Falco hails iHeartRadio deal for Univision Radio

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New Univision Communications CEO Randy Falco is a TV guy, having spent most of his career at NBC, but he had strong Q3 results to report on the radio side. Also, he pointed to the recent deal with Clear Channel to put Univision Radio on iHeartRadio as a plus for future growth.


“This partnership is a great opportunity for us to grow Univision Radio’s audience beyond the communities that our local stations currently reach,” Falco said in his quarterly conference call with Wall Street analysts.

The remarks came after discussion of the company’s ground-breaking deal with Hulu for TV streaming, as he noted that Univision’s efforts to put its content on multiple platforms extends beyond television. “For example, in the third quarter, we announced a strategic partnership with Clear Channel that delivers programming from Univision Radio’s 70 stations to the new iHeartRadio platform accessible by web, mobile devices and in automobiles,” he noted.

Univision Radio posted a strong quarter for the company. Radio revenues were up 1.5% to $87.7 million. That’s actual revenues, with no adjustment for political or anything else. Excluding political, CFO Andy Hobson said radio revenues grew 2.8%.

Radio OIBDA (operating income before depreciation and amortization) was up 0.4% to $28.8 million.

As for Q4, radio is again pacing up for its core business, excluding the impact of political and soccer.