That’s a lot of acronyms. To spell it out: the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has given a $500,000 grant to Southern California Public Radio, to support SCPR’s LAist Studios division and its development of podcasts. Click through for details. Continue Reading
Descript gets a cash pile of $30-million to further its audio/video production business. The plan is to expand from a consumer service targeting amateur creators, adding a new focus on enterprise tools for the internal communication needs of companies. Currently, Descript markets to independent creators, amateur, semi-pro, and professional, with smart tools that record, transcribe and edit audio and video combined. Click through for details. Continue Reading
Podchaser, a podcast database company and social network of sorts for podcast listeners, announces today that it has raised $4-million from lead investor Greycroft, plus a slewe of additional investors and participating angels. The service plans to build gamification and discussion features into an environment that self-describes as “The IMDb of Pdcasting.” Continue Reading
AdLarge Media is announcing its agreement with TPX (Toronto-based The Podcast Exchange) for exclusive representation of AdLarge’s digital audio inventory. The cabana division of AdLarge is where that inventory resides, and is mostly podcasts. This initiative represents AdLarge’s first entry into a non-U.S. market. Continue Reading
In the December 2020 Top Podcast Publishers report from Podtrac, iHeartRadio held the #1 slot and NPR maintained its #2 ranking — those two networks remaining invulnerable to competitive infringement in the entire history of Podtrac’s ranking. As we have noted before, iHR and NPR pursue opposite audience concentration strategies. A glance backward shows that each of these two juggernauts has doubled down on its strategy. Click through for numbers and an illustrative chart. Continue Reading
A venture called the Podcast Taxonomy Consortium, which consolidated and formulated its key product through the second half of 2020, has come into public this week. The output is a whitepaper called Podcast Taxonomy which establishes and defines creative roles in podcasting. The effort certainly is broadly collaborative, with a working group that spans across 39 organizations and 53 individuals. Click through for the basic taxonomy the group has developed, and links to more info. Continue Reading
Has A-list actor Tom Hanks joined TuneIn’s corporate communications team? No, but he did shine love on the TuneIn app when Stephen Colbert asked Hanks to name his favorite app. “Camera,” Hanks said. Answer disqualified by Colbert because the camera is built in. It took Hanks one second to assert: “I’ll go to TuneIn Radio because I can listen to any radio station in the world.” TuneIn’s Apple app shot up instantly. Click through for the clip, and for TuneIn’s audience metrics. Continue Reading
Westwood One has released the latest in its Audioscape series, posted by Brittany Faison to the Westwood One blog. The data are taken from Edison Research, and the focus of this release is squarely on podcasting. For years, Westwood One has been the most forthcoming distributor of metrics from Edison’s proprietary subscription product, Share of Ear, and that’s where this info comes from. Click through for key points and graphics. Continue Reading
In what Rob Greenlee termed a “changing of the guard,” both he (as Chair) and Kerri Hoffman (as Secretary) are shifting out of their roles in the Board of Governors at The Podcast Academy. Greenlee told RAIN, “The leadership change in the Board of Governors was planned and is happening per our organization’s Bylaws.” Click through for more info about new Board officers and members. Continue Reading
This morning AdsWizz unleashed its Podcast Trends Report 2020, a combined metrics-plus-survey piece of work that seeks to illuminate how podcast industry metrics are trending, and what podcasters and agency buyers think of it all. Click through for a raft of metrics, and the free download link. Continue Reading
The Salem Media Group, a media holding company comprising radio, book publishing, and digital media, has announced the start of a new podcast network. The focus will be conservative content across its definitional “Christian and conservative media landscape.” Continue Reading
RedFM is the largest private broadcast group in India. Triton Digital announces today that RedFM has selected Triton’s suite of podcast delivery and monetization for the group’s podcasts. The podcast network is called Red Podcasts, and we see a robust portfolio of 31 shows. Continue Reading