Podcasts' double-digit growth creates an attractive narrative for investors. Only in a pandemic could a business have bounding optimism after losing a fifth of its revenue in one year. That's radio in 2021 as companies dug themselves out of a deep second-quarter hole caused by store closures and stay-at-home orders across the country. iHeartMedia's 2020 revenue was $2.95 billion, down 20% from $3.68 billion in 2019, according to the company's earnings report released Thursday. That deep loss is secondary to the improvements made over the year, however. Although revenues for the fourth quarter period covering October through December were 9% lower than a year earlier ($1.03 billion compared to $936 million), they were an improvement from the 47% and 29% deficits in the second and third quarters, respectively.