Audacy has separated from an ad-sales agreement with American Public Media, clarifying a remark made by Audacy CEO David Field in a recently published quarterly earning statement.
The partnership began last summer when podcast group Cadence13, an Audacy-acquired subsidiary of the giant broadcaster, took over ad sales for APM. According to reporting in The Verge, APM will take over selling ads and partnerships in its podcasts. There was also a content co-development aspect to the partnership.
No reason or explanation has yet emerged. But in Audacy’s Q2 earning statement, David Field referred to an unnamed break-up: “In June, we successfully negotiated an early exit to an onerous Podcast ad representation contract, which resulted in a restructuring charge of $5.9 million in the quarter and the accelerated recognition of $4.5 million of prepaid content expense. We believe exiting this agreement will have a positive impact on our Podcast margins, without materially impacting our future Podcast revenue growth opportunity.”
American Public Media and APM do not appear in Field’s written remarks, and the company did not host a live earnings call.
Audacy has suffered stock trouble over the past year. Share price dipped below the New York Stock Exchange eligibility limit earlier this year. Audacy avoided delisting by executing an aggressive stock split to boost the per-share price.
