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| Here are the biggest stories in the industry today. - Audioboom provides Q4 2023 trading update
- My Favorite Murder no longer has exclusive window with Wondery and Amazon
- Audible laid off 5% of its staff
Thanks for reading! Christopher
p/chris951156 | |
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What the data says: After a drastic decline following the podcast boom of 2021 and 2022, Audioboom is starting to see a rise in share price again. The London-based podcast publisher closed yesterday trading at £292.5 per share on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). This pales in comparison to the highs of 2022, when it reached a peak of £2,260 per share in April of that year. The share price dropped to £135 per share in October 2023. Relevance: Audioboom posted a trading update about its performance in Q4 2023. It returned to profitability, as the revenue in Q4 hit £15M, up 5% year-on-year. It was the highest revenue for a quarter since Q2 2022. Revenue was also up 37% from Q3 2023, marking a marked increase to close out the year. Quotes and more: "These operational improvements have positioned us to capture maximum value from advertisers in 2024," said Audioboom CEO Stuart Last. "I am buoyed by a more positive sentiment in the advertising industry, with brands making strong budget commitments during the upfront booking season, resulting in us contracting more than $47 million of revenue for 2024 through advance bookings." Last had promised a Q4 turnaround after a disappointing Q3, and he reached his goal of £15M. |     | |
| 2 | | One of the most popular podcasts in the U.S., My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, will be available for every listener at the same time. That's because Exactly Rights Media, the company owned by Kilgariff and Hardstark, announced it is no longer working with Wondery and Amazon, so there won't be an early release window specifically on those platforms. More: - Kilgariff and Hardstark made the announcement during an episode of their show, saying that "everybody is listening together just like the good old days."
- The previous arrangement with Wondery and Amazon gave the two platforms a one-week exclusive window to new episodes before they hit other podcast apps.
- The deal took place in January 2022 and was reportedly worth $100M.
- Wondery was handling distribution and ad sales for all of Exactly Right Media's portfolio. There has been no indication if it will sign with another platform for distribution.
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| 3 | | Audible, the Amazon-owned audiobook and podcast division, laid off more than 100 employees recently. This equated to 5% of its overall staff, and the Newark, New Jersey-based informed employees in a memo last week. More: - The layoffs come as more Amazon groups, including Prime Video, Amazon MGM Studios, and Twitch, are also facing layoffs, as several hundred employees will face the cuts.
- Audible has not confirmed which departments were most affected, but the content teams were not affected by the layoffs, a source told Variety.
- Audible CEO Bob Corrigan said the layoffs are necessary "to position us for continued success in the coming year and into the future, given the increasingly challenging landscape we face."
- Corrigan says the business is "in good shape," and Audible had a "strong year" last year.
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| 4 | | Erika Ayers Baden (née Nardini) is leaving her post as chief executive officer of Barstool Sports. Ayers Baden has been with the company since 2016. More: - Ayers Baden said in a goodbye video posted to her X account that she is "super sad" to be leaving the sports podcast and entertainment company.
- She oversaw a 5,000% growth in revenue over her time as CEO, as well as a massive expansion in personnel. Ayers Baden oversaw the company's acquisition by PENN Entertainment in 2020 for $500M.
- PENN Entertainment sold the company back to Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy in 2023 for $1, as it became tough for the company to deal with state gambling regulators, specifically New York, for the Barstool Sportsbook entity.
- Ayers Baden hosted the Token CEO podcast on Barstool's platform for years while working as an executive at the company.
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| 5 | | iHeartMedia announced that the iHeartPodcast Awards 2024 will return during the SXSW Conference and Festival on Monday, March 11. The event will be live and in-person at the Fairmont Hotel in Austin, Texas. More: - The awards will honor the most innovative podcasters and creators of the past year, and the ceremony will be broadcast on select iHeartRadio stations nationwide and be available on the iHeartMedia app.
- You can also stream a video version of it on the iHeartRadio YouTube channel.
- This is the first time the iHeartPodcast Awards will take place at SXSW, a conference and festival known for celebrating "the convergence of tech, film and television, music, education, and culture."
- "Over the past few years, SXSW has become a dynamic and effective setting for us to host many of our interactive podcast panels, discussions, and experiences," said Conal Byrne, CEO of iHeartMedia's Digital Audio Group. "There's no better location to bring this celebratory industry event back, live and in person, than Austin at South by Southwest."
- Category nominees, celebrity appearances, and guest hosts will be announced in the upcoming months.
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| 6 | | Turner Classic Movies (TCM), the cable film channel that highlights the history of cinema, is celebrating its 30th anniversary by announcing a new lineup of podcasts. TCM debuted its newest podcast, Talking Pictures, today. More: - Talking Pictures is a collaboration between Max and Turner Classic Movies and will feature host Ben Mankiewicz, joined by famous actors and filmmakers, discussing how films have helped shape who they are.
- The premiere episode features writer and director Nancy Meyers.
- "The Talking Pictures podcast is a natural outgrowth of what we've been doing at TCM for thirty years: fueling a conversation around classic film," said Angela Carone, Director of Podcast Programming at TCM. "Partnering with the Max team, we're able to supercharge that mission with more interviews, more stories, more Ben jokes, and, most importantly, more movies."
- Later this year, TCM will release the fifth season of The Plot Thickens, the popular podcast that tells behind-the-scenes stories with industry insight. Previous seasons have focused on Pam Grier, Peter Bogdanovich, Lucille Ball, and more.
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| 7 | | Quick Hits: - Are you creating the unique user journeys your customers demand? You can by Mastering Personalization with AI.*
- The Podcast Pitch, a joint initiative with The Whickers and Sheffield DocFest, is taking submissions for this year's contest. First place will win £5,000 to help with the production of a factual or documentary podcast.
- Castopod, a podcast hosting company, has created an index that will help listeners search for shows hosted on the platform.
- Fred Jacobs wrote an interesting column on the JacoBlog about Martin Luther King Jr.'s radio career.
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 | Freelance Editor | | Christopher Hachey is a freelance writer and editor based in the New York City area. He has spent most of the past 15 years in newsrooms covering all kinds of topics like sports, tech, business, finance, and commerce. He's now returning to his broadcast journalism roots by diving into podcasting news. Reach out to him at chris@inside.com | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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