🎙️TODAY’S BRIEF

• 🔥iHeartMedia Reports Modest Revenue Increase in Q2 2024

• 🚨 Podcast Insight: AANHPIs: The Untapped Goldmine for Marketers and Advertisers

• 🌏 Podcast Elsewhere:  Headliner, a leading podcast promotion and content creation platform, launches AI-powered text-to-video generation in beta.

• 🛠️Hire a Podcast Producers : Ellen Tanchoco

📈 MARKETS

As of 900 AM ET( Friday ) . Data is provided by Yahoo Market

🔥Digital Audio Group Boosts iHeartMedia Q2 Earnings Amid Podcast Growth and Market Shifts

iHeartMedia, Inc. announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2024. Revenues for the company in the quarter ended with $929 million, down 1.0% from the same period in 2023.

The Revelations :

Digital Audio Group, which includes the revenue from podcasting, was up 10%, with just podcasting growing 8%. The company's adjusted EBITDA for the quarter came in at $150 million, which was within the guidance range previously disclosed. As of June 30, 2024, iHeartMedia had $365 million of cash on hand and $791 million in total available liquidity.

The company expects consolidated revenue to be up 5% in the third quarter, with the full year 2024 consolidated revenue up 6%. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter is expected to be between $200 million and $220 million, while full-year 2024 consolidated adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $760 million and $800 million. iHeartMedia remains committed to its long-term target of approximately 4x net debt to adjusted EBITDA.

IHeart Media Optimistic :

According to senior management, the performance of the company is expected to be good as this marks the first quarter of year-over-year consolidated revenue growth since the fourth quarter of 2022. They have emphasized very strong momentum in the podcast business and sequential improvement in the year-over-year revenue performance of the Multiplatform Group. The Digital Audio Group contributed 31% of company revenues in the second quarter.

Of all factors, the overall positive financial performance for this company in the second quarter of 2024 was most influenced by the 8% growth in iHeartMedia podcast revenue. The company looks forward with a positive outlook on the future and projects 7% revenue growth and 6% adjusted EBITDA growth for the third quarter and full year of 2024.

Why does this matter?

This is important in that it indicates the ability of iHeartMedia to capture opportunities in an expansive market by developing unique content and also by successfully diversifying into the digital platform. In view of the positive financial performance and upbeat outlook, the company looks strong in the market going forward.

Our Take :

What is most inspiring and heartwarming to us as producers within the podcast industry is that the success of iHeartMedia indicates good prospects in the podcast market, filled with immense chances for future growth and innovation. We would quite look ahead to collaborate with industry veterans in new pursuits and forge strategic synergies with upcoming podcast platforms, emboldened by the iHeartMedia arc to make our mark as producers in this very area.

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🚨PODCAST INSIGHT 
AANHPIs: The Untapped Goldmine for Marketers and Advertisers

The stories on TV relating to Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) have soared, according to The Nielsen Company's report. These stories don't just explore the common themes of either anti-Asian hate or the ripple effects of Crazy Rich Asians.

The Report

In 2023, American-born Chinese and Warrior were among the programs that showed up across streaming services, as did K-dramas like Revenant and the award-winning show Daily Dose of Sunshine, as AANHPI talent did in 10.9 percent of content.

As the media landscape keeps changing, so will Asian media viewership, much influenced by this diverse diaspora community speaking languages beyond English. For real engagement with this AANHPI community, it becomes incumbent on the brands and advertisers to truly comprehend and value their varied experiences and perspectives. With mainstream platforms unable to satiate the media appetite of diverse communities, they have begun curating spaces of their own in their languages.

Although the AANHPI community is small by comparison, it is the fastest-growing in the U.S. population, with significant buying power and matching household incomes. The AANHPI community was also particularly hard to reach because they consumed much less of the traditional media channels. Streaming makes up 45.4% of Asian Americans' time spent watching TV.

Representation is a critical part to the marketers who want to have a long-lasting impression about their brands, leaning into streaming, as part of your cross-media investment, and resonance through the trust and representation, can help marketers effectively reach the AANHPI community.

The Revelations

The Asian Americans and NHPI community are a cause-driven coalition of 24 million unique individuals, representatives of the fastest-growing population in the US. Forecasted to balloon to 35.8 million by 2060, most of these Asian Americans are young, with a median age of 35.7 years. Its spending power, for example, was $1.3 trillion, while the median household income reached a staggering $104,646, far outpacing the U.S. average buying power. However, to view this group as a monolith is a fallacy. With the diversity in this community, median household income is just as varied. The widest wealth gap of 23.3% between the highest and lowest income brackets exists with Asian Americans among all minority communities.

There's a 30% greater chance that Asian American (AANHPI) consumers will buy sports equipment and a 27% greater chance of buying from game/toy stores, perhaps driven by their younger age. According to Nielsen's 2023 Annual Marketing Report, 72% anticipate that advertising budgets will go up, and AANHPI consumers are there, prepared to become more informed about new brands from critically important categories such as household cleaners, beauty, banking, insurance, and financial services. In other words, AANHPI consumers are 69% more likely to purchase a new smartphone, 74% more likely to purchase fitness equipment, and 103% more likely to purchase a new car in the next year.

Why does this Matter ?

Asian Americans are a highly varied and vibrant community; they have much more engagement with the media than on average. According to Nielsen, AANHPI audiences are more likely to buy from brands that feature someone from their identity group in their ads. Sixty-four percent of AANHPI people will stop buying from a brand if they think that the brand devalues their particular identity group.

However, for effective reach to the AANHPI community, marketers need to seek out community brands and media community partners. Asian Americans spend less total time with media than the other U.S. population segments, but the proper cross-media mix can increase engagement.

It's said Netflix has upped its investment into content from the region this year, specifically Chinese-language programming from Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia. Here, YouTube collaborated with K-pop label Hype and the U.S. label Geffen Records for a series, "The Debut: Dream Academy," and Disney joined hands with some of the top leaders of the entertainment industry in India to merge its digital media business and sports business together.

AANHPI audiences are supersize streamers—they spend even more time on streaming platforms, particularly those that are ad-supported, which is also where newer ad-supported streaming for many publishers becomes an increasingly larger and critical piece of the media plan to actually reach their audiences.

For Asian Content Creators :

This is the opportunity for content creators in the community to be seen and share stories of richly varied experiences. On average, U.S. adults expend approximately 11 minutes to find something to watch, which is also ample opportunity for everybody to be able to discover and learn more about AANHPI stories this particular vibrant and diverse community shares, not only the traditional AANHPI Heritage Month in May.

Asian audiences are heavy news consumers, with 78% consuming news at least once a day and 34% more likely to trust in the accuracy of news. For marketers to be active with not only AANHPI communities but also the rest of the country as populations of all races rise, political content on non-subscription news sites and social media platforms is a great hallmark this year. This is extremely critical for marketers: where 41% of the audience under AANHPI, being the community, is much more inclined to purchase from a brand if it's based off the news platform they trust.

Our Take :

As podcast creators, we believe that AANHPI audiences can be reached and resonated with by incorporating pertinent political content into marketing strategies. Through a strategic alliance with reliable news outlets and knowledge of the platforms this community uses, marketers can reach this audience both during and outside of AANHPI Heritage Month.

Ads can benefit from reconsidering their media plans during this election year, as Asian audiences are drawn to social media, aggregator sites, and ad-supported newspaper sites. This situation is exacerbated by the increase in ad prices caused by political campaigns competing for valuable advertising space. Additionally, these channels are easier to reach, which allows marketers to measure ROI more accurately.

🌎PODCAST ELSWHERE

1. 🇺🇸 New York : Headliner, a leading podcast promotion and content creation platform, launches AI-powered text-to-video generation in beta. Beta AI video generation turns text prompts into animated videos, giving podcasters a powerful new tool to improve their content.

2.  🇺🇸 United States : Realm, an audio-first digital media company, has signed up for an exclusive distribution agreement with top experts being interviewed by Apple Top 200 podcast "Something You Should Know." With over 80 million downloads, the podcast includes life-changing insights.

3. 🏴 󠁵󠁳󠁣󠁡󠁿California :  On August 15th, Shannon Beveridge and Patreon are teaming up giving fans an exclusive live experience in Beverly Hills California! Attendees will get a chance to see a live recording of her podcast exes and o’s. There will be ‘Beveridge’s’, fun photo ops, exclusive merch drops, and a flash tattoo station. Fans can join the waitlist here! We have some select spots available for press if you’re interested in attending (first come, first serve!)

4. 🏴 󠁵󠁳󠁯󠁨󠁿Ohio : IHeartMedia announced more programming-related layoffs on the same day as its $981.66 million Q2 2024 nett loss. The news broke Thursday and spread quickly across the industry, especially at the Morning Show Bootcamp, with layoffs starting Monday, Radio Ink reported.
   
   
   
   

NEWS UPDATE

• A study by Edison Research and audiochuck, the True Crime Consumer Report, explores the appeal and changes related to true crime podcasts. The study will have its world premiere in a keynote address at Podcast Movement in Washington, D.C. on August 20, 2024 at 9am EDT.

• Podcast Movement is proud to release that this year's version of The Podcast Landscape, the largest public podcast usage study in America, will be presented by none other than Sounds Profitable's Tom Webster.

• An expert panel on "Building Podcast Franchises" includes former Navy SEAL John Allen, CEO Nick Witters, and creator Luke Lamana. Content creation in the area of audio will be discussed along with consumer product licensing, fan engagement, and general expansion of podcast brands. Panel lists meet Thursday, August 22.

• Tori Dunlap and Hala Taha are podcasters who have ripped the blueprint on scaling an enormous audience within a skeptical media environment. They explore ways to build a loyal audience, trust between creators and listeners, and advertisers. At no point in history has podcasting been more relevant in this media era. They'll hit the stage on Wednesday, August 21.

🚀HIRE A PODCAST PROFESSIONALS

👉 Would like to be featured in our newsletter?. Come along with the growing number of podcast creators who rely on PODWIRES Marketplace to make their journey easier. Register right away.

📢 WHO’S HIRING?

• The Guardian UK is now looking for an Audio Producers and be a part of a diverse and inclusive global organisation that delivers fearless, investigative journalism, and holds power to account.

• New Zealand Media & Entertainment(NZME) is hiring a Commercial Lead - Digital Audio.

• Reuters is looking for an experienced Podcast Producer to join the team responsible for Reuters World News, our fast-growing daily show, and help shape our expansion of audio programming.

• Unanimous Media is looking for Creative Producer, Podcast 

📌 NOTICE BOARD

• August 12-15 : AIR at PMDMC - San Diego, CA

• August 19-22: Podcast Movement 2024 - Washington, D.C.

• September 3: Podcast Day Asia - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

• September 2 - 4 : Radiodays Asia 2024 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

• September 18 : Radio Academy Festival 2024 - London, UK

Visit Podwires Marketplace to post your upcoming events or job openings for free.

🔆 FROM OUR COMMUNITY

• Bob Pittman, CEO and Chairman of iHeartMedia, discusses the critical role of audio in modern marketing strategies in a recent Nielsen Insight Studio interview about the critical role of audio in marketing strategies.

• Check out Morgan Swift's blog post "How to identify an ideal cross-promotional partner" if you're trying to grow your podcast audience.

• Katie Paterson wrote an article about which social media platforms that actually work for Podcasters.

• Caitlin Macleod, a business expert, wrote a great article about "Article X" and how it can help you grow your podcast. The article is called "Article X is the Future of Podcasting AI."

🛠️ PODCAST TOOLBOX

Welcome to the Podcaster Toolbox, a crowd-sourced resource for independent, DIY, and/or beginning home-based podcasters.

The Kangaroofern Media Lab team will review the resources submitted here and add them as soon as possible to the Podcaster Toolbox.

• 🏜️ Transistor.fm - is a powerful and simple podcasting platform. The ability to host multiple podcasts on one account makes it ideal for podcasters with multiple shows.

• 📢 Zencastr is an all-in-one podcast production suite that gives you studio quality audio and video without needing all the technical know-how.

• 🎙️ Acast - is a podcast hosting service that enables you to publish, share, and earn money from your podcasts.

• 🎧 Epidemic Sound - is a company that provides content producers with access to a sizable library of royalty-free music.

• 🔊 Soundstripe is a platform that offers thousands of royalty free music, sound effects, and video for your projects.

• 📼 Tubebuddy - is a complete tool for YouTube channel management and growth.

• 📹 VidIQ - is a website for learning that focuses on offering video tutorials and analytics to aid users in expanding their YouTube channels.

• 🪀 Swell AI turns podcasts or videos into transcripts, clips, show notes, articles, summaries, titles, newsletters, social posts, and more.

• 📬 SparkLoop is the fastest way to get a newsletter referral program — like TheSkimm and Morning Brew — up and running.

• 🎚️ Riverside is your online studio for high-quality podcast and video recording and editing.

The complete Toolbox can be seen at https://marketplace.podwires.com/toolbox

DISCLAIMER This podcast toolbox includes affiliate links If you decide to make a purchase using them, we may receive a small kickback which helps to support the newsletter which allows us to operate it. Thanks in advance!

Podwires is here because of our incredible partners' unwavering support.

FROM THE TEAM

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