POD DROP: Travel storytelling, TV stars in lockdown, Julie Andrews
Pod Drop features new, interesting, and returning podcasts. Today, new podcasts from Frequency Machine, Los Angeles Times, and American Public Media. Continue Reading
Stitcher earned $17-million in Q1, up 13% over 2019
Stitcher, a top podcast network, enjoyed first-quarter revenue of $17.1-million, a 13% jump year-over-year from Q1 2019 ($15.1-million). (As a timely but random point of comparison, PodcastOne just sold to LiveXLive last week for $18-million.) Projecting across the year, it might be feasible to consider Stitcher a $68-million topline business. Continue Reading
iHeartMedia earnings: Listening up, advertising down, digital everything is the way forward
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
James Cridland’s International Radio Trends: Giraffes, lockdown, and Times Radio
by James Cridland
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
Peabody Award nominees include a dozen shows from podcasting and radio
The Peabody Awards shared its nominees for the best broadcasting and digital media stories released in 2019. The selection of nominees included 12 from the worlds of radio and podcasting Continue Reading
LiveXLive / PodcastOne deal raises both profiles
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
Warner Music Group receives approval for Nasdaq stock listing
Warner Music Group shared its interest in going public earlier this year, but the COVID-19 pandemic caused a delay in its plans. Even though the virus continues to wreak havoc on both markets and populations, the company is continuing to lay groundwork to move forward with listing. Continue Reading
iHeartRadio sneaks into the top spot in Podtrac’s April 2020 publisher ranking
Podtrac released its ranking of the top 20 podcast publishers for April 2020. iHeartRadio edged out NPR for the top spot, thanks to a U.S. unique monthly audience of 22.57 million. Continue Reading
PodcastOne acquired by livestreaming company LiveXLive
PodcastOne has been acquired by LiveXLive. The podcast network includes shows from Adam Carolla, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Shaquille O’Neal, Kaitlyn Bristown, and more. The purchase is reportedly an all-stock deal valued at about $18 million. Continue Reading
Nielsen launches Gracenote Audio On Demand for intelligent podcast search
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
New leader tops the latest Latam Podcast Report from Triton Digital
Triton Digital has published its Latam Podcast Report for March 16-April 12. The latest data saw a passing of the torch, with LOS40 MX – La Corneta dropping to second and O Assunto from Radios Grupo Globo taking the top spot. Continue Reading
Spotify testing video clips to accompany podcasts
Spotify has been stretching its definitions of a podcast with another new test. The streaming service is trialing video content for the Zane and Heath: Unfiltered podcast. The source said that the videos will only be on three episodes of the podcast, and that there will be no other designations in the app that any video is present. Continue Reading