• The Region Division:  The Region Division comprises the company’s largest markets, like New York and Los Angeles, that each reach hundreds of cities, communities and trading areas for local businesses.  The Region Division will be led by Division Presidents Kevin LeGrett and Scott Hopeck.
• The Metro Division:  The Metro Division houses markets that are large areas that still encompass multiple communities – but are not regional hubs like the company’s largest markets.  The Metro Division will be led by Division Presidents Tom McConnell, Tony Coles and Linda Byrd.
• The Community Division:  The Community Division includes markets that focus on the shared needs of one community and one trading area for most businesses and advertisers and will also group markets into areas which are geographically close and culturally similar.  The Community Division will be led by Division Presidents Shosh Abromovich, Nick Gnau and Dan Lankford.
• Additionally, the company is creating a new Division that cuts across all Markets — the very successful Multi-Market Partnerships (MMP) Division headed by Julie Donohue, who is elevated to President of MMP with responsibility for this business.

As part of this important step in the transformation of the company, the company’s Integrated Revenue Strategies group, led by President Hartley Adkins, will be merged into the iHeartMedia Markets Group and Adkins will become Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Markets Group working closely with Greg Ashlock.

 

Centers of Excellence

 

The company will also be using its new technology- and AI-enabled Centers of Excellence – which consolidate functional areas of expertise in specific locations to deliver the highest quality products and services – for every Market, enabling each to take advantage of the company’s scale and shared resources across programming, marketing, digital, podcasts, sales and sales support to provide a better experience for listeners and business partners and a more efficient process for all of its employees.  These Centers of Excellence are the result of the great strides the company has made in improving its technology backbone and the hundreds of millions of dollars in investment it has made in building out the company’s core infrastructure, in addition to strategic technology and platform acquisitions like Jelli, RadioJar and Stuff Media.