{"id":604712,"date":"2026-04-25T01:36:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T01:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/604712\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T01:36:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T01:36:08","slug":"iheartmedia-and-siriusxm-in-merger-talks-azoff-and-apollo-advising","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/604712\/","title":{"rendered":"iHeartMedia and SiriusXM in Merger Talks, Azoff and Apollo Advising"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIHeartMedia<\/a> and SiriusXM are in early talks to join forces, with veteran music industry mogul Irving Azoff and Apollo Global Management offering to assist with and advise on any such deal, sources tell Variety.<\/p>\n

\n\tNews of the potential merger was first reported by Bloomberg<\/a>, however, a source stated that any reports of financial problems at iHeart are untrue, and also that the companies are looking at a merger, not the acquisition of one by the other. <\/p>\n

\n\tSuch a merger would \u2060unite the largest terrestrial radio network in the U.S. (iHeart, which claims to reach 250 million monthly listeners via its 850-plus stations) and the largest satellite radio network (SiriusXM, with 33 million subscribers as of last year), creating an audio powerhouse.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe sources said that the objective of combining the companies would be to provide greater scale and partner with artists to create platforms. However, it is clear that, with both terrestrial and satellite radio losing listeners and influence as streaming and multiple other options become increasingly available to listeners, the companies would be stronger together than apart.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe sources stressed that the talks are in very early stages and there is no guarantee that a deal will take place. They also said that Azoff is not in the process of acquiring either or both companies, but is advising, along with Apollo. <\/p>\n

\n\tHowever, having a hand in such a deal (or an ownership stake) would be an advantage for Azoff, whose vast holdings across the entertainment industry include management (Full Stop, representing the Eagles, Harry Styles and many more), live entertainment (Oak View Group), and, most directly related to radio, performing rights in Global Music Rights, a U.S.-based competitor to ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. Since its founding in 2013, GMR has filed lawsuits against several radio networks<\/a>, alleging low royalty payments. <\/p>\n

\n\tFor 2025, iHeartMedia reported revenue of $3.865 billion, flat when compared with the previous year, with its digital audio group\u2019s revenue up 14% and podcast revenue up 26%. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe news comes less than a week before SiriusXM\u2019s 2025 and first-quarter 2026 earnings report, scheduled for April 30. <\/p>\n

\n\tReps for iHeartMedia, SiriusXM and Azoff either declined or did not respond to Variety\u2018s requests for comment on Friday afternoon. <\/p>\n

\n\tVariety will have more on the situation as it develops. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"IHeartMedia and SiriusXM are in early talks to join forces, with veteran music industry mogul Irving Azoff and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":604713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[88,125534,216,76338],"class_list":{"0":"post-604712","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-iheart-media","10":"tag-music","11":"tag-sirius-xm"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/604713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}