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iHeart Media is laying off up to 500 people. A large number of radio people affected have been documented by radioINSIGHT; we understand there have been cuts in some of the company’s podcast businesses too.
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iHeart released its Q3/24 financials. Podcast revenue, at $114mn, was up 11% year-on-year; and now accounts for 11.3% of the company’s total. The company is paying more in podcast revenue sharing, however.
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If you think you’ve seen this before, iHeart was auto-loading podcasts on its over 1,000 radio station websites in 2018.
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Radio Ambulante Studios has joined iHeartMedia’s My Cultura network. Under the new partnership, the two companies will also develop and co-produce a minimum of two new shows over the next two years.
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Fun fact: the UK’s Global sells ads into iHeartMedia’s podcasts in the UK and Ireland. Yet, if you follow a link to an iHeart podcast page from the UK, it’s blocked.
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iHeartMedia released its financial report for Q2/24. Podcast revenue was up 8.1% year-on-year to $105mn - a slowing of growth, which the company expects to return to double-digits. Podcasting accounts for 11.3% of the company’s revenue (no change on the quarter).
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iHeartPodcasts and Thoroughbred Studios have announced an agreement for a slate of four historical drama podcasts. (iHeart: PM24 booth 404)
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In Case You Missed It with Khristina Williams is new from iHeartMedia, breaking down the biggest stories in women’s basketball.
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Around the NFL has been cancelled. No reason was given. It was produced with iHeartMedia.
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Two Guys, Five Rings: Matt, Bowen & The Olympics is new from iHeartMedia and NBCUniversal - hosted by Saturday Night Live’s Bowen Yang and Actor/Comedian Matt Rogers. The team break down the top storylines, discuss the athletes to watch and their results, obsess over Paris culture and find out what really goes on in the Olympic Village. It's part of an iHeartMedia and NBCU collaboration for the Olympics.
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A new audio fiction podcast from iHeartMedia’s Outspoken Podcast Network: Does This Murder Make Me Look Gay?! chronicles the gay life—and even gayer death—of Vandy Monroe III, a D-list movie director who invites his BFFs (aka his mortal enemies) to his ivy-covered mansion in the country. But his weekend goes awry when… he ends up slaughtered.
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iHeartMedia could go bankrupt again if the company doesn’t restructure its debt, warns Seeking Alpha. The company currently has $5.3bn of debt, and needs to repay $3.1bn by 2026. It emerged from bankruptcy in 2019. Meanwhile, Audacy has settled a $1.4mn unpaid tax claim brought by a Pennsylvania township. The company is emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
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Minnie Questions with Minnie Driver returns for a new season - a podcast where the actor asks the same seven questions to each of her guests. The first episode features Garrett McNamara, who holds the world record for largest wave ever surfed, and Nicole McNamara, his wife and spotter. It's from iHeartMedia.
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iHeartMedia reported its Q1/24 financial results. Podcast revenue was up 18% year-on-year to $91mn, 11.3% of the company’s overall revenue.
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Last weekend, the Black Effect Podcast Festival took place in Atlanta GA, USA.
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iHeartMedia has launched the Women’s Sports Audio Network, which it calls the first ever audio platform dedicated to women’s sports.
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EXCLUSIVE: The Webby Awards will announce the winners of the 28th annual awards later today. Podnews can reveal that Julia Louis-Dreyfus will receive the Webby Podcast of the Year Award for Lemonada Media’s Wiser Than Me and her embrace of the internet as a platform for connecting generations through meaningful, funny and important conversations with unforgettable women. The Webby Podcast Company of the Year goes to iHeartMedia. We’ve details of 14 more awards, ahead of the release of the full list.
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The Campaign Legal Center has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission about iHeartMedia’s $630,000 funding - “from ad sales associated with Verdict with Ted Cruz” - to a group supporting Senator Ted Cruz’s re-election efforts. The group calls it illegal.
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Ted Cruz says he makes no money from his podcast, Verdict; but - in a move questioned by ethics experts - it’s emerged that his publisher iHeartMedia has paid $630,850 to a “super PAC” supporting his re-election, claims the Houston Chronicle. Cruz is standing again as US Senator from Texas; iHeartMedia is headquartered in San Antonio TX.
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iHeartMedia released its Q4 financials. Podcast revenue was $132 million, up 17% for the quarter, and up 14% for the whole of 2023. The company claims growing demand for podcast advertising.
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The Black Effect Podcast Festival is returning, iHeartMedia and Charlamagne Tha God have announced. The event, which aims to celebrate, uplift and amplify Black voices in the podcast industry, will be on April 27 in Atlanta GA. Tickets go on sale today at 12.00pm ET. Find it in our events section.
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“Any use of this intellectual property for text and data mining or computational analysis including as training material for artificial intelligence systems is strictly prohibited without express written consent from iHeartMedia”, is a new message appearing on the copyright of some of the company’s podcasts.
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The nominees have been announced for the iHeart Podcast Awards 2024. The awards, presented by The Hartford, will be announced on March 11 at SXSW (as well as being broadcast on the radio and streamed live on YouTube).
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Mind The Business: Small Business Success Stories is back for a new season - it's from Intuit QuickBooks and iHeartMedia. Season two will focus on the trials and tribulations of owning a small business by speaking with those who know best - the everyday solopreneurs who live it - in eight thematic episodes that spotlight the nuances on how to navigate small business ownership.
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The Why with Dwyane Wade is new today from iHeartPodcasts - a new original podcast series hosted by NBA Hall of Famer, three-time NBA Champion, and entrepreneur, Dwyane Wade. It's a co-production of iHeartPodcasts and Wade’s 59th & Prairie Entertainment.
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The iHeartPodcast Awards will be held this year at SXSW in Austin TX on March 11. The event will be held at the Fairmont Hotel, and available as a live stream.
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First look: The UK’s largest radio and outdoor media company Global has signed an exclusive platform distribution and ad sales deal with the US's iHeartMedia. Global and iHeartMedia will license, distribute and represent each other’s podcast portfolios. Global currently owns just under 15% of iHeartMedia.
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iHeartMedia released its Q3/23 financial results. Podcast revenue was $102.7mn, up 12.5% year-on-year. Total revenue is down 3.6%; podcasting represents 10.7% of the company's revenue.
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In Variety, Jay Shetty "discussed the strengths of podcasting and how creators can produce personalized content with widespread appeal"
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Have you heard of an Aperol Spritz? 50% of all consumers haven't: but almost every marketer knows about the Italian wine-based cocktail. It's one example, according to new research from Pushkin Industries and iHeartMedia, of marketers increasingly not understanding the consumers they're trying to reach. The data claims that marketers often chase the ‘shiny and new’ at the expense of reflecting the values and priorities of real consumers.
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Chasing Sleep is a branded podcast for Mattress Firm (which is a US mattress firm, we add, helpfully). iHeartMedia reports data from Affinity Solutions saying that the podcast drove 4x ROI on ad spend, and customers who heard the podcast spent 45% more than customers who didn't.
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iHeartMedia released its Q2/23 financials. Podcast revenue was $97mn, up 12.9% y/y, or 25% q/q. Podcasting contributed a record 10.5% to the business's revenue.
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Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep has joined the iHeartPodcast Network. iHeartPodcasts will also coproduce “Stories from The Village of Nothing Much,” a new, daytime companion podcast to “Nothing Much Happens.” Set to launch later this year, the podcast will use immersive 3D sound design to keep listeners engaged and energized as they follow new characters and storylines from the show’s creator.
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iHeartMedia has launched a new sports network with Michael Smith and Terrence Williams. The Inflection Network includes Comeback Stories, and more to come.
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People pay significant attention to audio advertising in podcasts, on radio and in streaming services, according to a new study by ad company Dentsu.
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It's a great day for America, as the late night legend himself, Craig Ferguson, starts his new interview podcast. Joy, a Podcast. Hosted by Craig Ferguson will feature celebrity guests including Gabriel Iglesias, Tony Hawk, Angela Kinsey, and Lewis Black.
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The Pen Pals Podcast is now part of Will Ferrell’s Big Money Players Network. The show is hosted by Rory Scovel and Daniel Van Kirk.
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Date My Abuelita, First! is a new game-show style dating podcast, new from iHeartMedia's My Cultura Network. Hosted by Latine/x non-binary/gender fluid actor/activist Vico Ortiz and Abuelita Liliana Montenegro, three single contestants will compete for a date with one lucky guest, but there’s a catch. To get their heart, they have to win over Abuelita Liliana first! Through speed dating rounds, hilarious games, wildly silly and genuinely heartfelt introspections, and grandmotherly love, one contestant will either be a step closer to love or be sent back to the apps.
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Libsyn's AdvertiseCast has signed a new exclusive ad partnership with podcast producer Big IP Media … iHeart has signed a strategic partnership with LinkedIn and the LinkedIn Podcast Network … meanwhile, in France, Audion has signed Engle and Slate France to use Audion360, the company's podcast distribution and monetisation tool.
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Supreme: The Battle for Roe is new from iHeart today: a scripted podcast that delves into the inspiring true story of the historic Roe v. Wade case.
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In Cannes, iHeartMedia and Paris Hilton have announced a new podcast. The History of the World’s Greatest Nightclubs launches on Jul 13. Paris Hilton will DJ an official after party and podcast launch party aboard the iHeart Yacht tonight.
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Triton Audio Marketplace now lets advertisers book ads on broadcast radio and streaming alongside podcasts. The company claims it as an industry first; broadcast radio inventory includes iHeartMedia's 850+ stations, and will shortly add 3,400+ stations represented by Katz Media. The company suggests that making advertising easier to buy will benefit all parts of the industry.
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Chris Peterson has co-founded a new podcast venture, DWNLOAD Media. The company will invest in podcast producers, networks with highly engaged and growing audiences, and companies that will "define the future of podcasting". Peterson was former EVP of Podcasting at iHeartMedia. The company is already in active discussions with companies in the US and abroad.
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iHeartMedia announced Ruby, a branded podcast unit that's already working with Quickbooks and IBM. Lst week SMI said that US spending on branded podcasts was up 51% year-on-year in Q1.
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iHeartMedia shared the company's Q1/23 financial results. Podcast revenue at $77mn was up 12%, representing 9.4% of the company's total.
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Daily Dad Jokes, an AI-powered podcast from Klassic Studios, has joined the iHeartPodcast Network. All jokes are sourced from the Dad Jokes subreddit and are curated and produced into a daily show. The show was started in late 2020, and claims to be the first AI-powered podcast.
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iHeart and School of Humans are celebrating Earth Month with the launch of Bad Seeds today - focusing on the black market of... plants. Model, Sustainability Activist and Plant Influencer Summer Rayne Oakes tells us why rare plants are at the center of a rapidly growing -- and lucrative -- world of crime.
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The 27th Annual Webby Awards nominees have been announced. Voting for the People's Voice Awards kick off today. A new award, Webby Podcast Company of the Year, will recognize the company with the most nominations and wins across the podcast categories. Organisations in contention include Audible (13), Wondery (8), WaitWhat (7) and iHeartMedia (5).
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iHeartMedia announced an Influencer Summit for creators and brands "to discuss the future of podcast advertising". It's planned for Apr 26 in New York NY, USA.
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After iHeartMedia's financials, its stock price dropped yesterday by almost a third. JP Morgan has also downgraded the media company to "Underweight".
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iHeartMedia brought in $113mn in podcast revenue in Q4/22 (up 17% y/y), according to their latest financial data: that's 10% of their total business (up from 9.2% q/q).
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iHeartMedia has launched a new podcast brand safety tool with Sounder. The tool claims to be the first to give brands episode-level safety assurance.
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Ray Harkins is now Director of Podcast Sales at Sonoro Global Media Corp. He was with iHeartMedia. He'll be at Podcast Movement Evolutions.
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Former late night host Craig Ferguson is to do a podcast with iHeartMedia.
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False Profits: Hillsong is new today from Storyglass and iHeartPodcasts, looking at Hillsong, the global megachurch favoured by the former Prime Minister of Australia, Scott Morrison, among many others. The podcast focuses on the rise and fall of the church's founder, the many scandals of the church, and stories of submission, exploitation, and discrimination.
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Ray Harkins, who works in Podcast Strategy at iHeartMedia on the West Coast, leaves the company on Friday. He's "taking a moment to check out what else is happening in the podcast space".
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Adelita: Changing the Key is new today from iHeartMedia's My Cultura podcast network and Sonoro, and features actor Diane Guerrero and chronicles the culturally rich coming-of-age story of an audacious Tejana singer (played and sung by Guerrero) who seeks to cross over to pop stardom in the U.S. and in doing so, leaves her Tejano music roots behind.
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iHeartMedia announced the nominations for the iHeartPodcast Awards 2023. They'll stream on Mar 14. Our list of nominations shows just 17 of the 143 nominations are from iHeartRadio.
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From iHeartMedia, Table for Two is hosted by celebrity restauranteur Bruce Bozzi. He's joined by some of his customers - Hollywood's biggest stars. The first episode features Scarlett Johansson. It's co-produced by AirMail.
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SXM Media is, once more, #1 for podcasts according to Edison Podcast Metrics data for the 12 months ending Q3/22. Spotify is down to #2, while iHeartMedia is #3. The data was produced by surveying 11,675 listeners from across the US.
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NBA Pulse with Sarah Kustok is new from iHeartPodcasts and the NBA. Hosted by Emmy-Award winning sports analyst, host and reporter Sarah Kustok, the show will feature a rotating group of the most respected NBA App writers to discuss recent articles and feature stories and hear their perspectives on big news around the league.
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The Best Soccer Podcast in the World is new today from Exile Content Studio and My Cultura, iHeartMedia’s podcast network dedicated to elevating Latinx voices and stories. The show, timed to coincide with this year’s FIFA World Cup, will guide the listener through the most memorable moments and players of the 92-year-old competition.
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iHeartMedia reported financial results for Q3/22. Podcast revenue for the quarter was $91m, up 42% year-on-year - representing 9.2% of the company's total revenue. The company made a loss of $310m; it had reported a profit this time last year, but the value of its broadcast licences fell by $302m as a result of increased interest rates.
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iHeartPodcasts and podcast start-up Kaleidoscope, which makes highly-produced narrative podcasts, has unveiled their slate; including a podcast all about chocolate (see below)
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Those purchased podcast plays are all OK, it seems. After yesterday's news that iHeartMedia and others have been purchasing podcast plays in game apps, Podtrac tells us: "We decided not to filter these downloads as they are consistent with the latest IAB guidelines. It’s our understanding they appear as browser traffic without a unique user agent (or [unique] IP address). These downloads don’t have a material impact on the publisher rankings including the rank order of the top publishers."
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Who is doing this? One ad company interviewed by Carman says its "main podcast client" is iHeartMedia. Here's a video showing two podcast ads within Subway Surfers - the podcasts in the video are from Bloomberg, which distributes and monetises its shows using iHeart.
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Wilmer Valderrama has become a shareholder in My Cultura, the Latinx podcast network.
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Allyson Marino is now Sr Director of Revenue Partnerships at SiriusXM. She moves from iHeartMedia, where she was Podcast Slate Lead.
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iHeartMedia has named Uta Knablein as the new Chief Product Officer for iHeartRadio. She was promoted from Executive Vice President of iHeartRadio’s Flagship Products and User Experience; and will report to Conal Byrne. She replaces Chris Williams.
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Lava for Good Podcasts and iHeartMedia have joined forces to distribute Lava for Good's slate of shows. Bone Valley is the first new podcast under the partnership: an investigative journey through the swamps and courtrooms of central Florida in a search for truth and justice in the wrongful conviction of Leo Schofield. It launches next week.
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Sisters of the Underground launched yesterday from iHeartMedia’s My Cultura Network, Eva Longoria and Dania Ramirez. The show tells the true story of the Mirabal sisters, whose lifelong activism in the Dominican Republic and state-orchestrated assassination led to the downfall of one of the most brutal and enduring dictators of the 20th Century, Rafael Trujillo (aka El Jefe).
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StraightioLab, hosted by George Civeris and Sam Taggart, has joined iHeartMedia and Will Ferrell's Big Money Players Network. The first official episode of season three launches today and features comedians and hosts of the podcast “Las Culturistas” Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang.
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Inside Radio has published its annual list of the "most powerful people in podcasting". The publication, which is owned by a subsidiary of iHeartMedia, has side-stepped criticism after consistently placing iHeart's Conal Byrne in the #1 slot in previous years; the new list, which has grown from 10 to fifty people, is now in alphabetical order.
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iHeartMedia released its Q2/22 financial report. The company made around $86m in revenue from podcasting last quarter, up by 60% year-on-year; podcasting accounts for 9% of the company's revenue.
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Clown Parade: An Anthological Character Piece Carefully Curated by Las Culturistas is a new comedy podcast series presented by Will Ferrell and Matt Rogers & Bowen Yang of “Las Culturistas” podcast. It launches today from iHeart and the Big Money Players Network. Each month, the show will feature four episodes by a different up-and-coming comedic talent, creating a brand new podcast format hosted by an original character of their own creation, in the spirit of “The Ron Burgundy Podcast.”
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Which Formula 1 driver received death threats and hired a bodyguard at the end of last season all because he crashed into a wall? Choosing Sides: F1 unveils the excitement and thrills of Formula 1 racing in a new podcast from iHeartMedia and Sports Illustrated Studios today.
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iHeartMedia was also at Cannes, "on the iHeart Yacht". Topics covered were diversity and representation, LGBTQ+ visibility and NFTs in media, launching its first NFT-hosted show; while at a party, Sam Smith sang and Paris Hilton did an exclusive DJ set (not that exclusive, though, eh, Podcast Movement Evolutions attendees?)
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Call Your Grandmother returns for a new series, after a nomination for the Ambie Awards earlier this year: the podcast celebrates Jewish grandmothers and the irreverent qualities that make them natural comedians.
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iHeartMedia and Bloomberg Media have announced an upcoming slate of new shows. The first will be a daily podcast about crypto, Bloomberg Crypto.
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iHeartMedia isn't measured by iHeart-owned Triton Digital; but Podtrac reported iHeart has only 50% more unique listeners than NPR; allowing us to clarify that SXM Media would be #1 for podcasts if measured by Podtrac. Last week, Edison Research also reported SXM Media is #1 for podcasts.
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SXM Media is #1 for podcasts, reports Edison Podcast Metrics. The data for the top US podcast publishers places iHeartMedia at #3, after Spotify. iHeart claim they are #1, but quote Podtrac data that does not measure SXM Media.
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Media Monitors has published its podrank for Q1/22. Based on interviewing just over 1,000 people, the data says that iHeartMedia is #1 for podcasts, and the company says NPR is "conspicuously absent from the top publisher list this quarter".
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The number one media company in the Spanish-speaking world, PRISA Media has partnered with iHeartMedia to integrate PRISA Media's spoken-word content into the iHeartRadio catalogue.
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iHeartMedia's podcast business brought in $69m during the first quarter - 12% of total revenue; its radio business brought in $416m. The company posted a net loss of $48.7m, though, for the quarter. Meanwhile, competitor Cumulus Media has rejected a hostile $1.2bn bid from a consortium wanting to take it private.
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Sarah van Mosel has joined iHeartMedia as Executive Vice President of the iHeart Audience Network. She'll also assist sales operations, publisher development and podcast slate partnerships for iHeartPodcasts. She was previously at Stitcher / SXM Media.
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Launched last week from iHeartMedia, Betrayal is a true-crime podcast of the story of TV producer Jenifer Faison whose picture-perfect marriage completely shatters when Faison came home from work one afternoon to find her house searched and her husband arrested for the continued sexual assault of a student. She tries to learn more about convicted sexual predator and two-time Kell High School ‘Teacher of the Year’ Spencer Herron.
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Lyra Smith is now Executive Producer, Comedy at iHeartMedia. She'd been Story Editor at Crooked Media, working on their limited series including Webby Award winner This Land, and had also worked on S-Town and This American Life among others.
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Ghost Church by Jamie Loftus is new from iHeartMedia's Cool Zone Media today - looking at a nationwide religion across the US dedicated to communing with the dead. America Spiritualism takes place in spiritual camps full of clairvoyants across the country. Jamie Loftus, an Emmy-nominated writer, comedian, and creator of podcasts, investigates just what's going on.
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Triton Digital has released the US Podcast Report for March. SXM Media remains #1 for podcasts ahead of NPR who move up to #2. Total US downloads and users for the top five publishers dropped slightly. The ranker measures participating publishers only; iHeartMedia-owned Triton Digital doesn't measure iHeartMedia.
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iHeartMedia plans to triple the amount of branded podcasts it creates. A premium article in AdWeek also gives the rates for a branded podcast with iHeart - between $1 million and $2 million, according to chief marketing officer Gayle Troberman.
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iHeartRadio appears to be switching from Spotify's Megaphone to Omny Studio, according to our host changes page. Omny Studio is owned by Triton Digital, which in turn is owned by iHeartMedia.
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Lowell Brillante is to become Executive Producer at WebMD, building their podcast slate. He moves from iHeartMedia.
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iHeartMedia is to produce new kids-focused podcasts as part of a collaboration with, um, Collab Inc.
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What's an indie podcast? In The Ambies, Aftershock has been nominated in the Best Indie Podcast category. The show was announced in July last year as a co-production with the very un-indie iHeartMedia. Indie podcaster Maribel Quezada Smith is disappointed, saying "The intention behind creating an indie category is to amplify and celebrate the work of indie creators".
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iHeartMedia's Conal Byrne has made a number of predictions about podcasting for 2022, writing in Forbes. "The entire internet will be converted to audio and distributed on-demand", he says.
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Will Ferrell is speaking at Podcast Movement Evolutions as part of the first keynote. He'll join Conal Byrne (CEO, Digital Audio Group at iHeartMedia) to discuss his experience hosting his own The Ron Burgundy Podcast, and growth of his Big Money Players podcast network. Here's where to get tickets: we'll be there!
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iHeartMedia has signed with Veritone to use synthetic voices to translate shows into different languages. They'll start in the Spanish market - and if this sounds familiar, it's because Bryan Barletta from our adtech newsletter Sounds Profitable has been using this technology to host a podcast in Spanish, in spite of not speaking the language.
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iHeartRadio in the US has signed with Sounder to offer advertisers brand safety tools. The company is a seed investor in Sounder's latest Series A Funding round.
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iHeartRadio and Dan Patrick have announced the winner of their "The Next Great Podcast" search. Hookergate: Criminals & Libertines in the South will tell stories of a 1977 crime ring, and will debut later this summer.
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Sports Illustrated Weekly is new from iHeartRadio and Sports Illustrated. It's hosted by John Gonzalez, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, and former podcast host at The Ringer. - read more
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Echoverse, a new podcast studio, has signed Minnie Driver to star in the company's first production, a scripted audio supernatural series. Her Minnie Questions podcast from iHeartMedia is also back for a new season; her first guest is Debbie Harry.
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Hello Sunshine and iHeartMedia launch Time Out: A Fair Play Podcast today. Hosted by New York Times bestselling author of Fair Play Eve Rodsky and physician Dr. Aditi, the show invites listeners to learn how to take back their time, with science-backed solutions, humor, personal insights and practical tips. Their first guest is Matthew Fray, a relationship coach who went viral from writing a New York Times article about getting divorced over dishes.
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We all know the story about Martin Luther King - assassinated by lone gunman James Earl Ray in 1968. The MLK Tapes begs to differ: with rare recordings and never-heard-before testimonies, you might agree with the King family that it isn't quite as cut and dry. Produced by iHeartMedia and Tenderfoot TV, it launches today.
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Last month, Spreaker also prematurely closed a 10-year promotion for free hosting. It had offered that with iHeart in July 2013.
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At iHeartRadio, podcast producers, editors, researchers, writers and hosts are unionising with the Writers Guild of America, East. The iHeart Podcast Union was launched yesterday; the website contains many concerns about working conditions. Saying that they "have been encouraged to embrace the dynamism of start-up culture without any of the associated benefits", the union says "iHeartMedia's overall compensation and benefits standards are wholly insufficient when compared to the greater podcast and scripted audio market". The union has support from around 70% of employees, we're told. The union hopes that iHeart will voluntarily recognise it; it's the latest unionising activity in the podcast space after Gimlet, Parcast, The Ringer, and others.
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Imagine Entertainment, a film and TV company, is launching an audio division tied to an exclusive deal with iHeartMedia.
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iHeartMedia's Q3/21 results say that podcast revenue was $64.1m for the quarter - that almost doubled (184%) year-on-year. It accounts for 6.8% of the company's revenue.
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The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe has been signed by Audioboom. It was the #1 short-form podcast in Podtrac's revised Nov 2017 figures. It was hosting with Libsyn.
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Ozy Media has announced it is to shut down, after a number of reports about the company's business practices. There were question marks over what the company had told investors, advertisers, employees and guests; and the impact could still affect other media companies. Carlos Watson, the co-founder and CEO of Ozy Media, has resigned from the NPR Board. The company had five podcasts, including co-productions with iHeartMedia and the BBC.
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iHeartMedia has partnered with Sonoro to launch a slate of eight podcasts for their Latinx podcast network My Cultura.
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The New York Times covers a strange tale about Ozy Media, and an impersonation of a YouTube executive in a call with an investment bank. The company produces podcasts with iHeartMedia.
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31% of consumer media consumption is now audio - but only 8.8% of the average media advertising budget is allocated to audio, says new research from WARC and iHeartMedia. 25% of advertisers do not invest in audio at all, according to the data, which was presented at AudioCon; the report also suggests that ad-spend for podcasting is growing.
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iHeartMedia and the NFL have unveiled their programming slate.
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iHeartMedia has launched Cool Zone Media, a progressive podcast network from an investigative journalist, Robert Evans.
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iHeartMedia's Q2/21 financial results show the company's podcast revenue continues to increase: now $53.4m, it was up 152% year-on-year (though only accounts for 6% of the company's total revenue).
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Inside Radio has unveiled The Most Powerful People In Podcasting 2021: #1 is Conal Byrne, the CEO of iHeart's Digital Audio Group. Inside Radio is owned by iHeartMedia, a fact you won't find disclosed on either company's website.
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iHeartMedia has signed with Sports Illustrated and Sports Illustrated Studios for a multi-year audio content deal.
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iHeartRadio is #1 for podcasts, according to the Media Monitors Podcast Listener Survey for the second half of June. Joe Rogan and The Daily are #1 and #2 shows; comedy is the #1 genre. The research is based on recall; Media Monitors is owned by iHeartMedia.
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iHeartMedia has announced four new shows coming to the My Cultura podcast network, iHeart's new podcast network for Latinx voices and creators.
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Aftershock is a new original scripted podcast from iHeartMedia, starring Sarah Wayne Callies, David Harbour and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. It's a ten-part series, launching next week.
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iHeartMedia Digital Audio Group CEO Conal Byrne and actor/podcaster Kevin Pollak have been announced as the closing keynotes for the NATPE ContentCast virtual event on July 14. Podnews's Editor will also be hosting a panel. It's free to attend.
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The National Association of Television Program Executives in the US, NATPE, has revealed NATPE Virtual: ContentCast - the Business of Podcasting Content. The event in July will include executives from Audible, GroupM, iHeartMedia, RoosterTeeth, ViacomCBS, Wolf Entertainment, and Triton Digital, and the press release also tantalisingly reveals that "moderators for the sessions include top minds covering the audio industry including Nick Quah (HotPod) and James Cridland (Podnews)."
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Podcast Day 24, the 24-hour streamed podcasting conference, has announced Jonathan Wall, the Controller of BBC Sounds, joining iHeartMedia's Conal Byrne, NOVA Entertainment's Rachel Corbett and over 100 other speakers for Monday's conference. Tickets are available now; look below for a discount code.
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Catalina and iHeartMedia are to work together to see what effect podcast advertising has on product sales.
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iHeartMedia released their Q1/21 results. Podcasting revenue grew 142% year-on-year, according to the earnings call. Overall, the company's revenue fell 9.5% year-on-year.
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In the US, iHeartMedia has launched its own Private Marketplace, allowing advertisers to buy shows across the iHeartPodcast Network. Using Voxnest, it allows geo-targeting and "psychographic" targeting (only want "intrepid" listeners? Or "conquerors"?) We wonder if it can also target people who've had their first COVID-19 vaccination and are feeling a bit sleept.
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iHeartMedia has signed a partnership to distribute podcasts from MeatEater. MeatEater is a company celebrating the outdoors, with content, apparel and products.
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Podimo has launched a new partnership with Wondery to translate two of its shows into Spanish and Danish. The company has similar partnerships with iHeartMedia and Somethin'Else.
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Samsung has launched Samsung Podcasts within the Samsung Free app in the US. The service offers instant access to "thousands of podcasts" from publishers like American Public Media, CNN Audio, Conde Nast, iHeartMedia, Kast Media, Motley Fool, NPR, PodcastOne, PRX, This American Life, Vox Media Podcast Network and Barstool Sports. Both Blubrry Podcasting and Libsyn have announced a launch partnership: both require you to specifically add your podcasts to the service. Samsung has a roughly 25% market share in the US; this is available now on Galaxy S21, Galaxy S20, Galaxy Note 20, Galaxy S10, and Galaxy Note 10 devices.
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Will Packer has signed with iHeartMedia to produce podcasts for the company.
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DAX owner Global, which is the UK's largest commercial radio company and also owns an out-of-home ad company, is seeking to own 49.99% of iHeartMedia.
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iHeartMedia has announced a new business operating structure, which will split the company into two divisions.
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iHeartMedia announced a new partnership with Novel, a UK podcast producer, to co-produce a series of narrative, in-depth investigative podcasts.
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iHeartMedia is to buy Triton Digital for $230m from EW Scripps. Triton Digital owns podcast host Omny Studio, podcast metrics, analytics services, and dynamic advertising. It's one in a series of podcasting ad-tech acquisitions.
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More consolidation on the way? The owner of Global, a company that owns radio and poster sites in the UK and the DAX audio ad platform in the UK and North America, has bought 8.8% of iHeartMedia. ("The deal is not connected with Global", though).
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iHeartRadio has announced investment into binaural podcasts, or "iHeart 3D Audio", as the company brands it. "This is virtual reality for the ears," said Conal Byrne, President of the iHeartPodcast Network. The Verge also report that QCODE is recording in Dolby Atmos, a surround-sound technology (which no podcast app, yet, supports).
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Financial literacy podcast Earn Your Leisure, which we first reported in July 2019, is now part of The Black Effect Podcast Network. It's had more than five million downloads.
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First reported in Podnews in May 2019, Bill Clinton has finally launched Why Am I Telling You This? with iHeartMedia. The Hollywood Reporter says his first interview is with a jazz player.
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The Office Deepdive is a new, behind-the-scenes podcast about The Office (US), presented by Brian Baumgartner. It's new from iHeartRadio.
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Last week, speakers from Stitcher, OTHERtone Media, iHeartMedia, Wondery, Cadence13 and Macmillan took part in a session at CES/Digital Hollywood. It's free to watch, and includes discussions on talent, internationalisation, and intellectual property.
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First look: Podimo is to translate and adapt iHeartMedia podcasts for listeners globally. The first podcast for the project is Forgotten: Women of Juárez, to be translated into Spanish, German and Danish.
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Triton Digital have released their latest US Podcast Report. Combined, the Top 100 Podcasts by Downloads and Top 100 Podcasts by Users are up 3.6% from the previous reporting period. NPR is the #1 publisher, with NPR News Now the #1 podcast. An incomplete ranker, it measures participating publishers only, and doesn't measure iHeartMedia.
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Competitor iHeartMedia currently uses Megaphone for its 489 shows; but bought Voxnest at the end of last month.
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Podcasting is profitable for iHeartMedia - podcast revenue grew 74% year-on-year (downloads are up 71%), and new advertisers are also spending with the company in other places too. (Overall, the company has seen a 22% decline in revenue, and made a $32m loss). Bob Pittman, the CEO, committed that "50% of the new podcasts we launch on the iHeart Podcast Network will be from female and diverse creators".
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iHeartMedia is to acquire Voxnest. Voxnest will provide dynamic ad serving for iHeartRadio's podcasts and analytics. Voxnest also owns Spreaker, the 6th largest podcast host with 61,000 shows, and BlogTalkRadio, with a further 8,300. Terms weren't disclosed.
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iHeartMedia is into kids podcasts now, starting with The Ten News, a news podcast for kids.
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Hillary Clinton is podcasting with iHeartRadio. You And Me Both starts next week, and is "a 24-episode show".
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Stitcher have launched ‘More Sauce,’ a network dedicated to championing Black voices. The network was "created to empower Black voices to be completely authentic and unapologetic in their storytelling." Meanwhile, iHeartMedia and radio personality Charlamagne Tha God have launched The Black Effect Podcast Network, which the company says is "positioned to become the world’s largest podcast publisher dedicated to Black listeners".
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Former US President Bill Clinton is working on a new podcast for iHeartMedia, Deadline reports. Hillary Clinton is also planning a show with iHeartMedia too.
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iHeartMedia has signed an agreement with US sportscaster Dan Patrick for a slate of shows on The Dan Patrick Podcast Network.
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InsideRadio has published a list of "the top 10 most powerful people in podcasting". Conal Byrne, who runs the iHeartPodcast Network, is deservedly awarded the #1 slot by the publication's editorial board. InsideRadio is owned by a subsidiary of iHeartMedia.
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iHeartMedia, the owner of iHeartRadio, says that its podcast revenue grew 103% year-on-year in Q2 - total digital revenue was $93m. Unique podcast listeners grew by 30% year-on-year; downloads grew by 62%. Revenue for the quarter across the company, however, was down by 46.6%: we can blame the pandemic for that.
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"I could hardly believe it, when I heard the news today". iHeartMedia and Will Ferrell have "told us all about the plans they're makin'" for Big Money Players, their comedy podcast network. "From the look upon your face, I see it's true": the slate includes Michael Bolton’s Big Sexy Podcast.
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iHeartMedia and VICE News are to produce a new show. VICE News Reports, will be a new weekly investigative series covering critical news subjects from around the world. It'll launch in Q3/2020. Condé Nast has also announced a podcast network.
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iHeartMedia and WarnerMedia Entertainment have signed a deal to co-produce a slate of companion podcasts to promote HBO Max and their upcoming catalogue of original and legacy shows.
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The Podcast Academy have posted an updated Board of Governors. Rob Greenlee from Libsyn has been confirmed as the Chair; governors include Conal Byrne from iHeartMedia, Ben Cave from Apple, Anya Grundmann from NPR and Courtney Holt from Spotify. The Board also includes podcast producers, talent agents, and studios. Google is absent.
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LiveXLive has also renewed its agreement with iHeartMedia to stream its live events, including the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards - it's worked with iHeartMedia since 2019.
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iHeartMedia has furloughed all "non-essential" staff, and is reported to be chasing $250m in cost-savings.
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iHeartMedia and Aaron Mahnke have signed a multi-year agreement for content, including new podcasts.
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"Ad rates for podcasts are more like online video than radio," said iHeartRadio CEO Bob Pittman at Deutsche Bank’s 28th Annual Media, Internet & Telecom Conference. He also noted that the company promotes its podcasts through unsold ad inventory on its radio stations.
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iHeartMedia and Seneca Women have launched a new network of women-focused podcasts. It's sponsored by Procter and Gamble.
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Teach me something new is a new podcast from iHeartMedia and Brit+Co, with "some particularly interesting and successful guests" including Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis, and Instagram founder Adam Mosseri.
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iHeartMedia's podcasts are going to be on telly: a division of NBCUniversal Content Studios, UCP has signed a "first-look" deal with iHeartMedia to have first rights at adapting iHeartRadio Original podcasts for tv. Only last week, iHeartMedia announced book adaptations from its podcasts.
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The Australian Radio Network has launched the iHeartPodcast Network Australia. Like similar companies in New Zealand, Mexico and Canada, ARN has a brand agreement with the US's iHeartMedia for usage of the brand and app . The company claims 30 million "impressions" across Australia.
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Stuff You Should Know is also going to be a set of books. Stuff You Should Know: An Incomplete Compendium of Mostly Interesting Things is the first book we can expect: showing the long lead-time for publishing, it's due on shelves on Sep 29. The AP also notes "The books ... will be available in editions for young people." (iHeartMedia)
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Media Monitors has released a list of the top 25 podcasts as measured by audience recall: with, of course, Joe Rogan at #1 but other, more niche, podcast also appearing. iHeartMedia has the most podcasts in the top 100. (While the research was conducted independently, Media Monitors is owned by iHeartMedia).
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You can watch Wondery CEO Hernan Lopez's speech in full, and the Q&A afterwards with our Editor James Cridland, thanks to Podcast Movement. There is also a full transcript of Hernan's speech on that page. Conal Byrne from iHeartMedia has been invited to be on the Board of Governors, Variety reports - that's under consideration.
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Podcast Movement Evolutions has kicked off in Los Angeles CA, USA. The first of three keynotes featured (on World Radio Day) Bob Pittman, CEO of iHeartMedia, Conal Byrne, President of iHeart Media, and AdWeek's 2019 Producer of the Year, Misha Euceph. There will be a number of announcements during the show: we'll report on many of them in Monday's issue. James Cridland, our Editor, will be moderating a Q&A this morning as part of the opening keynote session; and talking at 10.30am in the Gold Room.
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iHeartMedia released its new iHeart Podcast AdSuite at Podfront. It offers a number of tools, including iHeartPodcast Boost, a service that promotes clips of podcasts across the "almost 300 million listeners" of around 900 iHeartRadio stations in the US. iHeartMedia also announced an expansion of Spanish-language content, including a multi-year development, co-production and distribution partnership with multicultural digital audio network, reVOLVER. At Podcast Movement later today, Bob Pittman, CEO of iHeartMedia and Conal Byrne, President of iHeartMedia, will both speak.
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iHeartMedia showed an interesting graph showing audio consumption by age group. The average American listens to 2.5 hours a day, with 18-34 year-olds listening to the most audio.
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iHeart Radio, which owns 850 radio stations and employs 12,500 people in the US, has announced a new organisational structure. There are layoffs, called "employee dislocations" by the company: numbers haven't been released, but are in the hundreds.
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Jake Brennan ("Disgraceland") and Brady Sadler have launched Double Elvis Productions, with four music-focused podcasts for iHeartMedia. The company has Podfund as an investor. The first podcast will be Dear Young Rocker, a podcast which will start with some remastered episodes from her initial podcast, and a further ten new episodes from the story.
Welcome to new subscribers in November from companies including Acast, Spotify, the South China Morning Post, Sony Music, Mamamia, Magellan, RedCircle, PRX, Luminary, Megaphone, ART19, Voxnest, the BBC, Entale, and iHeartMedia. If you find us useful, please tell your colleagues! (And, use your unique link at the bottom of our emails and we'll send you nice stuff.)
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The nominees for the iHeartMedia Podcast Awards 2020 are out. "In addition, the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards will present three Icon Awards to pay tribute to the creators, organizations and podcasts that have made groundbreaking contributions to podcasting’s expanding role in today’s popular culture."
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iHeartMedia's digital revenue, including podcasting, rose by 33% in Q3 2019. Broadcast revenue shrunk by 0.6%; and overall income slid by an alarming 24.6% year-on-year.
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Digital lifestyle media company Ozy Media has raised $35m, in part to fund new podcasting. Investors include iHeartMedia.
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Bob Pittman, iHeartRadio's CEO, has been interviewed on CNBC, a US business news network. In the interview, he said that podcasting is "an extension to radio", adding that the company is encouraging everyone to get into podcasting because "we're the leader, we've got the big library and the big shows".
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Will Ferrell is flush with success after the Ron Burgundy Podcast, and has launched a new comedy podcast company Big Money Players Network. The company will produce ten shows over the next two years for the iHeartPodcast Network.
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iHeartMedia are making a series of fiction podcasts with producer Blumhouse as a stepping stone for turning them into television shows and movies.
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InsideRadio reports on the positive effect that joining iHeartRadio had on Disgraceland in terms of downloads. (For noting: InsideRadio is owned by iHeartMedia).
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iHeartMedia and MSNBC have launched Modern Ruhles. The press release promises that Stephanie Ruhles will discuss topics of masculinity, #MeToo, political correctness, privilege and more.
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Similar decreases were flagged by Podtrac in May, Podbean in June 2018, Audioboom in Jan 2018, and Libsyn in Sep 2017 along with many others.
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iHeartMedia's earnings call was last week. Bob Pittman highlighted iHeartRadio's promotional power, noting that "Disgraceland went from 100,000 downloads in the last month it was published on its former platform to two million" once it had moved to iHeart.
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Group Nine Media, owner of brands including NowThis and Thrillist, have signed with iHeartMedia to bring an exclusive portfolio-wide podcast slate to the iHeartPodcast Network.
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US broadcaster iHeartRadio is to broadcast podcasts on broadcast radio every Sunday night. Sunday Night Podcasts will be produced in different versions for different radio formats. The Verge reports that over 270 of iHeart's stations are being told to broadcast the show: "it is a strong recommendation from us centrally," says Conal Byrne, president of the iHeartPodcast Network.
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Distorted, a UK audio production and syndication company, has launched a new service to get your podcast on radio stations across the world. The company already produces shows for iHeartMedia, Sirius XM, British Airways and more.
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Matty Staudt, iHeartMedia's VP of Podcast Programming, is leaving the company to become President of Jam Street Media, a new LA based podcast company focused on podcasts for brands, talent coaching, and consulting for businesses entering the podcast space. He'll be working with Jessica Navarro, who joins Jam Street Media from Mark Wahlberg’s Unrealistic Ideas. He'll continue hosting iHM's Access Podcast.
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Breaking: Nielsen has just announced the launch of the Nielsen Podcast Listener Buying Power Service, a service that provides podcasters and brands with compelling insights matching podcast listeners by genre with their buying habits. Charter clients are iHeartMedia, Cadence13, Stitcher, Westwood One and Cabana.
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Math & Magic is a podcast focusing on secrets for success, hosted by none other than iHeartMedia's CEO (and former radio DJ) Bob Pittman. (iHeartMedia)
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More radio activity - Corey Layton has been hired by ARN, an Australian radio broadcaster, as Commercial Product and Audio Partnerships Director. He joins the company from Whooshkaa, the Australian podcast host. ARN has also signed a licence extension for the iHeartRadio platform in Australia until 2036. In the US, iHeartMedia itself has completed its restructuring, and owes just US$5.75bn instead of $16.1bn.
Welcome to over 300 new subscribers over the last two weeks, including from companies like ABC Australia, Scripps, Gimlet Media, Stitcher, NPR, SRF, Buzzsprout, Acast, Turner, Megaphone, iHeartMedia, Spotify, Deezer, Westwood One, Radioplayer Germany, Entercom, ACE Radio, and the BBC.
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Podtrac have released January 2019 figures for the top 10 US podcast publishers, and top 20 US podcasts, using their service. NPR remains at #1, with a yearly increase in US unique audience from 16.3m to 17.9m. iHeartMedia has seen significant increases year-on-year, but their figures now include the StuffMedia purchases, so aren't comparable.
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iHeartRadio announced a new slate of true crime podcasts, starting with season three of Disgraceland. The full press release contains a video trailer, and a note that the season 3 premiere will be played out on iHeartMedia broadcast radio stations the day before release.
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Chris Peterson, Exec Vice President for Podcasting at iHeartMedia, is leaving the company this week. AllAccess report he's off to work with Liontree to build out KindredCast a media and technology podcast.
Welcome to the nearly 300 people who've subscribed over the past week, including folks from Acast, Bengo Media, the BBC, Edison Research, Entercom, NPR, Slate, USA Today, Condé Nast, Spotify, iHeartMedia and Himalaya. If you like Podnews, please let others know, and consider supporting us.
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iHeartMedia and Panoply's Megaphone have done a deal for distribution. After an original deal with Stuff Media, which iHeart purchased in September, Megaphone will now be used "to distribute select podcasts across its iHeartPodcast Network." iHeart has been using ART19 for many of them.
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iHeartMedia is to acquire Jelli, a programmatic ad company.
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Until this month, a disclaimer that iHeartRadio's figures "do not include shows being distributed on the iHeartRadio player on iHeart·com and affiliated sites" has been part of this release. These shows were excluded from the Podtrac listings after we reported back in January that they were being miscounted. We note that iHeartRadio's 850+ websites are still preloading their podcast audio; but our technical analysis shows that this behaviour is not being measured by Podtrac.
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RAIN thinks that Apple are considering investing in iHeartMedia.
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iHeartRadio announces the "first podcast awards", says the Hollywood Reporter. "The podcast industry is getting its own awards show," says the story, "and will be the first live awards show for podcasting where listeners will decide on the winners." Nominees have been announced on the awards website, and listeners can vote now. (Numerous podcast award ceremonies have previously been held, many with listener-voted winners).
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US radio and podcasting company iHeartMedia is to acquire HowStuffWorks, spending US$55m for the company which is behind Atlanta Monster and Stuff You Should Know. Their headquarters will remain in Atlanta.
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At the end of the IAB Podcast Upfront was a chat with Bob Pittman, CEO and Chairman of iHeartMedia, and Jarl Mohn, CEO of National Public Radio. Here it is in print form. Question from the moderator: "How do you ensure that podcasts don't cannibalize terrestrial live radio?"
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Anna Faris Is Unqualified will be turned into a long-form radio program which will air weekends across Top 40 radio stations owned by iHeartMedia, the company has announced. iHeartMedia claims it has a quarter of a billion listeners.
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US radio broadcaster iHeartMedia has a new Vice President of Podcast Programming: Matty Staudt joins from iHeart in San Francisco, where he was Digital PD and launched over 30 podcasts. He's previously worked for Stitcher.
Welcome to our new subscribers this week, including excellent new folks from Saycaster, Slate, Patreon, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, Europe 1, Westwood One, Adlarge, Audioboom, Global, the Carnegie Corp, iHeartMedia, WNYC, RadioMedia Finland, and AdResults Media.
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US broadcaster iHeartMedia is working on a scripted crime podcast called Lethal Lit. "As soon as I heard the script, it was like, 'Oh my god this is it,'" says Chris Petersen, Senior VP Podcasting. "Something the podcasting space needs help with is diverse content, especially diverse content for different groups of listeners. I don't know that there's a lot of content especially in the scripted space for the target [demo] on this podcast."
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RAIN reports Carrie Lieberman has joined iHeartMedia as VP of Podcast Revenue Strategy.
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Podtrac contacted users of its free podcast measurement service at the end of March, writing that the service's Terms of Service had been updated to specifically prohibit certain behaviours, including "pre-loading of media files in website players". Readers may remember our investigation into iHeartMedia's figures, which uncovered exactly this in January. The company also announced that SoundCloud website plays would no longer be measured.
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Variety and iHeartMedia are collaborating to make Playback, a film-focused podcast. Of note, iHeart will be making "custom vignettes that will air across its digital network and broadcast radio stations, introducing the podcast to its more than a quarter of a billion monthly listeners across the country."
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On Friday I noted the return of iHeartMedia to podtrac's charts after I discovered their stats were wrong; Podtrac tell me that they normally report the podcast list a week after the publisher list.
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Podtrac have published their podcast data for January 2018. iHeartMedia returns to the charts, after podnews uncovered that iHeartMedia's stats were incorrect and they were removed ; they're back at #6 with 38m downloads. Podtrac have not published a 'top podcasts' chart this time; we've reached out to ask why.
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The figures omit iHeartMedia, after our investigation earlier this month showed that iHeartMedia's figures appeared to be affected by a preloading audio player.
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HotPod 146 is out, and focuses on smart speakers, in-car podcasts, and in a section called What's going on with Podtrac?, covers our investigation into iHeartMedia's figures. Of Podtrac, Nick Quah writes: "the fact that Podtrac missed what could be charitably phrased as an inadvertent gaming of its system raises questions over its technical acumen, particularly given its core work of verifying downloads in the space."
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At CES, iHeartMedia announces lots of integrations for iHeartRadio - including cars, Facebook Messenger, TV sticks and robots. iHeartRadio is a music, live radio and podcasting service, and carries third-party podcasts; many podcast hosts have direct integration to get yours listed.
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On Tuesday we reported on highly inflated figures from iHeartMedia on Podtrac's charts. Yesterday, Podtrac removed iHeartMedia from all of their ratings charts. Today, iHeartMedia have made a statement to InsideRadio, saying in part: "We are working through with Podtrac what constitutes listening."
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Yesterday, we reported on highly inflated figures from iHeartMedia on Podtrac's charts. Nine hours later, Podtrac silently removed iHeartMedia from all of their ratings charts. The company notes on their revised release: "Preloading podcast content is prohibited under IAB podcast measurement guidelines." The new data and statement was not sent to their report mailing list.
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EXCLUSIVE: Are iHeartMedia really the number one short-form podcaster, as we reported on Dec 26? No, it would appear that they probably aren't. After a lengthy investigation, we can reveal that the Podtrac figures are wrong - possibly thousands of times too large. Read our full investigation to discover what's happening and how you can check your own podcast for the same error.
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Chris Peterson, VP of Podcasting at iHeartMedia is quoted in a re-printed interview in Jacobs Media: "We need to continue to push for even more data and an industrywide standard for podcast listening analytics," he says. Tomorrow, in an explosive article, podnews.net will publish the results of an investigation into one publisher's analytics that shows significant over-reporting.
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The new top 15 "snackable" podcasts list has lots of content from iHeartMedia as well as short newscasts from NPR, Fox News and APM.
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Data from iHeart, the US radio company. They claim 100m registered US users to their app, and "10,000 shows, 525 of which are made in-house". Podcasting has grown 60% since January. "We’re able to sell specific [sponsorships for] bigger shows, because that creates a better revenue opportunity. Local stations monetize [smaller shows with] the people already buying their station and morning show."
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iHeartMedia launches an app on Comcast cable set-top boxes. Content includes live streaming radio stations, music channels, and podcasts. (Listening to audio on the TV accounts for 5% of all radio listening in the UK, so it's an interesting market. In other news, the iOS app has been updated to give access to podcasts while using Apple CarPlay.
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iHeartMedia debuted as #2 in October's podtrac numbers (as we reported on Nov 13). Mike Agovino, formerly of Triton Digital, did some investigation - and he isn't happy about what he's found. "I'm sorry but Podtrac, you have a responsibility to provide accurate and impartial data to the marketplace".
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Podtrac release the top 20 US podcasts for October 2017. The Daily is now at #2. iHeartMedia has a new entry at #9.