The Audacy Partnership Is a Wake up Call to iHeartMedia Sports Radio Stations

It was an eyebrow-raising moment when I received the press release. I was stunned by the headline; I had to read it twice. Bitter rivals becoming teammates on a distribution partnership as the iHeartMedia family welcomed their nasty neighbors in the radio business at Audacy to stream their products on the iHeartRadio app.

Has the world gone mad? Did Leno and Letterman hug it out? Drake and Kendrick caught dabbing it up together at an event? While some may consider this partnership a plus for all involved, I have a question:

How does any iHeart-branded sports radio station benefit from this?

Full disclosure, I ran one of iHeartMedia’s top sports radio brands for over a decade at WDAE in Tampa Bay. Also in full disclosure, I was laid off from the company in November of 2024 as part of its 5% reduction in force. I’m not here to dispute the decision—more to provide insight from a former iHeart programmer.

The IHeartRadio App Is a Monster

From a company standpoint, the iHeartRadio app is the sole focus of the company’s programming growth strategy. It houses every one of the nearly 900 iHeartRadio stations, including all the podcasts and on-demand channels associated with each station. The app also includes a plethora of podcasts, reaching over 35 million monthly users with over 176 million downloads just in the month of May.

The iHeartRadio app is the only multi-genre podcast publisher at scale and is the top podcast publisher globally. It’s bigger than FOX News, Disney, Vox Media, and Barstool Sports combined—all of which you can also hear on the iHeartRadio app.

The app also includes streaming from other traditional radio competitors such as Cox Media Group, Emmis Communications, Cumulus Media, Beasley Media Group, and Salem Media Group. Audacy is just the latest to “join the list.”

IHeartMedia Sports Stations Losing Ground on Their Home Turf

When it comes to the sports radio format alone, iHeartMedia has several quality stations. These include my former home at WDAE (Tampa Bay), as well as KFAN (Minneapolis), AM 570 (Los Angeles), SportsTalk 790 (Houston), 97.3 The Game (Milwaukee), and Sports Radio 93.3 KJR (Seattle). However, in comparison to Audacy, all these stations dwarf next to the likes of WFAN (New York City), 670 The Score (Chicago), WEEI (Boston), 97.1 The Ticket (Detroit), 106.7 The Fan (Washington D.C.), and 94 WIP (Philadelphia), to name a few.

With their addition to the iHeartRadio platform, the big boys of the sports radio industry have knocked down the door because “Papa Pittman” gave them the keys. This adds even more competition for iHeartMedia sports brands to cut through—on their own home turf.

While iHeartMedia will surely benefit from having the Audacy sports radio product streaming on their app, could their own iHeartRadio sports radio family see lost attention and growth?

“We believe in the power of being everywhere, and this partnership is a meaningful step in our strategy to ensure our iconic stations, talent and programming are available wherever and however audio is consumed,” said Chris Oliviero, Chief Business Officer, Audacy. 

Oliviero is playing it smart by doing what many considered impossible—Audacy shaking hands with the competition. The difference is, Audacy has already invested assets into ensuring their sports radio products are not only heard in as many places as possible but also seen in as many places as possible.

Without question, the sports radio format has simply meant more to Audacy than to iHeartMedia. Don’t believe me? Let’s take inventory of the radio brands listed above. Six are from iHeartMedia and six from Audacy.

All stations are now represented on the iHeartRadio app with the ability to stream live. All iHeartRadio stations have their podcasts available on the app, and according to the release, all Audacy time-shifted podcasts will also be available.

The six Audacy stations will still be made available as usual on the Audacy app, with stations continuing to promote the app nationwide. Are the six iHeartRadio stations found on the Audacy app? No. So, no “you scratch my back, I scratch yours”?

The six Audacy stations listed above have live and local on-air staff daily, with no weekday prime-time syndication. Of the six iHeartRadio stations, only four meet the same criteria—for several reasons.

The six Audacy stations also stream live on YouTube, with many multicasting on Twitch and the social media platform X. Of the six iHeartRadio stations, three don’t video stream at all. The other three focus their efforts only on select shows or features.

If you look at the total picture of what I just laid out—which company is investing in maximum reach for the future of sports radio?

Will IHeartMedia Learn From Their New Partner Audacy

This move by Oliviero and Audacy reinforces their credo of investing in people to strengthen the brands they own. “Live and local” is not a slogan—it’s a reality. It’s combined with a forward-thinking strategy that includes video podcasting, tapping into the listening boom, and ensuring their product is accessible to everyone, everywhere.

Can you say that about iHeartRadio sports brands?

Referencing Garrett Searight’s column on Tuesday that said this partnership offers a blueprint for radio, I sincerely hope it does—for the health and future of the iHeartMedia sports radio brands that I once represented but could never compete with the level of standard represented by Audacy’s brands.

Maybe added streaming competition will lead to more live and local product from top iHeart sports radio properties, so they can better compete with their Audacy neighbors.

Possibly, we could see shared video assets between companies—where sports talk stations across the iHeartMedia umbrella can play on the same discovery battlefield that the Audacy brands currently dominate.

Hell, why not offer up the Audacy app platform for the iHeartMedia sports radio brands to stream their content on? Wouldn’t that be a true example of how, as Garrett said, “the industry [can] come together to work for the collective good of the radio industry”?

I asked: How do any iHeart-branded sports radio stations benefit from this? That’s how.

You can always learn a thing or two from your competition—but only if you’re willing to watch and listen.

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John Mamola

John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.