Author: Brad Hill

Pandora adds podcast controls to Alexa skill

Posted on by Brad Hill

Pandora is announcing that its Alexa “skill” set now includes podcast listening and controls. In addition to the basic hook-up between Alexa and Pandora’s podcasts, the new skill set includes a request for a specific episode (“Alexa, play the latest episode of Ted Talks Daily”), requesting an episode by topic (“Alexa, play the Ted Talks Daily episode about procrastination”) and using playback controls for hands-free podcast control while in the skill. Continue Reading →

SiriusXM earnings: Cost of acquisitions (Stitcher; Simplecast)

Posted on by Brad Hill

SiriusXM held its Q2 earnings call, during which the cost of the recently acquired Stitcher was revealed — it is $265-million. Buying Simplecast cost the satellite company $28-million. The earnings call also reminded investors of a February SoundCloud investment of $75-million. On the financial side, Sirius subscription revenue notched up a bit from the same quarter in 2019.
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APM announces new podcasts and a returning season

Posted on by Brad Hill

American Public media (APM) has sent PR descriptions of two new podcasts, and one returning show. The return is season two of Spectacular Failures, which is described as “ridiculous stories of business disasters. The new season drops on August 3. No trailer yet. One new show features comedian Tig Nagaro. The other comes from Marketplace and is a children’s show. Continue Reading →

Impact (Brian Grazer, Ron Howard) choose ART19 for hosting / distribution

Posted on by Brad Hill

Impact, which is a content accelerator and online marketplace co-founded by Imagine Entertainment’s partners Brian Grazer & Ron Howard, has selected leading audio platform ART19 to host and distribute IMPACT: The Podcast. The show is described this way: “Impact’s new podcast brings together storytellers and entertainment industry leaders to explore the process of content creation and the way art shapes the world around us.” Tons of celebrity guests. Continue Reading →

Triton Digital’s latest U.S. Podcast Report: Stable, upward bumps in top-network downloads

Posted on by Brad Hill

Triton Digital has released its U.S. Podcast Report, an every-four-week rolling weekly average of downloads and listeners. This report covers the June 8 through July 5 period. Things look pretty much the same as the previous report, for the top 15 podcast networks. NPR is on top for average weekly downloads and listeners. Stitcher remains #2 for downloads, and moves up to #2 (displacing Entercom/Cadence13/Pineapple Street Studios to #3 — but we think Entercom/Cadence13/Pineapple Street Studios should win a special prize for longest network name). Click through to see the Top 15 Networks. Continue Reading →

Pandora puts interactive voice ads into beta

Posted on by Brad Hill

“Voice-activated tech is proliferating,” says Pandora, and the company has extended that aspect of digital lifestyle into responses to streaming audio ads. This week, Pandora is launching interactive Voice Ads to beta, following an alpha launch in December. The company asserts this as a first-to-market ad format in streaming audio, and the plan is to scale voice features to both listeners and select advertisers. Continue Reading →