Media software company Futuri is announcing today that broadcaster Alpha Media will use Futuri’s suite of audience engagements products. They include POST, TopicPulse, and Alexa Skills. Continue Reading
Diversified Canadian media company Rogers announced its commitment to programmatic audio advertising, and has selected AdsWizz to provide technology for ad insertion, ad serving, and yield optimization. Continue Reading
Warner Music Group (WMG) is reportedly attempting to ease 130 employees out of the company, offering them buyouts. According to Billboard, those staffers “deal with physical product,” which probably means the CD part of Warner’s business. The action is targeted within WEA, the distribution, marketing and sales division of WMG. Billboard’s sources indicate that the projected cost saving would be applied to distribution and marketing of streaming music. Continue Reading
We received a note that in the wake of a merger of Wildfire Radio (a radio and podcast company) and New Media Studios (a recording studio specializing in podcasts), podcast ad network AdvertiseCast has signed to represent the shows within the joined entity. Continue Reading
NPR has updated its Smart Audio Report with a post-holiday survey conducted by Edison Research. The headline result is that 16% of American adults (about 39-million people) now own a smart speaker. Smart speaker adoption is growing at the pace of smartphones several years ago. AM/FM radio listening is being replaced at a greater rate than any other activity. Continue Reading
Cabana, the podcast and digital audio division of audio ad company AdLarge, has released an eight-page online brochure for advertisers, evangelizing the podcast opportunity. It seeks to be comprehensive and concise, and succeeds in our view. Continue Reading
Mike Reznick’s Reznick Media is leveraging CES to announce that he is partnering with Frequency, a “dynamic audio” provider to audio advertisers, part of audio ad agency F Sharp. Mike Reznick was formerly EVP, Advertising Sales at Triton Digital. Continue Reading
Edison Research, the leading consumer research organization for understanding how Americans listen to audio, has greeted the new year with three growth announcements. A slew of promotions creates a larger executive team. Newly hired staff is on board to accommodate Edison’s growing research clientele. And the company has purchased office space which doubles its square footage. Continue Reading
Some Sirius XM subscribers have been informed that their subscription costs will go up starting in mid-February. The price hike is attached to a Music Royalty Fee already paid by some accounts. Continue Reading
Podcast measurement firm Podtrac has revised two of its Podcast Industry Ranking charts for November audience size, citing IAB podcast measurement guidelines. The action removed iHeartMedia from the Top 10 Podcast Publishers chart, and the Top 10 Snackable Podcasts chart (formerly Top 15 Snackable Podcasts). Continue Reading
Never a dull moment, or a dull year, in the online audio field. Here, we present RAIN’s annual Predictions feature, provided by industry leaders around the world. 2018 will carry forward the audio industry’s reputation for quick, disruptive change. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Questioning the top Podtrac “Snackable Podcast.” Big holiday download numbers for Alexa on Android. Start 2018 right with a hilarious podcast parody. Continue Reading