“Voice-activated tech is proliferating,” says Pandora, and the company has extended that aspect of digital lifestyle into responses to streaming audio ads. This week, Pandora is launching interactive Voice Ads to beta, following an alpha launch in December. The company asserts this as a first-to-market ad format in streaming audio, and the plan is to scale voice features to both listeners and select advertisers. Continue Reading
Comedian and media producer Will Ferrell is partnering with iHeartRadio to make a new podcast network with an opening slate of six shows. “The iHeartPodcast Network really knows how to make a podcast.” said Ferrell. The new group is called Big Money Players Network. Click through for show notes. Continue Reading
by Jeff Umbro
In this week’s column, Podglomerate CEO Jeff Umbro dives deep into the audiobook industry — related to podcasting as another on-demand spoken-word audio category, and quite different at the same time. Featuring an interview with Molly Barton, Founder and CEO of Serial Box. Continue Reading
Pandora is announcing its new live series of concerts, COVID-era style as virtual events. A sign-up process has started, for the first live-virtual event — Kane Brown on July 28. parent company SiriusXM will rebroadcast selected concerts. Sponsors are getting creative to foster fan engagement with their products. Click through for the RSVP link and more details. Continue Reading
The New York Times has acquired Serial Productions, home to legendary podcast Serial. Both organizations have attained critical, audience, and monetary success with sparse portfolios. the Times promises to grow the Serial Productions catalog, which currently contains two active podcasts according to Podtrac. Click through for more analysis and acquisition details. Continue Reading
PRX is partnering with the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission (created by Congress) and the National Park Service, and a cast of celebrities, to create new podcasts inspired by the suffragists throughout U.S. history who have worked to secure women’s right to vote. PRX notes that 2020 is the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment. Click through for show details. Continue Reading
On Spotify’s announcement blog, the company announced yesterday that video blogging is now native to the platform. The feature is not Spotify’s first foray in video presentation, but it is a new global feature for the company’s podcast service. This feature seems like a stage-setting for Joe Rogan’s video format, which moves exclusively to Spotify by end-of-year. Continue Reading
The trade organization AudioUK has released a detailed document containing guidelines for producing audio safely during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 27-page paper covers details like workspace cleaning and protective equipment, in addition to strategic production challenges of producing audio while observing social distance guidelines. Click through for a link. Continue Reading
In a dramatic adjustment to COVID-era realities, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has planned a different sort of Podcast Upfront than in past years. First, it will be online-only. Second, it will transpire over three days rather than one day. Third, there will be more than 20 presenters, instead of 8-10 as in the past. Click through for dates, list of presenters, and other details. Continue Reading
“It was almost inevitable,” says Ediron Research Director of Research Laura Ivey. “We will have to wait to see if the numbers revert more closely to what they were before the disruptions.” Ivey is talking about the shares of listening on digital devices and traditional linear devices. In Q2, according to the ongoing Share of Ear study conducted by Edison, digital devices claimed 53% of listening among Americans 13 years old and up. Click through for details and definitions. Continue Reading
Tenderfoot TV, which produces for television, film, and podcasting, is partnering with iHeartMedia in an agreement that will create nine original shows for the iHeartRadio Original Podcasts division. The upcoming podcast slate will focus on limited series as well as several weekly shows, a new strategy for Tenderfoot TV, who has garnered over 500 million downloads for its true crime hits since the company’s launch in 2016. Some of the collaborative shows will be completely new; the two companies will also co-produce new seasons of existing shows. Continue Reading
Audioboom released information about its finances for the first half of 2020 in a blog post. The document, signed by CEO Stuart Last, contains the main bullet points at the top, followed by interesting discussions of various aspects of the podcast industry, COVID-19, Audioboom’s partnerships, and more finances at the bottom. Revenue increased 20% year-over-year. EBIDTA loss was trimmed. Continue Reading