Audacy Inc., the radio company formerly known as Entercom, is shaking up its podcast leadership and investing in new series as part of a recommitment to the medium.
(Bloomberg) — Audacy Inc., the radio company formerly known as Entercom, is shaking up its podcast leadership and investing in new series as part of a recommitment to the medium.
Audacy has elevated Jenna Weiss-Berman to Executive Vice President of Podcasts, reporting to J.D. Crowley, Audacy’s Chief Digital Officer and President, Podcast and Streaming. In this role, Weiss-Berman will oversee Audacy’s podcast network and studios, including Pineapple Street Studios and Cadence13, along with strategy and development of new podcast content and distribution partnerships. She will also collaborate with programming leadership in sports and news in the growth and development of new original content for podcast studio 2400Sports and across Audacy’s 28 local newsrooms in top US markets.
Max Linsky, co-founder of Pineapple Street, will continue to co-lead the studio with Bari Finkel, head of operations. Chris Corcoran, founding partner and chief content officer at Cadence13, will leave the company. Weiss-Berman will report to J.D. Crowley, chief digital officer and president, podcasts and streaming.
“The era of the dumb deal in podcasting is coming to an end or has ended,” Weiss-Berman said. “I feel very excited about that and motivated. It’s an equalizing time where we aren’t going to offer millions of dollars to royalty who hasn’t done a podcast before. We’re going to make smart deals that work for everyone.”
In October, Axios reported that Audacy had hired bankers to help it explore a potential sale of its studio, Cadence13, seeking at least $100 million. According to a person familiar with the situation, the company neared a deal with Cavalry Media, a management and production company co-founded by Keegan Rosenberger and Dana Brunetti, but after Deadline reported that Cavalry hadn’t paid employees in months, the deal fell through.
An Audacy spokesperson declined to comment. Cavalry did not respond to a request for comment.
Weiss-Berman said Cadence13 would continue to focus on shows that have “devoted, growing audiences” and Pineapple Street would keep working on limited-run series and on branded podcasts, including shows for the streaming service HBO Max.
The radio conglomerate also announced this week that it has signed a multi-show deal with Dan Taberski, the host of the Missing Richard Simmons podcast and a new 30-episode podcast partnership with Amy Poehler’s Paper Kite Productions.
During an earnings call earlier this month, Richard Schmaeling, Audacy’s executive vice president of strategic initiatives and chief financial officer, emphasized the company’s continued interest in podcasting.
“I think we’re a lot smarter today than we were several years ago and see a bright future in the growth of podcasting as essentially time-shifted consumption of audio,” he said.
(Corrects in the second paragraph the purview of Weiss-Berman’s new role.)
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