COVID-19: An Update And Open Letter From iHeartMedia's Bob Pittman And Rich Bressler

Open Letter

Looking ahead to the future, iHEARTMEDIA Chairman/CEO BOB PITTMAN and CFO/COO RICH BRESSLER penned an update YESTERDAY (10/21) on COVID-19 and the changes it has brought about for the company and its employees, while reminding them of the company's values, mission and culture.

Team:

The COVID pandemic has created a time of great change for our company, and we know it has also impacted you and your families both professionally and personally.  While the pandemic has clearly put pressure on costs and had a negative impact on revenue, it has also led to our adoption of new technologies and different ways of working, and even post-COVID we will not be going back to the ‘old normal’ – we will be creating our own ‘new normal.’  

Although every location will be returning to the office at different times and in different ways, our priorities remain the same:  Continuing to extend our leadership position as the #1 broadcast radio company, #1 digital radio company, #1 podcast publisher and now #1 in virtual events, as well as leading the market with our groundbreaking data and analytics capabilities and services, all enabled by our unique suite of technologies and platforms.

This pandemic has led us to constantly challenge ourselves and explore ways that we as a company can think differently – and we encourage you to do the same.  As you do think about it, we’d also encourage you to revisit the basics: 

• Our mission: “Give everyone in America a friend who is there any time, anywhere” and
• Our values: Listed below, they will guide us as we continue to look for new consumer behaviors, follow the needs of our advertising partners, build for the future, innovate and stay on the cutting edge as the #1 audio company in America for the benefit of our communities and our advertising partners. 

As you challenge yourselves, and identify changed and evolving ways of working, please let others know what you discover – this is about collaboration.  Let’s think about how together we can express those basics in this changed world as we continue to look for new ways to serve our communities – and each other – every day.

Bob and Rich

Our Company Values

• Honesty and integrity.  The only way to be great is to be reliable and the only way to make great decisions is to base them on truth. We must base everything we do, both internally and externally, on honesty and integrity. 
• Respect…everyone.  We should treat everyone as we’d like to be treated, and recognize that we are a company that serves all the diverse communities in America. We must both represent those communities internally and commit to serving them externally. As a company we value diversity and respect all voices, both inside and outside our company.
• Take risks and consider well thought-out mistakes.  Mistakes are often the byproduct of innovation – when we try new things, we have to be prepared that many will not work and accept that some mistakes made in the pursuit of new ideas are inevitable. If we’re afraid to make mistakes, we will never take the chances necessary to achieve breakthrough ideas. When we invariably do make a mistake – yes, we will make some -- it’s critical to spot it quickly -- and then change or fix it as soon as we can, so a bias toward quick decision-making is also important because it will keep mistakes from becoming problems.
• Listen to and consider dissent.  We should never feel uneasy about expressing dissenting opinions (politely, please, and with specifics) as we develop new products, services and processes. Dissent forces us to examine possible flaws; we want to find the holes we need to plug to make the new ideas or existing products even better, and dissenters tell us where to look.
• Innovation and curiosity.  We are always in search of new ideas. Our success is built on continuing to foster new ideas and new insights. We need to be constantly looking further — driven by curiosity. 
• Urgency wins and quick decisions.  We need to make decisions as soon as we have enough information, not wait until we have “all the information.” Everything is better done sooner. This is a strong competitive advantage for us.
• Collaboration, transparency and precise communications.  Working as a team is always more powerful. Except for information we must keep confidential for competitive or legal reasons, let’s be transparent about what we’re doing. Additionally, take the time to use precise communications so that everyone will know what they need to do and why, which is the starting point for collaboration.
• Chaos is OK.  As we develop new ideas, they’re often so new and different that they don’t yet have a structure around them. But we can’t let the fear of chaos keep us from developing new ideas – they are our lifeblood.
• Look to make a difference.  Our stations and our company are integral parts of their local communities, as are each of us. We should remember that, even as we work to make our company stronger, we must think about what we can do to make our communities stronger, both on-air and off, and recognize and represent the diverse voices in all our communities – and within our company.

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