Quake Media launches news-oriented subscription podcast service

Though some observers would wish that subscription-based exclusive podcast services would cease and vanish, neither is happening. The latest? Quake Media which announces its launch funded by Wndrco and “a few other” undisclosed individuals.

This new pay-to-listen outlet is setting up as a news and politics service, with six original and exclusive podcasts ined up, starring Laura Ingraham, Soledad O’Brien, Gretchen Carlson, Mike Huckabee, Andrew Gillum, Marc Lamont Hill and Buck Sexton. (Hill and Sexton will launch a podcast together.)

Founders of this enterprise are Mike Morrell, former ESPN journalist and Bleacher Report executive, and Doug Rosenberg, a former political executive who launched one of the first Spanish-language syndicated radio shows in 2012.

For consumers, the cost of entry is $4.99/month or 50 bucks for a year.

Focusing on the news category has been strategized by observing the same consumption analytics we see and promote here — Podtrac, for one, which has  indicated a 98% increase in downloads of news and politics podcasts over the last year, according to Quake Media’s announcement. The well known hosts certainly carry some potential to  bring audiences with them onto the walled garden.

Rosenberg is quoted in Axios saying, “We’re like that next version of satellite radio. The digital version.”

The new company is reportedly seeking more investment, and aspires to offer 50 shows by next year.

Brad Hill