Agents & media executives are now not simply targeted on exploiting IP for movie and TV.
A sequence of conventional media strikes into podcasting sign that the area of interest audio medium is poised to get loads louder.
On Sept. 13, iHeartMedia introduced its ambition within the mobile-first format with the acquisition of Stuff Media for a reported $55 million, and WME proprietor Endeavor unveiled plans for an audio division that already has recruited TV super-producer Dick Wolf, amongst others, to make podcasts.
The offers showcase a shift in how Hollywood is approaching the area. No longer are brokers and media executives targeted purely on exploiting podcast IP for movie and tv. Now they’re in search of a foothold within the fast-growing trade, which with $314 million in income final 12 months continues to be small — however is predicted to develop 110 p.c to $659 million by 2020.
“The enterprise of audio is simply beginning to kind,” says Endeavor Audio advertising head Lisa LaCour. With legacy media organizations like The New York Times now citing podcasts as significant promoting companies, Endeavor additionally noticed a gap. “We’re beginning to enterprise extra into unique content material. The firm decided that podcasting and audio storytelling normally is an enormous alternative to proceed the expansion.”
For radio broadcaster iHeartMedia, which gives greater than 20,000 podcasts on its app along with working a small unique podcast division, buying the 50-person Stuff Media — the corporate behind exhibits Stuff You Should Know and Atlanta Monster — instantly supercharged its place within the area. “It doubled our measurement in a single day,” says iHeartMedia Networks Group president Darren Davis. “If this acquisition would not sign our intention to be the chief [in podcasting], I do not know what does.”
But the maturing of the area has additionally led to some upheaval. Just as iHeartMedia and Endeavor are making their push into podcasts, two longtime gamers within the area have backed out. Slate Group’s Panoply has mentioned it’s going to now not produce podcasts, switching its focus to internet hosting and promoting expertise, as an alternative. The transfer coincides with the departure of Slate chairman Jacob Weisberg to kind a brand new audio firm with Revisionist History host Malcolm Gladwell. BuzzFeed, too, has mentioned it’s going to cease producing podcasts in-house.
The disparate strikes have led some within the trade to query whether or not podcasts are primed for progress. But observers recommend it is a signal that the area has reached a degree the place solely those that make investments absolutely will proceed to thrive. Now, will probably be all about discovering the precise method to broaden the viewers for this enterprise. “There hasn’t been sufficient content material on the market that has generated motivation for individuals to exit and search it,” acknowledges LaCour. “That’s one of many issues we’re seeking to remedy.”
This article initially appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.
