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I hope all you East Coasters had a relaxing Easter. This morning after it stopped snowing I tried to take my baby outside for the winter, it was already thick. He doesn’t know the difference, but I’m bored!
Today, we look at the layoffs at SiriusXM, a new podcast deal for Meghan Markle, and how the “Swift Effect” made Travis Kelce’s podcast a Top 10 hit. But first, one more programming announcement for Hot Pod Summit!
SiriusXM and the trading desk are coming to the Hot Pod Summit
One thing we’re hearing from readers and HotPod Summit attendees is a desire to understand what’s happening on the ground with podcast advertising. Between falling CPMs, challenges with metrics, and YouTube’s growing dominance in the space, it’s a lot to pack in. I am excited to announce this Kelly HurleyGlobal Head of Revenue Partnerships at SiriusXM, and Tomas Rodriguez, Senior Director of Audio Partnerships at Trade Desk, will join me on stage to discuss the state of the ad market. I know I have a lot of questions, and I’m sure you do too.
The Hot Pod Summit, our invitation-only event for leaders in the podcast industry, takes place on Wednesday, February 28. The event will kick off On Air Fest Brooklyn 2024 and is hosted by our friends at Work X Work.
The on-air festival will be held from February 29 to March 1. You can see the lineup for the on-air festival here, including Malcolm Gladwell, Stephen Dubner, Norah Jones, Laurie Anderson, Seth Meyers, Nick Koh, Avery Trofelman, and Audible, Netflix, iHeart, WBUR, Vox Media Podcast Network , and more. Click here to buy tickets to On Air Fest.
Thanks to our official lead sponsors for Hot Pod Summit 2024: AdsWizz and Simplecast. AdsWizz runs an automated advertising platform for creating and running audio ads. Simplecast offers podcast hosting, distribution, and analytics.
More popular than Travis Kelce’s podcast This American Life And senselessaccording to the new classification
This is certainly a great victory as much as winning the Super Bowl. Edison Research released its list of the top podcasts during the fourth quarter and found that the “Taylor Swift effect” New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce It is very real.
Between October and December, New heights It was the sixth most popular podcast, up from the previous quarter at No. 67. It’s worth keeping in mind that Swift and Travis Kelce went public with their relationship in October.
Edison’s rating is based on survey responses rather than raw listening data, but is considered highly reliable. At number six, New heights Like blockbuster shows are more popular This American Life, senselessand The Ben Shapiro Show.
More layoffs on SiriusXM
Yesterday, SiriusXM CEO Jennifer Weitz announced another round of layoffs in a memo to staff. About 3 percent of the workforce, or about 160 people, will be affected by the cuts, he said.
“To continue on our path to future subscriber growth and to maintain our company’s success as the competitive landscape evolves, it is imperative that we become even more efficient, agile and flexible.” Witz wrote. “From unifying teams and better aligning initiatives, to investing in new technologies that power our transformation, we are focused on increasing efficiency and realigning resources to support the strategic priorities of our business. is the.”
I find the language here interesting. This reminds me of Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kinkel’s announcement last week in which he justified the layoffs, saying the company would have more ability to focus on its core music business. Or last week’s announcement from Spotify, announcing that it is retiring some of its podcast creation tools in favor of Riverside in order to allocate resources elsewhere. (There were no layoffs associated with the change.)
Last year, CEOs justified layoffs by citing macroeconomic factors and tensions in the advertising industry. But the predicted recession never came, and now that the cuts have been made, it’s not out of financial concern but to serve a long-term strategy. It’s an aspect I think we’ll be hearing more about in the coming months and one that will likely be cold comfort to workers left behind.
Meghan Markle has a new podcast deal
It wasn’t entirely clear what the future had in store for Archival’s podcast arm following a very public and messy breakup with Spotify, but eight months later, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s production company has signed a new deal. is the. Markle will host a new show for Lemonade, which has partnered with other celebrities including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Samantha Bay, and Sarah Silverman.
Markle’s previous show, Archetypes, was a hit for Spotify and racked up over a million downloads per episode. But Archewell and Spotify struggled to develop additional series, with Harry reportedly pitching show ideas such as interviewing Vladimir Putin about his childhood. Their deal, cut during Spotify’s spend-happy days of 2020, is reportedly worth $20 million.
Financials for Markle’s new deal with Lemonade were not disclosed. In the new arrangement, it will also handle the distribution of lemonade Archetypes on platforms.
“We are beyond honored that Meghan has trusted us to help democratize access to Archetypes, and that more people around the world will soon have access to the series. Meghan’s talent as host, creator and is unparalleled as a conversationalist and we are excited to create a new series with her that leverages her style to promote her values,” said Jessica Cordova Kramer, CEO of Lemonade. deadline.
Report: Trevor Noah chief under Spotify deal
He won’t be the first. According to a report traffic lightsThere is some conflict between Trevor Noah and Spotify executives over the direction of his show. Noah’s team has reportedly discussed renegotiating his deal with the streamer.
Since launching in November, Noah has received a mix of business leaders and celebrity guests. but traffic lights There are reports that high-profile figures have been pushing for celebrity interviews, something Noah is strongly opposed to.
Spotify declined to comment on the report traffic lights “We are happy with the show and we have nothing to share.”
That’s all for today! I’ll be back on Thursday for the interior. For the rest of you, see you next week!