Communicator Spotlight: iHeartMedia's Wendy Goldberg
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Photo illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios. Photo: Brian Friedman
As chief communications officer for iHeartMedia, Wendy Goldberg manages the narrative of the media company behind some of your favorite radio stations, podcasts and personalities.
Why it matters: Audio is undergoing a major transformation and Goldberg's team is tasked with explaining how iHeart fits into the new media landscape.
🗣️ What she's saying: "I work with every part of the company to ensure that they know what the company is doing and how we talk about it," she told Axios.
📍How she got here: Goldberg started her career in politics before taking on business and communication roles at AOL, Six Flags and Hearst.
- In 2011, she joined iHeartMedia (then Clear Channel Radio) and since then has helped launch the iHeartRadio digital site, app and music festival.
🏗️ How it's structured: Goldberg reports to Chairman and CEO Bob Pittman and oversees all corporate communications, including strategic, internal and crisis communications, public relations for all the company brands (including iHeartRadio and iHeartPodcast), community engagement, and environmental, social and governance (ESG).
- "Radio is the only mass medium licensed by the FCC to serve communities, and all of our radio stations feel very strongly about that role and responsibility."
📻 Biggest challenge: "No other medium has the consumer reach of broadcast radio," which is often overlooked, says Goldberg. "iHeart broadcasts reach 90% of Americans every month."
- "If you don't drive to work or drive kids to school every day, you might not understand the role that broadcast radio plays. That, I think, is one of the biggest challenges we face [which is] helping people understand the role of broadcast radio in the lives of real American consumers."
📈 Trend spot: How AI will deepen the need for human connection, especially in the audio space.
- "One of the reasons that people bond with radio is because it's a connection. It's a human voice. It's somebody in your neighborhood, someone you think you know — like Ryan Seacrest, Elvis Duran or Bobby Bones. They are part of communities and you cannot replace that with AI. People don't bond with voices. They bond with other humans."
👩🏻🍳 De-stress routine: To decompress, Goldberg sees live music as often as possible and spends time in upstate New York, where she and her son test out new recipes. Her current favorite is a coriander chicken from Bon Appetit.
🎸 Most recent concert: She and her cousin saw Crowded House at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City.
🧠 Her best advice comes from Pittman: Don't overplan.
- "If you think you need to be that organized and you have a plan, you're going to miss out on different opportunities that present themselves."
