RAIN Notes: Friday, July 2
Jottings of Note
— Dutch Downloads (Triton Digital)
— Hispanic Excellence (Hispanic Radio Conference)
— Summer Predictions (Spotify)
Search Results for: https:
Facebook podcasts: Where are they?
It has been nearly two weeks since Facebook’s June 21 announcement that podcast listening was added to the platform. The plan was a limited roll-out with four selected podcasters. We check their pages excitedly to try Facebook’s first audio-specific platform experience. Crickets. Continue Reading
RAIN Notes: Thursday, July 1
Jottings of Note
— Sitting in the Chair (Bill Wilson / NAB)
— Advising (Gary Krantz / Oaklins DeSilva+Phillips)
— Bilingual Research (Edison Research)
“Smartless” podcast goes to Amazon Music for $80M reported. Not entirely exclusive.
The rights to the Smartless podcast, a comedy/celebrity interview show hosted by Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes, have been acquired by Amazon. The reported price for the three-year deal is $80-million, and Amazon will deploy a windowed exclusivity model, starting August 1. Continue Reading
Podcast Radio unleashes movie-theater ad promoting the all-podcast UK station
We got a note from Podcast Radio, the all-podcast DAB station in the UK, revealing a newly produced video ad. The spot, produced by by award-winning production agency Contented, will run in several UK movie chain theaters nationwide. It’s quite dynamic — click through to see the ad. Continue Reading
Acast enters Finland in partnership with Asennemedia
Acast enters Finland, via a partnership with Finnish marketing agency Asennemedia. In the agreement, the 50 podcasts represented by Asennemedia will be hosted on Acast, and exposed to Finnish advertisers through the Acast marketplace. Continue Reading
Townsquare Media erases operational divide; unites linear/digital content; promotes execs
In a major and meaningful corporate reorg, Townsquare Media has united its previously separate linear and digital content teams. A key executive promotion leads this development on the company’s news page: Jared Willig is named Chief Content Officer, overseeing content across all radio and digital platforms and consumer touchpoints. Continue Reading
iHeartRadio launches NextUp mentoring program to elevate new creators
iHeartRadio is announcing a mentoring and incubation program called NextUp, to cultivate and fund what the program’s leader, Anna Hossnieh, calls “underrepresented diverse creators.” Hossnieh is an iHeart executive producer and host of the Ethnically Ambiguous podcast. Continue Reading
How people listen to podcasts, and reasons they don’t (Reuters Institute)
The Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2021 spans many media types, with global survey work displayed across 164 pages. Podcasts are a main focus of the Audio section. Click through for research results and graphs pertaining to podcast discovery and why some people don’t listen. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s International Radio Trends: Radio by the Numbers. And Ed Sheeran
by James Cridland
James Cridland returns with a richly informative newsletter about radio around the world — and a new email format. In addition to what the title promises, James describes an interesting Spotify/radio, or radio/Spotify, playlist. Continue Reading
Audiobook revenue up 12% in 2020, to $1.3B, part of longer term rocketing growth
In research conducted by the Audio Publishers Association (APA), Edison Research, and InterQ Research, the APA announced earlier this month that audiobook revenue rose 12% in 2020, to $1.3-billion. Click through for many more stats in this vibrant and fast-growing audio field. Continue Reading
Matt Deegan: Radio and Podcast Acquisitions
by Matt Deegan
Guest columnist Matt Deegan (Folder Media) reports on radio and podcast acquisition activity. Not much more to buy in UK radio, and a deep dive into Sony Music’s grab of Somethin’ Else podcasts. “The deal with Sony could be seen as a bit of a reverse take-over. The Somethin’ Else team, with Steve Ackerman soon to be in New York, and Jez Nelson in London, take over all of Sony’s podcast activities, merging them with their own – all under the Sony Music banner.” Click for more. Continue Reading