Outlet profile

iHeart/WVOC

U.S. center-right (local news/talk with conservative syndicated talk)

Owned byiHeartMedia, Inc., a publicly traded company (Nasdaq: IHRT) and the largest U.S. radio operator. Since its 2019 bankruptcy exit, it has been controlled by former creditors and bondholders. Bob Pittman is chairman and CEO.

FundingMainly local and national advertising. iHeartMedia also earns revenue from digital audio, podcasts, events, and syndication through its Premiere Networks unit.

On the administrationmostly neutral

Background

WVOC (560 AM) serves Columbia, South Carolina, and is also heard on FM translator 103.5. It is branded 'Columbia's News, Talk, & Sports' and carries local morning news alongside syndicated talk. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, which grew out of Clear Channel Communications. Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners bought Clear Channel in a leveraged buyout of about $24 billion in 2008. That debt load led iHeartMedia to file for Chapter 11 in March 2018. The plan was approved in 2019, cutting debt from $16.1 billion to $5.75 billion and moving ownership to lenders and bondholders. Clear Channel Outdoor was separated from the company, and iHeartMedia returned to public markets in 2019. Like most iHeart news/talk stations, WVOC combines a small local news operation with nationally syndicated programming, much of it from iHeart's Premiere Networks and mostly conservative-leaning. Its local newsroom is small, and I found no notable controversies specific to WVOC. This profile is based on station descriptions and corporate history, not a systematic review of recent coverage, so the administration-stance rating is tentative.

Sources

Profile compiled 2026-10-14; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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