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Audible launches Plus subscription, less expensive than existing plan, for access to exclusives

Posted on by Brad Hill

In a peculiar reversal of standard audio subscription value and price points, and a demonstration of Audible’s often-overlooked power in audio publishing, the Amazon-owned company has launced Audible Plus, a subscription plan the provides access to the entire Audible Original library (audiobooks and podcasts) of 68,000 productions. It costs $7.95 per month. The legacy subscription bundles the traditional audiobook catalog with Audible’s original productions for $14.95. It is a dramatic example of Audible’s unique consumer economics and value propositions. Continue Reading →

Spoken Layer expands from media narrations to audio for brands with Lucky Charms adventures

Posted on by Brad Hill

Short form audio producer SpokenLayer, best known for audio narrations of articles published by media juggernauts Heart, Tribune, TIME, and others. According to CEO Andy Lipset, the company is increasingly doing original programming production for branded content. The latest to launch is Lucky Charms Magical Mission, a leprechaun-hosted adventure to magical lands. Click through for Alexa sample. Continue Reading →

Triton Digital U.S. Podcast Report shows nearly unchanging network leadership

Posted on by Brad Hill

Triton Digital has released its U.S. Podcast Report, an every-four-week rolling weekly average of downloads and listeners. This report covers the July 6 through August 2 period. Most remarkable is the stability of this report compared to the previous one. And we noticed the same thing in our previous coverage. Click through for details. Continue Reading →

NPR podcast revenue to surpass radio, as “sea change” shifts listening

Posted on by Brad Hill

If Q2 was the Covid Quarter, NPR was infected. The U.S. public radio network lost about a quarter of its audience during that period. The main influence? Loss of morning and evening car commuting. But this trend is balanced by shifts to in-home device listening, increasing reach overall. Podcast revenue will surpass broadcast ad revenue for the first time. Click through for details. Continue Reading →

Echoverse podcast network launches with Whalerock funding and plans to extend into TV/film

Posted on by Brad Hill

We received a notice that Lloyd Braun’s Whalerock Industries has founded a new podcast network: Echoverse, which will be devoted to science fiction, supernatural, and fantasy programming. No podcasts are live yet, but nine are planned. CEO Mark Stern has a deep background in TV and film. Accordingly, Echoverse will serve as both a podcast network and an incubator of extensible content for film and TV. Click through for details. Continue Reading →

Adwizz’s AudioGo launches from public beta, offers easy audio ad buying

Posted on by Brad Hill

We’ve been writing about AudioGo, the audio  advertising buying platform from AdsWizz, for over a year, as  it moved through a public beta. During this  time the service added testing partners including Entravision and Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. Today the company announces that the service is emerging from beta into a full-on ad-buying service available to all. The platform now has several new features designed to support smaller buyers looking to capitalize on increasing audio consumption. The cost of entry is surprisingly low. Continue Reading →

IAB Podcast Upfront: Schedule and speakers released

Posted on by Brad Hill

In the first online-only version of the annual IAB Podcast Upfront, the virtual format is allowing a greatly expanded version of the event. The 2020 edition of this podcast showcase to advertisers expands from one day to three days. While past years have spotlighted 12 podcast networks at most, this year will feature 20. The speaker list is loaded with celebrities. Click through for details. Continue Reading →

June webcast streaming was mixed; several upward trends within overall flatness

Posted on by Brad Hill

Stream listening in June was a mixed story: A lift of only one percent month-over-month for the entire cohort, but 12 brands experienced month-over-month gain of 5% or more. Steady leader Pandora, whose stream volume sways the entire report, was almost exactly flat from May to June. The second-ranked entity, iHeartRadio, enjoyed an upward spike of five percent. The percentage leader in June was AccuRadio, up 11%. Continue Reading →