IAB Podcast Upfront 2021 Announces This Year’s Lineup
Mar 31, 2021
The Interactive Advertising Bureau has announced their lineup for the IAB 2021 Podcast Upfronts, and it shows an increased emphasis on representing diverse voices in the media.
The Podcast Upfronts, scheduled for May 11-13 this year, is an annual event that brings together agencies, buyers, creatives, and marketers to educate and evangelize the power of podcasts to reach consumers. This year’s event is titled “Listen Up,” and it will give brands and agencies exclusive “first-listen” access to the year’s most exciting releases. They will also get previews of creative opportunities in the world of podcasting, and insights that will define the podcast landscape for the year ahead.
The IAB will also be using the Podcast Upfront event as an opportunity to unveil their U.S. Podcast Advertising Revenue Report. The report helps publishers benchmark their performance against the industry and identify new ad monetization opportunities. It also teaches brands and agencies about the latest investment opportunities available for podcast advertising and sponsorships.
With their powers combined, the IAB 2021 Podcast Upfronts and the U.S. Podcast Advertising Revenue Report provide those in the podcast industry with an updated set of tools to leverage the medium of podcasting.
You can request a pass to attend or find more information on the event here.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/iab-announces-2021-podcast-upfront-schedule-a-diverse-lineup-featuring-over-two-dozen-established-and-new-podcast-networks-301259122.html
Audioburst Introduces AI-Fueled Search Technology to Aid Podcast Discoverability
Mar 31, 2021
If you’re a podcaster or a dedicated podcast listener, then you may share the frustration toward the limitations of current podcast streaming platforms in podcast discovery. There just isn’t a good way to search for episodes on a particular topic or featuring a particular guest, or to sample a podcast by selecting their most popular episode, or by accessing a featured clip.
A company called Audioburst is introducing technology that will hopefully begin to address the podcast industry’s discovery problem. Audioburst, the world’s first AI-based Audio Search & Delivery Platform, announced this week that they’re launching a new service to incorporate their platform into a variety of podcast and music streaming apps.
Using patent-pending AI technology, the Audioburst platform is able to listen to, analyze, and index hundreds of millions of minutes of audio content. Then, the content is segmented to short audio clips – or “bursts” – that can be aggregated into playlists. This would enable podcast listeners to access a recommended content stream based on trending topics, past listening behavior, or a particular keyword they would like to include in their feed.
Audioburst updates and optimizes their content feed 24/7, so users would always have access to the latest content, personalized to their specific interests.
But podcast listeners aren’t the only ones who could benefit from Audioburst’s new technology. It also has the potential to provide incremental, recurring revenue for the thousands of app developers looking to increase app monetization, and it will help podcasters have their shows discovered by hundreds or even thousands of new listeners.
http://www.insideradio.com/podcastnewsdaily/audioburst-looks-to-bring-podcasts-and-other-audio-into-apps-where-people-already-are/article_c6fc0d76-923e-11eb-95cc-dbcfc1351e76.html
Entercom Rebrands As “Audacy”, Indicating Their Investment in the Future of Audio
Mar 30, 2021 | Updated Mar 30, 2021
After more than 50 years radio & podcasting company Entercom is changing its name to Audacy.
The company has also decided to rebrand its direct-to-consumer platform Radio.com to the Audacy name. which has adopted the Audacy moniker. The company’s new website is audacyinc.com.
The decision to rebrand is a natural next step in Entercom’s competitive strategy to stay relevant in the audio space. They acquired CBS radio in 2017 and added it to the Radio.com digital audio platform, which established them as the #2 radio broadcaster after iHeartMedia. Then in 2019, they purchased 2 huge podcast companies: Pineapple Street Studios and Cadence13. To anyone in the podcast industry, Entercom’s rebrand is significant because we’re seeing a major audio powerhouse investing much of their long-term earning power on the future of digital audio. It’s a strong indicator that the future of podcasting and digital audio as a whole is incredibly bright.
https://variety.com/2021/digital/news/entercom-rebrands-audacy-1234939320/
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