News

Megaphone gets more sports podcasts, signs The Athletic

Posted on by Brad Hill

Enterprise podcast host and ad tech company Megaphone has signed sports publisher The Athletic to its platform, increasing the volume and range of the sports content hosted in its podcast marketplace.The Athletic website shows dozens of podcasts in sports castegories ranging from Fantasy Football to Sports Business, Boxing to UK Women’s Football. Megaphone cites “millions of monthly listeners,” and this new inventory is piled into an already impressive sports lineup for the podcast hosting and monetization company. Continue Reading →

Music on YouTube: Supply those pipes! (MIDiA Research)

Posted on by Brad Hill

Head of MIDiA Research Mark Mulligan has published an article about maximizing YouTube music chanels. Titled “How YouTube can be a music industry growth driver,” the piece asserts that non-Anglo music channels on YT operate differently from their Anglo counterparts, and are finding success. Click through for an illuminating chart and a link to the analysis. Continue Reading →

Podcast host Captivate intros insertion tech and audio optimization for small podcasters

Posted on by Brad Hill

Captivate, the podcast hosting and tech company which self-describes as “the world’s only growth-oriented podcast host” is introducing tools designed to help small podcasts make money and make better audio. The new collection of tools is called AMIE, an acronym for Audio Mastering & Integration Engine. Today’s announcement is for a private beta release, with a timeline for public availability “over the next few months.” Continue Reading →

iHeartMedia acquires Voxnest; focus on advertising technology

Posted on by Brad Hill

The consolidation trend which has defined and accelerated enterprise podcasting for the past four years has a new story to tell today. iHeartMedia has reached agreement to fully acquire Voxnest, parent company of the Spreaker hosting and technology platform. Technology is the main impetus for this alignment, from iHeart’s perspective. Voxnest self-describes as “an audio technology company, specializing in podcasting solutions.” Click through for details, perspective, and quotes. Continue Reading →

Podcast is a lean-in, attention-holding medium for advertisers (Canadian Podcast Listener)

Posted on by Brad Hill

In a “sneak peek” at the 2020 edition of the Canadian Podcast Listener research report, listening to podcasts is revealed to be an intensely attentive activity compared to social media, listening to music, and watching short videos. Listening to podcasts takes roughly the same level of concentration as checking news and watching shows. Although podcast advertising success metrics are not part of this preview, the report does obliquely mention value to marketers in a key takeaway, and it seems self-evident that an attentive, concentrated audience is favorable to advertising generally. Continue Reading →

Joe Biden, Penn State, and others leap into podcast advertising (Magellan)

Posted on by Brad Hill

Magellan AI has released its always interesting Top 15 Advertisers reports. One is “Movers and Shakers” (greatest increase from the previous month), and the other is top advertisers overall by spend. The Joe Biden campaign dipped its toe into the water with $163,000. By contrast, the top overall podcast advertiser in Magellan’s view was Better Help, spending $5.4-million. Therapy is clearly more lucrative than politics. Continue Reading →

Entravision takes over Cisneros Interactive with majority investment

Posted on by Brad Hill

Media and marketing network Entravision has announced its majority investment in Cisneros Interactive, a digital advertising company and division of Cisneros. Cisneros Interactive is well known to RAIN readers as the parent company of Audio.Ad, a sponsor and presenter at many RAIN Summits. Both companies serve Spanish and Hispanic American markets. Continue Reading →

Local podcast network (Loudspeaker) broadens reach with new name and multiple strategies

Posted on by Brad Hill

If you don’t live in northern Colorado you’ve possibly not heard of NoCo FM, a digital media outlet featuring regional musicians. After expansion to include some California voices, the company has rebranded as Loudspeaker. It’s a three-pronged strategy: Podcast network, streaming music/talk platform, and a live event on Halloween. Click through for more info. Continue Reading →

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Spotify/Anchor launch radio-style DJ’ing, leaping into both radio and music-rich podcasting

Posted on by Brad Hill

“Think of your favorite drive-time radio show,” Spotify says in an announcement. That is the only mention of “radio,” but it is telling. The company has launched a new listening product which jabs an arrow straight into radio’s underbelly, or apparently aspires to. This new product is (oddly) unnamed, but it mixes music and commentary similar to radio and enables users to become public DJs within the Spotify app. Click through for details, commentary, and how to find it. Continue Reading →

Cadence13 partners to release “Fiasco” (season one) out of Luminary exclusivity

Posted on by Brad Hill

Cadence13 is helping to unleash the Fiasco podcast from Luminary’s exclusive subscription service. The three-way partnership involves Cadence13, Luminary, and Prologue Projects, the last of which is the show’s producer. Season 1 will be released via public RSS, containing six episodes. Seasons 2 and 3 remain exclusive to Luminary. Continue Reading →