Author: Jen Thorpe

Rumble Acquires Podcasting And Live Streaming Platform Callin

~ Jen Thorpe ~ Leave a comment

Rumble, the popular video-sharing platform, announced that it has acquired Callin, the San Francisco-based podcasting and live streaming platform founded by technology entrepreneur and investor David Sacks and Axel Ericsson. Pursuant to the terms of the definitive acquisition agreement, Sacks is slated to join Rumble’s board of directors in the second half of June 2023. Ericsson and the Callin team will continue to develop live streaming capabilities as a part of Rumble.

Callin creates as seamless experience for its users to create, discover, and consume live and recorded content. The Callin app was built to blend the best aspects of social audio and video with the most attractive features of podcasting. We believe the addition of Callin’s user-friendly app and post-production tools coupled with Rumble’s substantial creator and user communities will create beneficial synergies, improving the experience of Rumble’s creators and their fans.

“It was my own experience with the All-in Podcast that gave me the idea for Callin: I discovered how much work goes into producing a show and wanted to radically simplify the experience. I teamed up with Axel to launch the first ‘social podcasting’ platform, where users can easily stream, take questions, record, edit, publish, and share content with their audience,” said David Sacks, co-founder of Callin and co-founder/partner at Craft Ventures. “I am excited to expand Callin’s capabilities by joining forces with Rumble, a platform with significant size, influence, and reach. As an avid proponent of the creator economy and the free flow of ideas, I strongly support Rumble’s unwavering commitment to free speech.”

Chris Pavlovski, Rumble Chairman and CEO, added “We are beyond excited to have David, Axel, and the Callin team to become a part of Rumble. The addition of Callin’s talented team and the capabilities of its product signifies a major step in our journey to deliver greater value and tools to our creators, which will further enhance our user engagement.”

2022 Podcasting Ad Revenue Up 26% YoY According to IAB’s US Podcast Advertising Report.

~ Jen Thorpe ~ Leave a comment

Podcasting continues to be one of the fastest growing digital channels, growing two times faster than digital advertising overall, according to IAB’s “U.S. Podcast Advertising 2022 Revenue & 2023-2025 Growth Projections” study, released on May 11 during IAB’s Podcast Upfront.

The seventh annual IAB U.S. Podcast Advertising Revenue study, prepared for IAB by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (“PWC”), quantifies annual podcast advertising revenues generated over the past year, analyzes revenue share by ad category and content genre, and forecasts future revenues through 2025.

Sports, Society & Culture, and Comedy are Now the Top Revenue-Generating Content Genres

Sports (15%), Society & Culture (14%), and Comedy (14%) are now the top revenue-generating content genres, taking the lead from News and Political Opinion content (down from 19% to 12%).

“In-person sports, lifestyle events, and in-store shopping have come back in a big way, taking the lead news which held the top revenue genre spot since 2018,” said Eric John, Vice President, Media Center, IAB. “Podcasting revenue naturally reflects that shift in consumer behavior and it will be interesting to watch how the balance changes going forward.”

Category Diversification and the Democratization of Podcast Advertising

Podcasting continues to evolve as an ideal medium for niche audiences, attracting advertisers in a wide range of categories including Advocacy, Education, Home Improvement, and beyond. These smaller categories, collectively, are driving 28% of all revenues.

“Both mass and niche advertisers like the audiences, targeting, and ROI along with the brand-safe and suitable environments that podcasting offers,” added John.

The low cost of podcast production has led to an ever-widening array of diverse voices providing authentic content that niche audiences crave.

“It’s clear now that the growth of podcasting was not just a temporary shift in behavior” said David Cohen, CEO, IAB. “The diversity of voices and content – often targeting underserved audiences – is driving more listenership and more time spent, and that is attracting more advertisers.”

For the full IAB “U.S. Podcast Advertising 2022 Revenue & 2023-2025 Growth Projections” report, click here.

IAB’s Podcast Report Part II to be Released Later this Year

During IAB’s Audio Leadership Gathering in the fall, IAB will release its 2023 Podcast Part II, that will examine the drivers, strategies, and tactics related to 2022 revenues as well as, for the first time ever, reveal insights from the current year’s (2023) performance.

Methodology

A quantitative, online survey was sent to leading podcast industry experts in February to understand 2022 podcast advertisers revenues, revenues by industry category and content genre, as well as forecast revenue growth for the next three years. As in prior years, the coincided with a podcast advertising market-sizing to deliver an estimate of the market in the United States inclusive of non-survey participating companies.

About IAB

The interactive Advertising Bureau empowers the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy. Its membership comprises of more than 700 leading media companies, brands, agencies, and the technology firms responsible for selling, delivering, and optimizing digital marketing campaigns.The trade group fields critical research on interactive advertising, while also educating brands, agencies, and the wider business community on the importance of digital marketing. 

In affiliation with the IAB Tech Lab, IAB developed technical standards and solutions. IAB is committed to professional development and elevating the knowledge, skills, expertise, and diversity of the workforce across the industry. Through the work of its public policy office in Washington, D.C., the trade association advocates for its members and promotes the value of the interactive advertising industry to legislators and policymakers. Founded in 1996, IAB is headquartered in New York City.

 

Audion Launches In Italy, And Acquires Mentre

~ Jen Thorpe ~ Leave a comment

Audion, a leading European company in the digital audio market that through a proprietary technology allows advertisers to connect with their target audience, and helps publishers and content producers to monetise their premium audio content, enters the Italian market through the acquisition of Mentre, a company specialized in the conception, creation, distribution and promotion of audio content, in particular podcasts, founded by Georgia Giannattasio, Federica Deli and Michele Quaini.

Founded 2018 by Arthur Larrey and Kamel El Hadef, Audion is the first end-to-end solution in Europe that from a single platform and through cutting-edge technology allows to operate and manage the entire process of production, distribution, promotion and monetisation of audio content providing measurable performances.

A recent survey by Statista predicts that digital audio advertising expenditure in Italy with reach USD 157.70 million in 2023 and estimates an annual growth rate (CAGR 2023-2027) of 4.85%, with a turnover of around USD 190 million by 2027. This audio trend is increasing worldwide: according to eMarketer in 2022, 74% of US Internet users, i.e., 222.7 million people, listened to digital audio. The number is expected to continue to rise this year, with listeners increasing 1.4% (to 225.8 million in 2023). eMarketer also predicted that by 2026, the number of digital audio listeners will exceed 234 million, an increase of about 1% year on year.

In a clear scenario of strong growth, Audion was created with the goal of making the digital audio industry sustainable by giving publishers and premium content creators the ability to maximize the monetisation of their audio production; for brands, it offers an effective opportunity to connect with their audience while enabling consumers to enjoy a variety of quality content for free.

Thanks to Audion’s proprietary solution, publishers, i.e., radio and media groups, can monetise with a single click the audience of all audio content produced in a customized and targeted way, regardless of the platform, either automatically through advertising or by subscription.

In addition, they can host and distribute their audio content on all platforms (Spotify, Apple, Deezer, etc.), guarantee the fruition of podcasts produced (original, branded, and even catch-up radio) thanks to a proprietary player, create new content thanks to PrintAudio, Audion’s innovative AI-based (text-to-speech) proprietary technology solution, and monitor the listening consumption through precise KPIs.

The expansion in Italy follows the financing round, completed at the end of 2022 amounting to €6 million, aimed at expanding the markets in which the French ad-tech operates as well as the technological development, the core center of the company along with its deep expertise in the sector of audio. The deal was led by Founders Future – which had already participated in the start up’s first round of €1.1m in 2019 along with Kima Ventures, Elevation Capital Partners, Financière Arbevel, and a number of business angels.

The expansion in Italy follows the financing round, completed at the end of 2022 amounting to €6 million, aimed at expanding the markets in which the French ad-tech operates as well as the technological development, the core center of the company along with its deep expertise in the sector of audio. The deal was led by Founders Future – which had already participated in the start up’s first round of €1.1m in 2019 along with Kima Ventures, Elevation Capital Partners, Financière Arbevel, and a number of business angels.

Through the acquisition of Mentre, a production and distribution excellence reality in the podcast and audio market in general, Audion brings its service to Italy and appoints a professional manager with several years of experience in various start-up ad-tech companies, digital monetisation and content production, Georgia Giannattasio, as Country Manager with the objective of developing the company in the Italian market.

“In Italy, the digital audio advertising market has recorded two years of double-digit growth and the outlook continues to be positive. https://iab.it/iab-italia-pubblica-il-white-paper-digital-audio/ With Audion, we have developed the first end-to-end monetization model dedicated to digital audio with the aim of enhancing the content created by publishers on all digital audio platforms,” say Arthur Larrey and Kamel El Hadef, founders of Audion. “After France and Great Britain, we are happy to bring Audion to Italy, a market with a great potential, and to count on an expert in the market such as Georgia Giannattasio, Country Manager of Audion Italia.”

UCL Offers Students Chance To Take Its New Degree In Audio Storytelling For Free

~ Jen Thorpe ~ Leave a comment

One of the UK’s top universities is offering free tuition fees with a £15,000 living allowance for those with links to East London to help advance their career within the media.

UCL’s East London Scholarship Scheme is open to students qualifying for home fees, who are interested in studying full or part-time taught Master’s degree programmes but are finding finance a barrier.

There are 10 scholarships available, with two awards ring-fenced for eligible final year UCL undergraduates.

Journalist and documentary maker Athar Ahmad, who is leading the new MA in Audio Storytelling for Radio and Podcast, one of the eligible Master’s programmes, believes the scholarships will help strengthen the broader media landscape.

“This is a hugely exciting time to be part of the radio and podcast space and UCL wants to help shape its future. Individuals who might not otherwise have thought about a career within audio will have the opportunity to really get to grips with the art of storytelling, learning from leading factual storytellers while bringing their own experiences and distinct perspectives to the industry.”

The scholarship coincide with the launch of UCL’s new campus in Stratford which has been designed to bring together diverse disciplines to collaborate, ensuring UCL’s research and teaching is embedded in and relevant to local communities.

UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world.

The deadline for applications is 5pm BST on Thursday 28 June.

More details about the new MA in Audio Storytelling for Radio and Podcast can be found on the website.

 

iHeartMedia Expands Branded Podcast Studio As Demand Grows For Bespoke Podcast Platforms

~ Jen Thorpe ~ Leave a comment

iHeartMedia, the No.1 podcast publisher globally with more downloads than the next to podcast publishers combined according to Podtrac, announced the launch of Ruby, the first dedicated team of its kind from a major company committed to the production, sales and marketing of branded podcasts.

iHeartMedia has built one of the fastest-growing slate of branded podcasts globally with 30 original series from major brands such as T-Mobile, IBM, Intuit Quickbooks and Mattress Firm. The launch of Ruby represents an expanded commitment to one of iHeartMedia’s most premium products allowing advertisers to engage audiences with creative, long-form native content.

Ruby creates holistic podcast concepts that resonate with targeted audiences. The audio studio has partnered with a distinguished catalog of host talent – both big and small across all industries including “Saturday Night Live” cast member and co-host of the hit Las Culturistas Bowen Yang, Good Morning America co-host Robin Robbins, Malcom Gladwell, Betty Who and Adam Devine of Pitch Perfect, and Workaholics fame.

Ruby’s branded podcasts allow advertisers and their brand partners to spend upwards of 30-45 minutes with their target audience in an unique environment, with opportunities for storytelling that are not possible anywhere else in their media mix including social video. With distribution across the iHeartRadio app and all other major platforms, native podcasts from Ruby connect brands to audiences by translating brand messages, products and services into original and engaging stories that audiences love.

“Audio creates a relationship with consumers that no other marketing medium can compete with. When speaking directly to listeners, brands command a level of intimacy and authenticity that shifts perceptions and changes what’s possible,” said Gayle Troberman, CMO of iHeartMedia. 

“According to Magna podcasting ad spending is on track to grow 16 percent this year, 4x the overall market. And with over 80 percent of our branded podcast clients renewing for multiple seasons, it’s evident the advertisers and audience’s appetite continues to grow. Ruby will ensure that current and future clients will be able to harness iHeartMedia’s powerful platform, scale, and proven expertise to tell meaningful stories.

iHeartMedia’s Ruby studio kicked off this year by collaborating with Intuit Quickbooks on Mind The Business: Small Business Success Stories. Hosted by Jannese Torres (Yo Quire Dinero) and Austin Hankwitz (Rate of Return), the podcast reveals the stories of small business owners managing the ups and downs of starting and growing their businesses. Already charting in multiple categories, the podcast debuts alongside renewed seasons of popular podcasts from T-Mobile, Salesforce, IBM, and Mattress Firm.

“iHeartMedia’s Ruby team is creative, collaborative, and delivers a turnkey audio product that enables new avenues for us to connect consumers with our brand,” said Mickey Mericle, Mattress Firm’s Chief Marketing and Expertise Officer.

iHeartMedia has developed, produced, and distributed 30 podcasts including the award-winning IBM podcast Smart Talks with IBM hosted by Malcolm Gladwell, and The Official Game of Thrones Podcast: House of the Dragon, an original podcast that reached No. 1 on the Apple podcast charts in 2022.

Podcasts have become one of the fastest-growing mediums, reaching almost half of the US population every month. iHeartMedia produces more than 750 iHeartPodcasts which span every category from business, sports, spirituality, and technology to entertainment, family, comedy, and true crime, with more top ten shows on Podtrac than the next three podcast networks combined and twice as many podcasts with one million monthly downloads than the next largest podcast publisher. iHeartMedia is also the only podcast publisher with shows in all content categories ranking in Podtrac.

Ruby podcasts have landed the number one spots on the Apple and iHeartRadio podcasts charts with publications such as Vanity Fair describing the podcast Humans Growing Stuff – an ode to the new, modern gardener – as an “essential” listen. For more information on Ruby, please visit www.ruby.iheart.com.

Paradiso Media Acquires Binge Audio

~ Jen Thorpe ~ Leave a comment

As the podcast market continues to grow (podcasts currently attract approximately 424.2 million active monthly listeners worldwide, with over 170 million in the United States and nearly 18 million in France), Paradiso Media is proud to announce its acquisition of a majority stake in Binge Audio, one of France’s leading podcast production company/networks.

Together, these two industry pioneers are poised to become a top player in the European podcast arena, offering listeners a diverse range of rich, compelling content. The combined entity forms the largest independent studio in France and is among the top 5 in Europe in audience and revenue, with more than 50 full-time employees based in Paris, Los Angeles, and New York, 170+ shows including 15 owned and operated umbrella feeds and nearly 40 million downloads per year.

Founded in 2015, Binge Audio became known for its always-on documentary podcasts, with provocative audience favorites, such as Les Couilles sur la table (Balls on the Table), Le Cœur sur la table (Heart on the Table), À bientôt de te revoir (See You Soon), and Programme B. 

LVMH media subsidiary Groupe Les Échos, a Binge Audio minority stakeholder since 2018, collaborated closely with Binge on the production and distribution of audio content across the group’s brands, helping Binge Grow into a major player in the French podcasting industry with two million monthly downloads. By joining Paradiso Media, a company at the forefront of original podcast production and marketing, Binge Audio is seizing an opportunity to expand the podcast ecosystem in France and Europe.

Lorenzo Benedetti, CEO of Paradiso Media: “Through the acquisition of Binge audio, Paradiso Media is committed to consolidating independent podcast production in France. The union of our teams, as two major players with complementary editorial strategies, will allow listeners to access an even richer and more diversified offering. We are excited to work with Binge teams, whose work we admire and accomplishments we salute.”

Pierre Louette, Chairman and CEO of Les Echos – Le Parisian Group: “A heartfelt thank you to the Binge Audio team whose work was instrumental in establishing our company in the field of podcasting. We are also proud to have played a role, for five years, in the growth of Binge Audio. Its alliance with Paradiso Media bodes well fro the future, not only for this new union, but more broadly for French podcast production.”

Joël Ronez, President and Co-Founder of Binge Audio: “A new era is dawning for Binge Audio, which has the opportunity to join a group that will evolve at the forefront of European podcasts. We look forward to brining our expertise to bear in furthering the ambitions of Paradiso.”

Boomcaster Launches Version 2 Of Its Podcasting Platform

~ Jen Thorpe ~ Leave a comment

Boomcaster,  a podcasting, vodcasting, and live-streaming platform built for independent creators, announced the launch of version two of their cloud-based recording platform. Founded in 2020, the new feature release marks an important milestone for the company and offers users a more powerful way to create their audio and video content.

With Boomcaster’s v2 release, Founder and CEO Hari Gopalakrishna hopes “creator have the tools they need to bring their work to life…we’ve been hard at work on this update since we launched Boomcaster last year” This new version of the platform provides creators with features like:

Realtime Closed Captions: Make your recording session inclusive and accessible to all participants through closed captions in 30+ languages.

Transcripts and Subtitles: Listeners can now easily edit transcripts inside of Boomcaster and export in various formats for publishing.

Screen Share: The improved screen share feature makes it easier than ever to collaborate with guests during recording sessions.

Studio: Creators can now create multiple podcasts and associated branding, making it easier to manage multiple shows.

Multistream Podcast Interviews: Reach more listeners by streaming simultaneously to several destinations.

Studio Composed Recordings: Boomcaster now automatically generates mixed audio and video files with all the customizations from the studio.

With its existing features and new update, Bookcaster focuses on creating the most reliable and user-friendly podcast recording solution, with a priority to ensure users never lose a recording and that your podcast interviews are of the highest quality.

Danny Brown, 10+ year podcast veteran and host and creator of several podcasts, including One Minute Podcast Tips, Pod Chat, and The Little Pod of Inspiration, says, “I am a huge fan of Boomcaster. Used pretty much all remote options, and Boomcaster ticks all the boxes. Excellent features, separate wav and video (up to 4K), branded green room, built for indie podcasters/creators. Loving the new features in v2 – more quality control for the podcast and some very cool options for creators with multiple shows.”

The Boomcaster team sourced ideas from its community to build the new version and is committed to listening to creators and making improvements where needed. Marcus DePaula, professional audio & video engineer, podcast consultant, and founder of Me Only Louder (meonlylouder.com) states, “Boomcaster is what I use for myself and what I recommend to my clients. Hari and team works hard to keep the platform highly reliable and easy to use. I love the new features in V2 like the studios, which I will be using for each of my client shows.”

The newest version of the indie podcasting platform is live and ready to try with a free trial for new users.

 

Podbean Achieves SOC 2 Type II Certification

~ Jen Thorpe ~ Leave a comment

Podbean, a leading enterprise podcast hosting solution provider, announced that it has successfully achieved SOC 2 Type II compliance in accordance with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) standards for SOC for Service Organizations, also known as SSAE 18,

This certification demonstrates Podbean’s commitment to providing enterprise-level security for current and future customer data stores within the Podbean System. 

The SOC 2 Type II adult was conducted by Prescient Assurance, a leader in security and compliance attestation for B2B and SaaS companies worldwide. As a registered public accounting firm in the United States and Canada, Prescient Assurance offers a wide range of risk management and assurance services, including but not limited to SOC 2, PCI, ISO, NIST, GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, and CSA STAR.

“We recognized a need with our customers in the market,” commented David Xu, Podbean CEO. “Utilizing a podcast hosting platform with SOC2 Type II certification for your enterprise podcasts offers numerous benefits. This certification ensures that the platform adheres to strict security and privacy safeguards, safeguarding your valuable content and data.” 

“By hosting your podcasts on such a platform, you demonstrate your commitment to maintaining the highest level of trust and confidence in your enterprise’s data management practices. Additionally, a SOC2 Type II certified platform has undergone rigorous third-party audits, verifying that its internal controls and processes are effective in managing risk and protecting client data. Ultimately, this level of assurance allows you to focus on creating and distributing exceptional podcast content while enjoying peace of mind knowing that your enterprise’s digital assets are secure and compliant.”

Podbean’s flagship offering, Podbean Pro, caters to enterprise corporate customers worldwide, providing a secure and reliable platform for hosting private podcasts. The user-friendly solution is designed to meet the needs of businesses seeking a robust and secure podcast hosting service for their communications and training initiatives.

For more information on Podbean and its enterprise podcast hosting solutions, visit www.podbean.com

DISQO CX Insights – Daily Podcast Listeners Pay More Attention to Podcast Ads

~ Jen Thorpe ~ Leave a comment

Customer experience (CX) platform DISQO released new insights about podcast advertising in its report, Proving the Power of Podcast Ads. DISQO found that forty-five (45%) of daily podcast listeners pay more attention to podcast ads as compared to other mediums.

The new report offers timely insights for brands seeking to understand customer experience with sponsorships and other commercial messages in podcasts – actionable knowledge they can use to propel brand and outcomes lift from their podcast ad investments. DISQO found that podcast ads are a unique opportunity to engage highly sought-after consumer audiences with loyalty-driving brand messages. 

Key CX findings:

  • Podcasts are an engaging platform for brand marketing with 45% of daily listeners saying they pay more attention to podcast ads as compared to other mediums.
  • Podcasts drive brand loyalty with about 33% of listeners saying they like a brand more when it’s advertised within a podcast they like (or by a host they like). This number rises to approximately 45% among daily podcast listeners.
  • Ad enjoyment is highly correlated with age. More young adults (18-44) said they liked podcasts ads than those over age 44, by 10 points.
  • Podcast listeners are more likely to be younger, male, highly educated, and have a higher income. Among these groups, 35-45% of consumers are listening to podcast weekly or more often, compared only to 24-35% of their counterparts.
  • Podcast discovery: content holds more weight than star power. About two-thirds state that their search behavior for podcasts is driven primarily by topic, and the remaining one-third said they looked for content by host and topics.
  • Recommendations: listeners trust their friends and family (52%) and social media (47%) the most to recommend new podcast content, but also get recommendations from the streaming platforms themselves (30%).
  • Online behavior shows that higher income and older adults are driving podcast growth.

Age: Consumers aged 55-64 saw a 10-point increase in platform visitation in the past year, but consumers aged 25-54 are still 16 points higher on platform engagement overall.

Income: Platform visitation grew most strongly at the highest levels of income ($125k or more; +6 pts), reinforcing existing biases in podcast engagement, in which high-income adults are 8 points higher on platform engagement overall.

“Podcasts continue to show strong popularity across a wide range of consumer segments, and can be uniquely engaging from an advertising perspective. In fact, about two-thirds of consumers say that they either don’t mind, or actually enjoy podcast ads,” said Patrick Egan, Director of Research and Insights, DISQO. “The intimate nature of podcasting offers marketers a unique avenue to drive attitudinal and behavioral lift for their brands.”

DISQO surveyed 34,841 nationally represented consumers from its proprietary audience. DISQO also metered and analyzed opted-in audience members’ online behaviors to see which podcast websites and apps consumers visited. Visitation to Spotify and Audible sites and apps, along with visitation to podcasts.apple.com and podcasts.google.com were compared between February 2022 and February 2023.