Story perspectives

iHeartMedia, SiriusXM Enter Early Merger Talks, Regulators Eye Podcast Market

4/26/2026

Summary

iHeartMedia SiriusXM Merge

iHeartMedia and SiriusXM are in early talks to merge, combining iHeartMedia’s 860 stations that reach 250 million listeners with SiriusXM’s 33 million subscribers.
The companies reported 2025 revenues of $3.865 billion for iHeartMedia and $8.56 billion for SiriusXM.
Podcast revenue grew 24.5 % at iHeartMedia and 41 % at SiriusXM in 2025.
Irving Azoff and Apollo Global Management are advising the merger.
Regulators could examine the merger for competition issues in the U.S. podcast market.

Summary

iHeartMedia Merges

iHeartMedia shares jumped more than 35% to $5.42, near a 52-week high, after Bloomberg reported merger talks with SiriusXM.
SiriusXM stock fell about 5% to $26.61 as investors weighed the talks.
SiriusXM declared a 27-cent quarterly dividend payable on May 27 to shareholders of record by May 11 and secured exclusive U.S. representation of all YouTube audio-ad inventory.
SiriusXM reported $1.26 billion free cash flow for 2025 and aims for $1.35 billion in 2026.

History

Historical Context

In October 1999 Clear Channel announced a $23.5 billion purchase of AMFM Inc., completed in August 2000, giving it roughly 830 stations and prompting the FCC to tighten ownership rules. After a 2006 buyout, a 2014 rebrand to iHeartMedia, and a 2018 bankruptcy exit, the firm now owns about 860 stations and is negotiating a merger with SiriusXM.

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iHeartMedia SiriusXM Merge

iHeartMedia and SiriusXM are in early talks to merge, combining iHeartMedia’s 860 stations that reach 250 million listeners with SiriusXM’s 33 million subscribers.
The companies reported 2025 revenues of $3.865 billion for iHeartMedia and $8.56 billion for SiriusXM.
Podcast revenue grew 24.5 % at iHeartMedia and 41 % at SiriusXM in 2025.
Irving Azoff and Apollo Global Management are advising the merger.
Regulators could examine the merger for competition issues in the U.S. podcast market.

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