Neon Hum

Sony Music’s Global Podcast Division Acquires Neon Hum

~ jen

Sony Music’s Global Podcast Division announced the acquisition of podcast production company Neon Hum, streamlining the company’s U.S. creative division and broadening its work for hire services under Neon Hum Founder/CEO Jonathan Hirsch.

In his new role as Vice President, Global Podcasts and Head of U.S. Creative, Hirsch will spearhead the U.S. creative business and report directly to Steve Ackerman, Executive Vice President and Head of Global Podcasts at Sony Music.

With the acquisition, Sony Music will leverage Neon Hum’s production expertise to continue to develop award-winning premium podcasts for its subscription channel The Binge and across its always-on entertainment slate. In addition, Sony Music will further expand its work-for-hire business to provide more service beyond audio production for its client and branded podcasts.

“We have worked closely with Jonathan and the team at Neon Hum for several years now and value his creative and strategic vision to produce premium shows across our successful true crime and always on slates,” said Ackerman. “This move allows us to maximize Neon Hum’s creative and production input as we further grow our roster of original and client shows.”

“Neon Hum and Sony Music have always been aligned in our audio-first mentality and approach,” said Hirsch. “I’m excited for the next steps as the Neon Hum team becomes a full part of Sony Music Podcasts and we continue to produce premium audio content.”

In 2019, Sony Music announced a strategic investment in Neon Hum. Together the two companies have launched a range of acclaimed shows including Dinners on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson and multiple seasons of its true-crime franchise Smoke Screen including current hit My Fugitive Dad. Neon Hum has also produced hit podcasts for top tier clients, including Crunchyroll, Discovery, HBO Max, NBC News, The Wall Street Journal, and more.

About Sony Music Global Podcasts

We are Sonly Music Entertainment’s Global Podcast Division — where podcasters are artists. We put creators first and develop premium shows that loyal audiences keep coming back to. Based in New York, Los Angeles, and London, we are a team of podcast obsessives covering creative, sales, marketing and business development teams focused on one thing — our listeners and the shows we make for them.

Neon Hum Goes Behind the Scenes of Reality TV with Spectacle

~ jen

Acclaimed podcast production house Neon Hum, in partnership with Sony Music Entertainment, today announced the debut of Spectacle, a new podcast tracing reality television back to its inception. The 10-episode series is hosted by writer and comedian Mariah Smith and the first three episodes are available now.

The show kicks off with a deep dive into the 1970’s series “An American Family” and continues on in episode two to tackle the complexities and lasting impact of “The Real World.” In each episode, Smith takes fans on a journey to relive the scenes that stuck with audiences, while talking to the people who were in the rooms where it happened, from “The Real World” season one cast member Norman Korpi to “Queer Eye” star Bobby Burke.

Spectacle will follow the evolution of reality TV in chronological order, as Smith explores the various ways in which reality programming has changed pop culture over the last 30 years. Upcoming episodes feature conversations around some of the biggest reality programs, including “Survivor,” “The Bachelor,” “Real Housewives,” “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” “90 Day Fiance,” “Queer Eye,” “The Circle,” and “The Great British Baking Show.”

“I’m so excited for listeners to dive into the world of reality with me, because these shows are so much more than just a guilty pleasure,” said Mariah Smith. “We’ll cover everything from dating shows to baking competitions and analyze how and why ‘Housewives’ and the ‘Fab 5’ have become so central to shaping our culture.”
The series is produced by Mariah Smith and Joanna Clay at Neon Hum. Jonathan Hirsch and Shara Morris are executive producers and Catherine Saint Louis is the editor.

Listeners can subscribe to Spectacle on all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Stitcher. For more information on Spectacle and all other Sony Podcast shows, follow @SonyPodcasts on Twitter and Instagram.