Podcast database company Podchaser is announcing a new integration with Audacy, the 2nd largest U.S. commercial radio group and owner of podcast production brands Cadence13 and Pineapple Street Studios. The partnership is geared to providing additional value to Audacy clients and ad agencies. Continue Reading
PRX has evidently been busy making deals, and today released three of them. The public media organization is partnering with Magnificent Noise, WaitWhat, and Skeptoid Media to distribute selected podcasts, and provide sponsorship and promotional support. Click for details. Continue Reading
UK-based radio group and worldwide media company Global has acquired podcast hosting/tech outfit Captivate. Global is the developer and holding company of DAX, the company’s international digital audio advertising exchange. Captivate will become part of Global Player, and will take advantage of DAX’s immense reach for monetization opportunities. Continue Reading
Spotify has acquired Australian podtech company Whooshkaa. The company says it will integrate Whooshkaa’s platform technology into Spotify subsidiary Megaphone. One important piece of that technology is an easy way for radio broadcasters to turn their content into on-demand podcasting. Continue Reading
Vox Media has bought Criminal Productions, whose best-known show is Criminal, which has appeared on several “Best Of” lists. Vox plans to double the unit’s staff, expand Criminal to a weekly show, and develop new ones. All this takes place within Vox’s podcast division, Vox Media Podcast Network. Vox also takes over ad sales. Continue Reading
Bad Robot, the film/TV firm founded and run by J.J. Abrams, whose franchises include Star Trek and Cloverfield movies, has jumped into audio with the creation of a podcast unit. Abrams pulled Christina Choi away from Audible to head the venture. The whole thing is tied up with Spotify. Continue Reading
On the same day that Edison Research and NPR released The Spoken Word Audio Report for 2021 (RAIN coverage HERE), Spotify announced its acquisition of Findaway, the audiobook facilitator and distributor. Finances of the deal are undisclosed, and might not represent the potential long-term impact of the acquisition to Spotify and to spoken word listening. Continue Reading
Libsyn makes another deal. PODGO, founded last year, brings together podcasts of any reach with advertisers who want highly targeted, host-read sponsorship messages. Click for more info and a rundown of Libsyn’s acquisition streak. Continue Reading
Audacy, the largest commercial radio group in the U.S. and a major podcast network, has acquired WO Streaming — the digital audio streaming technology of media tech solutions company WideOrbit. This action probably (but without confirmation at this time) explains the $45-million mystery investment announced last week by Audacy. Click through for details and history. Continue Reading
SiriusXM notified us of a creative and strategic agreement with podcast production house Audio Up to make podcasts and other types of audio. But there is more to this than the typical co-production deal. SiriusXM also laid $12M on Audio Up and joined the board. We asked Sirius whether an acquisition is in the wind. Continue Reading
UK-based Global has grabbed Remixd, a tech startup specializing in turning text to audio. Remixd technology is geared to text publishers wishing to enter the audio and audio advertising fields. Presumably the Remixd function, if adopted by major text publishers, will add content, inventory, and targeting opportunities to Global’s platform. Continue Reading
Slate has made an interesting partnership between its podcast division and Pocket, the Mozilla-built app which offers topical reading collections. Slate will put podcast-specific reading collections onto Pocket. The project is called “Stories Behind the Podcast.” We like how it crosses over media categories and broadens the podcast experience. Continue Reading