Cast Party Brings Podcasts to Cinemas

July 25, 2015 ~ Jen Thorpe

Cast Party is about to do something that’s never been done before. It is going to bring podcasting to the cinema. Not just one cinema, either. This podcasting event will be simulcast to hundreds of movie theaters across the United States. It will also be in cinemas in Canada and Australia.

Here’s how this unique event will work. Cast Party is going to happen, live, on Tuesday, July 28, 2015. It will happen on stage in New York City at NYU’s Skirball Center. The event will be sent live via satellite to hundreds of cinemas that are located in the United States. (8PM Eastern/7PM Central/ Tape delayed to 8PM Pacific). On July 30, it will screen in Canada. Cast Party will screen in Australia on August 22.

The event will feature five different podcasts, who will be doing their shows live, on stage, that night. The group is described as “some of the most innovative producers of audio storytelling”.

Radiolab is a show about curiosity. It is heard around the country on more than 450 NPR member stations. Radiolab is hosted by Jad Abrmrad and Robert Krulwich, and produced by WNYC. This podcast has won Peabody Awards in 2011 and in 2015.

Invisibilia gets its name from a Latin word for “all the invisible things”. It is a new NPR series about the invisible forces that control human behavior – ideas, beliefs, assumptions, and emotions. The podcast is co-hosted by Lulu Miller and Alix Spiegel. Lulu Miller will preform a brand new short documentary in Cast Party.

Reply All is a podcast that is about the internet. It is hosted by PJ Vogt and Alex Goldman. Reply All is produced by Gimlet Media, which was founded by former This American Life producer and Planet Money Co-Creator Alex Blumberg.

With Special Guest Lauren Lapkus is a podcast where the guest is the host. She passes off her hosting duties to a new funny friend each episode. The show is from the Earwolf podcast network. Laruren is known for playing Susan Fischer on Orange Is the New Black.

The Truth is a podcast that is described as one that “makes movies for your ears”. It has short stories that might be dark, or funny, but always intriguing. The Truth is directed, mixed, and sound designed by Jonathan Mitchell, who has been making radio for nearly 20 years. This show is a member of PRX’s Radiotopia podcast collective. The Truth will preform an original scripted dramedy as part of Cast Party.

Visit the Cast Party website to find out if the event will be simulcast to a cinema near you.

Norm Pattiz of PodcastOne: “We were looking at acquiring Stitcher.” – PCN Show 008

November 27, 2014 ~ Shawn Thorpe ~ 1 Comment

In response to the article I posted yesterday about the recent dust up between PodcastOne and Stitcher, I was contacted today by a PodcastOne rep who said that the company’s Chairman/CEO, Norm Pattiz, was willing to do an interview to try and shed some light on the situation. I’m presenting that interview today (with Norm’s permission) as my November contribution to the Podcaster News Show.

Some highlights from our discussion:

PodcastOne was, at one point, considering acquiring Stitcher.
Stitcher is still syndicating some of PodcastOne’s show, despite PodcastOne’s request that they stop.
PodcastOne hasn’t seen any significant decrease in downloads since Sitcher removed PodcastOne’s shows.
Pattiz says Sitcher doesn’t have a “robust” revenue generating system.

Hear all of this and more in the full podcast episode below.

Original image by PeteSessa from Wikimedia, used under Creative Commons license.

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PodcastOne vs. Stitcher: Shots Fired

November 25, 2014 ~ Shawn Thorpe ~ 3 Comments

Celebrity-driven network PodcastOne made podcasting news yesterday when it announced it will be removing all of its shows as well as shows it represents to advertisers from the Stitcher streaming-media app. From a statement released by PodcastOne:

Stitcher continues to sell and distribute programming without the proper rights, consent and compensation PodcastOne and its talent are due.

And that:

(PodcastOne) has repeatedly tried to work with Stitcher, and requested the removal of programming without verbal or written consent to distribute, in addition to the discontinuance of video ads as post, pre-roll and pop-ups attributed to these podcasts. Stitcher continues to make PodcastOne programming available on the home screen of their app to listeners who are already ‘following’ the programs.

Also, PodcastOne CEO Norm Pattiz was quoted as saying:

In some cases, Stitcher has absolutely no rights to carry our programs, and in others, no rights to sell or monetize our exclusively represented content in any way. This has been an ongoing problem, and enough is enough. You can’t just steal content without permission. Podcasting is breaking through big time, not only with consumers but with advertisers as well. I see new players coming into the market, all touting technology that will allow them to grab podcasts for their subscribers. Let this be a message – make sure you have secured the rights from content suppliers before you distribute programing you don’t have the rights to.

I surveyed PodcastOne’s “Top 25” shows and found that most of them are no longer listed with Stitcher. Exceptions include podcasts that don’t originate with PodcastOne, such as Radiolab and The Laura Ingraham Show.

PodcastOne’s stance is that Stitcher was using PodcastOne’s shows without the company’s consent. Given Pattiz’s statement, it looks like he’s unhappy with Stitcher running ads against PodcastOne’s content. Speculation has flooded podcasting forums since the news broke as to what exactly is happening here. Is PodcastOne falling back on its roots as a radio syndicator (Westwood One) and trying to get Stitcher to pay PodcastOne to distribute its shows? Did Stitcher offer PodcastOne any kind of revenue sharing for running ads against its content? If so, could the two parties not reach a mutually beneficial agreement? How do the shows PodcastOne represents for advertising feel about PodcastOne wanting them to leave Stitcher as well? The mind reels with possibilities.

Regardless, this isn’t the first time that Stitcher has run afoul of a notable podcast network. Back in 2011, Nerdist had its own drama that ended up in its shows being removed from Stitcher. That situation has since been cleared up, so there’s some potential for PodcastOne and Stitcher to heal their divide.

One thing is certain. As podcasting enters its tenth year, we can expect more of these types of disputes. Big players are here and in some cases, big money is at stake. This case of PodcastOne vs. Stitcher is only the beginning.