One striking aspect of iHeartMedia’s revenue reporting for Q4 and full-year 2022: Digital revenue leads revenue growth, and podcasting leads even more. The trend is true for Q4 and full-year 2022. Click for details. Continue Reading
iHeart Media and the National Basketball Association have revealed a slate of team-specific shows released to what is being called the iHeart/NBA Podcast Network. The lineup includes original podcasts from six NBA teams – the Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets, Cleveland Cavaliers, New Orleans Pelicans and San Antonio Spurs. Click through for show details and listen links. Continue Reading
A prevailing type of sponsor message in podcast advertising is the host-read personal endorsement of a product or service. If you listen to a lot of podcasts, you develop an impression that companies give away a high volume of samples as the basis of this marketing strategy. An FTC investigation — started last year and completed last week — potentially pokes a hole in that assumption. Continue Reading
iHeartMedia today announces that Sarah van Mosel, formerly CRO of Stitcher, will lead the company’s new iHeart Audience Network (“iAN”), an highly scaled audio inventory and audience targeting environment that spans podcasting (iHeartPodcast Network), streaming audio (iHeartRadio), and the vast reach of the largest commercial radio group in the U.S. Continue Reading
iHeartMedia released results of a consumer survey about how listeners releate to audio presenter — radio and podcasts hosts. iHM partnered with PMX (part of Publicis Media) to execute the study, which is titled “Exploring the Brand Benefits of Trust and Companionship in Audio.” Click through for the takeaways. Continue Reading
iHeartMedia is partnering with digital talent network/studio to form a new network called Curativity. The alliance kicks off with three kid shows. Continue Reading
In a signal of how well resourced networks can use technology to enlarge their footprints, iHeartMedia is pairing with audio-AI company Veritone to translate and synthetically voice iHeart’s leading podcasts for Spanish-speaking markets. Click for details, and a link to RAIN’s interview with Veriton president Ryan Steelberg. Continue Reading
In what Chairman/CEO Bob Pittman calls “a unique opportunity,” and Digital Audio Group CEO Conal Byrne calls “the incredible potential of web3,” iHeartMedia announced its intention to develop “meta” experiences on the Roblox platform. There is an emphasis on tokenized communities — click through for more on that. Continue Reading
Imagine Entertainment, founded by Brian Glazer and Ron Howard, has struck an exclusive co-production, distribution, and presumably monetization deal with iHeartMedia, bringing the TV/film company into podcasting. The partnership will collaborate to launch six new series over the next two years distributed through the iHeartPodcast Network. Continue Reading
In the third quarter, iHeartMedia’s podcast revenue gained 184% compared to the same quarter last year. That according to Chairman/CEO Bob Pittman during the Q3 earnings call. Much talk of Podtrac status, success metrics, and post-cookie revenue generation. Continue Reading
From iHeartRadio we receive a notice that Paris Hilton is at the center of a new podcast production, Trapped In Treatment. It will launch in 2022, and is a combined effort of the celebrity with four media companies: iHeartMedia, London Audio (a division of 11:11 Media), Warner Bros., Unscripted Television, and Telepictures. Continue Reading
Equity research analyst at B. Riley Securities, Daniel Day, projected growth metrics for the second half of this year, and 2022, for three top radio groups — iHeartMedia, Audacy, and Cumulus Media. His “robust growth estimates” for digital revenue are his most bullish outlooks, with a particular focus on podcasting. Click for details. Continue Reading