Pineapple Street Media

Pineapple Street Union Responds To Layoffs

~ jen

The following is a statement from Writer’s Guild of America East members at Pineapple Street Studios, the podcast production company owned by Audacy:

The Pineapple Street Union is devastated by yesterday’s layoffs (February 1, 2014), which impacted 12 talented colleagues — 11 of them within our union. This comes just six months after the company laid off three other members of our unit.

First and foremost, we denounce layoffs in their entirety; we believe this form of “cost cutting’ is fundamentally avoidable, and we don’t think innocent, hardworking staff should ever lose their livelihoods over mismanagement at the highest levels of a company.

As previously reported, our parent company, Audacy, filed for bankruptcy at the beginning of this year after racking up $1.9 billion in debt. This same company also gave out at least $3.2 million in executive bonuses just months prior.

This week, Audacy and Pineapple management chose to lay off mostly junior-level staff, who make some of the lowest salaries at Pineapple. Some of the people management chose to lay off have worked at the company for years, since before it was acquired by Audacy.

Our company also publicly stated that laying off over 25% of the Pineapple staff is part of “continuing to optimize our structure.” This characterization is dehumanizing, cruel, and wrong: individual producers, engineers, and staff have always been what makes Pineapple, and the shows it creates, special.

Today, (February 1, 2024) our union began the bargaining process where we will be fighting for the severance that our colleagues deserve — compensation that honors the immense time, skill, and creativity that each of them dedicated the company over the years.

We are heartbroken for the incredible colleagues our workplace has lost, and for those of us who will continue to work in a gutted Pineapple. We take comfort in feeling solidarity from our fellow media workers, many of whom have experienced layoffs themselves, and in our own resolve to carry on the fight for a just workplace for all.

About the Writers Guild of America East

The Writers Guild of America East, AFL-CIO (WGAE) is a labor union representing writers in film, television, broadcast and streaming news, podcasts, and online media. The Guild negotiates and administers contracts that protect the creative and economic rights of its members; conducts programs, seminars and events on issues of interest to writers; and presents writers’ views to various bodies of government. For more information on the Writers Guild of America, East, visit the website.

Entercom Acquired Pineapple Street Media and Cadence13

~ jen

Entercom announced that it has acquired Pineapple Street Media, an award-winning, renowned independent producer of top-rated podcast content, and reached an agreement in principle to acquire Cadence13, an industry leader in podcast creation and distribution, to create a powerhouse division under RADIO.COM.

Through the strategic acquisitions of Cadence13 and Pineapple Street Media, Entercom will become one of the country’s top three podcasters and a leading creator, distributor and seller of top-rated podcast content.

The deal will bring together a combination of strengths to create a unique leadership position that leverages Entercom’s scale across the top 50 U.S. markets, reach of 170 million listeners per month, enhanced targeted data capabilities, and top-rated portfolio of spoken word brands, and both Cadence13 and Pineapple Street Media’s capabilities as two of the industry’s leading developers and sellers of original podcast content.

Podcast episodes published or distributed by Entercom, Cadence13 and Pineapple Street Media were downloaded more than 150 million times per month in the second quarter of 2019.

As part of the acquisitions, Pineapple Street Media will become Pineapple Street Studios, a division of RADIO.COM, focused on high-quality content creation and production of unique, market-leading original podcast content for both RADIO.COM as well as the the broader podcast ecosystem.

The new Pineapple Street Studios will continue to produce hit shows and build on its position at the forefront of partnership podcasts with brands including Disney, HBO, Netflix, Nike and more. Pineapple Street co-founders, Jenna Weiss-Berman and Max Linksy, will join the new organization as co-heads of this division, reporting into J.D. Crowley, Chief Digital Officer, Entercom.

Additionally, Cadence13 will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Entercom, named Cadence13, a division of RADIO.COM, and will continue to operate as a leader in the podcast space, with a full slate of unique services for top creators including audience development, production, and monetization.

Spencer Brown, Chief Executive Officer, Cadence13, will join the new organization as head of the division, reporting into J.D. Crowley, Chief Digital Officer, Entercom. Chris Corcoran, Chief Content Officer, Cadence13, will continue to lead content for the division, and John Murphy, President Cadence13, will also be part of the leadership team.

Cadence13 will continue to partner with top podcasters such as Crooked Media and Pushkin Industries while also expanding its client roster, leveraging Entercom’s broadcast reach and RADIO.COM’s digital platform.

Underdog is a Podcast About the 2018 Texas Midterms

~ jen

Underdog is a podcast about the most-talked about political race of 2018: the Senate contest between Congressman Beto O’Rourke and Senator Ted Cruz. Underdog is by Texas Monthly and Pineapple Street Media. The focus of the podcast is Beto O’Rourke’s campaign.

Underdog was launched on October 12, 2018. Here is how Texas Monthly describes it:

In Underdog, a podcast produced in partnership with Pineapple Street Media, senior editor Eric Benson (who profiled O’Rourke for the magazine’s cover in January) will interview experts and volunteers, enthusiasts and skeptics as the congressman makes his way across the state.

The first episode is titled: “On the Road Again”. The main topic is: Can Beto change the future of Texas politics, or will Beto-mania turn out to be just another liberal fantasy?

The second episode was released on October 19, 2018. It is titled “Red State”. In this episode, Texas Monthly provides a political history of Texas. This is noteworthy because if Beto O’Rourke wins the Texas Senate race in November, he will be the first Democrat elected statewide in 24 years.

Pineapple Street Media is Offering a Pineapple Fellowship

~ jen

Pineapple Street Media is a podcast production company based in Brooklyn. Some of their shows include: Missing Richard Simmons, Heaven’s Gate, Stay Tuned with Preet Bharara, Never Before with Janet Mock, and more. Pineapple Street Media is offering a Fellowship for Under-Represented Voices in Podcasting. They call it the Pineapple Fellowship.

Because the podcasting industry too often creates barriers to aspiring producers of color and non-binary people, Pineapple Street Media is offering our first-ever Pineapple Fellowship. The fellowship is open to all who identify as part of an under-represented group in podcasting. Areas of under-representation may include – but are not limited to – race, ethnicity, economic background, sexual orientation, and disability.

The Pineapple Fellowship is a full-time, project-based, producer-in-residence position that is open to those looking to transition into an audio production career. You will work on a deeply produced and reported documentary series. Pineapple Street Media will consider any level of experience, but prefer to work with someone with some sort of audio editing background.

Things to know:

  • The Pineapple Fellowship begins in the summer of 2018.
  • Fellows receive a stipend of $3,000 per month. In addition to production experience, fellows have weekly mentorship meetings with Pineapple staff producers and editors. They will also help connect you with people in the industry.
  • The application deadline is April 15, 2018.

For more details, you should visit the Pineapple Street Media website and read the page that is specifically about the Pineapple Fellowship.