Podcasts
“How Do We Pivot?”: Podcasting Turns to M&A and Cost-Cutting
In the end, was Spotify’s acquisition of Gimlet and Parcast all a waste? That’s how unionized staffers at Gimlet and Parcast described Spotify’s decision on Monday to begin shuttering the two podcast studios that the audio giant had purchased in 2019 for 221 million euros. “When Spotify purchased Gimlet and Parcast for nearly $300 million, […]
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Rachel Maddow Expands Her NBCUniversal Podcast Empire With New Show: “Déjà News” (Exclusive)
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow is expanding her burgeoning podcast empire with another new show set to debut Monday, June 12. The podcast, Rachel Maddow Presents: Déjà News, will be a six-episode limited series in which Maddow and longtime Rachel Maddow Show producer Isaac-Davy Aronson explore news stories from the past that have notable parallels with the present. Each […]
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Spotify to Slash Podcast Workforce, Combine Parcast and Gimlet Studios in New Round of Cuts
Music streaming giant Spotify is making a new round of cuts to its podcast division following a broad round of layoffs in January and job cuts in October. In a memo to staff Monday morning from Sahar Elhabashi, the head of Spotify’s podcast unit, the company said that it would be reducing its workforce by about […]
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Jemele Hill Seeks New Home for ‘Unbothered’ Podcast As Spotify Exclusive Deal Set to End
Jemele Hill is looking for a new home for her podcast, Jemele Hill Is Unbothered, as she prepares for her Spotify contract to end later this summer, according to people familiar with the matter. Hill has been an early fixture in Spotify’s podcasting strategy, having hosted Jemele Hill is Unbothered exclusively on Spotify since 2019. […]
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‘The Aarthi and Sriram Show’ Nabs Podcast Deal With iHeartMedia
The Aarthi and Sriram Show, an interview show hosted by veteran tech executives and investors Aarthi Ramamurthy and Sriram Krishnan that first debuted on Clubhouse, has landed a distribution deal with iHeartMedia. The podcast was formed after the husband-and-wife duo Krishnan and Ramamurthy first began hosting conversations with influential figures in tech and media on […]
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Viola Davis’ Ashé Audio Ventures Inks Multi-Project Deal With Audible (Exclusive)
Ashé Audio Ventures, the newly created podcast label from Viola Davis and Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions and Maurício and Katie Mota’s Wise Entertainment, has reached an exclusive multi-project deal with Audible. Scripted and unscripted original audio programming from Ashé will begin releasing its first titles in 2024. The projects are expected to include genres like […]
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Comedian Bobby Lee Sues Wondery Over Canceled ‘TigerBelly’ Podcast Contract
Comedian Bobby Lee is suing Wondery for breach of contract after the audio company allegedly canceled a multiyear ad sales and distribution deal for his podcast, TigerBelly, which he co-hosts with Khalyla Kuhn. The complaint, filed in Los Angeles on Thursday on behalf of Lee’s TigerBelly company, alleges that Wondery was “under pressure to cut […]
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Peabody-Nominated Content Studio Project Brazen Launches Platform for “Fearless Storytelling”(Exclusive)
Project Brazen, the podcast-focused banner set up by former Wall Street Journal reporters and Billion Dollar Whale authors Bradley Hope and Tom Wright, has launched a new content platform. Brazen, unveiled Wednesday, is a direct-to-consumer podcast network for what the company describes as “fearless storytelling and captivating journalism from a wide range of creators and […]
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MrBallen’s Next Podcast: A Medical Mystery Series With Wondery
John Allen, the former U.S. Navy SEAL turned hit podcaster known as MrBallen, is set to host an original audio series focused on medical horror stories and miracles that will debut later this fall. The show, MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries, is the first co-production between Wondery and Ballen Studios, Allen’s content company that struck a major […]
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‘The Turning’ Podcast Studio Rococo Punch to Merge With Audily (Exclusive)
Rococo Punch, the independent podcast production studio behind The Turning series and Welcome to Provincetown, is merging with the full-service podcast and audiobook company Audily. Led by co-founders and public radio veterans Jessica Alpert and John Perotti, Rococo Punch will continue as a stand-alone brand within Audily. The studio will continue to develop original productions […]
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MrBallen Podcast Studio Launches Management Arm
Ballen Studios, the content company from the breakout podcast creator John Allen (best known as “MrBallen”) and former Night Media talent manager Nick Witters, is launching a dedicated management arm for creators specializing in digital storytelling. At launch, Ballen Management’s roster of clients include the YouTube creators Ryan “Nexpo” Cantu (2.86 million subscribers) and Nick […]
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SiriusXM CEO Calls Audio Ad Sales Market “Tough”
Amid a weaker advertising market, SiriusXM CEO Jennifer Witz pointed to positive signs that include an auto sales recovery and a podcast market adapting to anxiety among brand marketers to forecast an ad sales recovery into the close of 2023. But U.S. ad sales have softened for the satellite radio giant this year as more […]
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