Justice Dept. Advances Liberty Media's Request for Bigger Piece of iHeartMedia
reportedly expand its stake from 5% to 50%, giving it a huge influence over more than 850 AM and FM stations, from New York City's Z100 to Los Angeles' Alt 98.7."This deal is on an even larger scale than the Ticketmaster and Live Nation deal," Steven Madoff, a music-business attorney, said earlier this year, referring to the merger that allowed one promoter to take over much of the live-music business a decade ago.Broadcast companies have struggled through an advertising downturn throughout the pandemic, and iHeart's shares are down about 50% this year -- the company laid off hundreds of employees in January, then furloughed others in May, as well as cutting salaries for top executives, including chairman and CEO Bob Pittman.