In iHeartMedia’s Q1 earnings call, Chairmand and CEO Bob Pittman laid out his company’s revenue trendlines, a review of strategic decisions, and his views of a hopeful future. In simple coronavirus strokes: Listening is up, advertising is down, and digital initiatives are providing the best result and will propel future recovery. Continue Reading
A weekly column from the preeminent Radio Futurologist. THIS WEEK: How the BBC produced during coronavirus. How is Beats 1 doing? Ten best music radio stations. Radio recovery. Podcast promoter chat. And much more! Continue Reading
Today’s headline news that online music service LiveXLive will acquire pioneering podcast network PodcastOne shines new light on both companies and raises their profiles. It is the latest in a category consolidation that is mashing up podcast networks with related — but different — new parent companies. Continue Reading
Nielson is announcing a new vertical for its Gracenote division: Gracenote Audio On Demand. The company describes this as a comprehensive dataset which is “the catalog of reference driving podcast services with the ability to enhance navigation and discovery capabilities.” In other words, Gracenote is doing for podcasting what it has historically done for music — catalog the entire medium with metadata. In this case the dataset identifies and locates podcasts according to topics, personalities, and other criteria. Continue Reading
1A, WAMU’s successful current events radio/podcast show, has finalized its search for a permanent host. It is Jenna White, who comes to the Washington, D.C. station from WBEZ, Chicago where she hosts the station’s midday talk program Reset with Jenn White. Continue Reading
Les Hollander, veteran digital audio executive and frequent RAIN Summit speaker, has joined Globel-owned DAX as Chief Growth Officer. Hollander left Spotify in December after six and a half years as Global Head of Audio & Video Monetization. His career has included executive stints at Clear Channel, CBS, Pandora, and Gannett. At DAX, he will report to CEO Matt Cutair in New York and Guy Jones (Commercial Operations Director of DAX Worldwide) in London. Continue Reading
Pod Drop features new, interesting, and returning podcasts. Today: Andrew Yang returns in high spirits. A sports podcast made by radio production house Benztown. And another Covid-19 informational podcast from FiveThirtyEight. Continue Reading
Absent until now, FOX News Media podcasts are in Spotify, thanks to a new deal announced by VP John Sylvester. The catalog includes over 20 original series and three new show that will launch in May. Continue Reading
Triton digital is out today with its latest US Podcast Report, a top-100 ranking of podcasts measured by Triton’s Podcast Metrics. There are two top-100 lists: One for top podcasts by download count, and one for user count. This report also ranks the top 10 podcast publishers, including average weekly number of downloads and users per network. RAIN does a Remix of the network charts, showing how audiences and plays are distributed per show. Continue Reading
Tech company AdsWizz is announcing a new layer to its AudioMatic and AudioServe digital audio advertising platforms. Called Dynamic Creative Optimization, it allows advertisers to use targeting data to generate over 10-million (that’s not a typo; ten million) ad creative variations which personalize advertising to listeners. Click for details. Continue Reading
Streaming radio platform AccuRadio has started rolling out new channels in fulfillment of a program which invites displace radio professionals to “build the station they’ve always wanted to program.” Each accepted station pays $300 to its creator. Additionally, five $1,000 payments will be awarded to curators based on five criteria. Continue Reading
U.S. commercial radio raised $425,000 for Feeding America yesterday, in a rapidly organized effort called Radio Cares. Hundreds of stations and radio groups pitched in with on-air promotions. It was a virtuosic effort. What is podcasting doing, as a cohesive medium, in this national emergency. Maybe it’s time to develop a unifying trade organization. Continue Reading