iHeartMedia Partners with Sounder to Launch Best-in-Class Brand Safety Tools Across the Largest Global Podcast Network
February 16 2022 - 11:00AM
Business Wire
iHeartMedia Makes Strategic Investment in
Fast-Growing Audio Intelligence Platform; Will Also Unlock New
Discovery Tools for Listeners and Advanced Targeting Capabilities
for Brands
iHeartMedia, the largest audio media company in the U.S. and the
top podcast publisher globally according to Podtrac, announced a
partnership today with Sounder, an audio intelligence platform that
builds foundational podcasting technology to drive monetization,
brand safety and discoverability for audio content. iHeartMedia
will leverage Sounder’s Audio Data Cloud to provide both
established and emerging podcast creators the best AI and Machine
Learning (ML) tools to help them gain critical, real-time insights
to accelerate growth and improve monetization. With more than 750
iHeartRadio Original podcasts -- including some of the biggest
podcasts and creators in the world -- now using this technology,
these new capabilities will rapidly become the industry
standard.
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iHeartMedia will leverage Sounder’s Audio Data Cloud’s automated
best-in-class AI and ML brand safety solution to ensure advertisers
can confidently invest in the iHeartPodcast Network’s expansive and
rapidly growing line-up of diverse content with more than 392
million downloads and streams a month (more downloads than the next
three podcast publishers combined). The brand safety solution
enables iHeartMedia’s marketing partners to buy across a wide array
of creators with the assurance that the content adheres to industry
safety standards. The technology will quickly expand to also allow
advertisers to customize their brand safety guidelines, unlocking
new and more diverse publishers to provide even more effective ad
placements.
“As the leader in podcasting, the iHeartPodcast Network hosts
the most diverse group of high-quality creators in the world and
produces the most podcasts that generate over one million plus
downloads. It’s critical that we learn from the challenges
advertisers have had with video and social media to deliver safety
tools and controls that allow brands to customize their campaigns
and ensure that their ads will be delivered at scale in a brand
safe environment,” said iHeartMedia Chief Data Officer Brian
Kaminsky. “Our partnership with Sounder underscores our commitment
to innovation in audio advertising and our goal of creating more
meaningful connections between advertisers and listeners. In
addition to simple brand safety, this partnership will also unlock
brand suitability tools that will dynamically align brands with
content and creator-sentiments that supports their goals and
objectives.”
Sounder’s Audio Data Cloud enables large publishers the ability
to perform brand suitability analysis, topic analysis, content
summarization, and dynamic segmentation. These solutions help
accelerate the size and engagement of the iHeartPodcast Network’s
large and growing audience from the biggest and most diverse shows
in the network, to the rapidly growing number of up-and-coming
creators. Audio Data Cloud leverages Sounder’s proprietary
automated speech recognition technology and powerful AI/ML models.
In doing so, it unlocks uncaptured value for all enterprise audio
content.
In addition to this commercial partnership, iHeartMedia has also
announced a strategic investment in Sounder, as lead investor in
the company’s Series A round.
“The audio advertising industry is set for continued explosive
growth, but requires the rigor and capabilities of other media,”
said Joe Robinson, iHeartMedia’s President of Corporate Development
and Ventures. “Sounder has cracked the code on enabling contextual
targeting for audio, ensuring brand safety, and promoting
discoverability.”
“We’re excited to have iHeartMedia as a commercial partner and
strategic investor. We are eager to help iHeartMedia, the world's
leading audio publisher, realize the true value of audio,” Sounder
CEO and Co-founder Kal Amin said. “With Sounder’s Audio Data Cloud,
we’re integrating a layer of data that is absolutely crucial for
advertisers to take advantage of the world’s high level of
engagement with podcasts. While podcast advertising is growing
fast, it’s still a nascent business when compared to traditional
radio advertising. Audio Data Cloud will accelerate podcast
advertising growth, bringing new advertisers, higher ad spends, and
more effective campaigns to the medium. This is a gamechanger on
all fronts.”
The iHeartPodcast Network is home to more than 750 iHeartRadio
Original Podcasts which span every category from business, sports,
spirituality and technology to entertainment, family, comedy and
true crime including leading podcasts such as “The Ron Burgundy
Podcast,” “Paper Ghosts,” “Fake Doctors, Real Friends,” “Atlanta
Monster,” “You and Me Both with Hillary Clinton,” “The Laverne Cox
Show,” “Las Culturistas” and “Noble Blood,” as well as over a
hundred shows from iHeart’s on-air talent – like the popular
“Bobbycast” from its nationally-syndicated host Bobby Bones and
“The Breakfast Club” radio show podcast. With this roster of hits,
iHeart has more top 10 shows on Podtrac than the next three podcast
networks combined, and twice as many podcasts with 1 million
monthly downloads than the next largest podcast publisher.
About iHeartMedia: iHeartMedia, Inc. [Nasdaq: IHRT] is
the leading audio media company in America, reaching over 90% of
Americans every month. iHeart’s broadcast radio assets alone have
more consumer reach in the U.S. than any other media outlet; twice
the reach of the next largest broadcast radio company; and over
four times the ad-enabled reach of the largest digital only audio
service. iHeart is the largest podcast publisher according to
Podtrac, with more downloads than the next four podcast publishers
combined, and has the number one social footprint among audio
players, with seven times more followers than the next audio media
brand, and the only fully integrated audio ad tech solution across
broadcast, streaming and podcasts. The company continues to
leverage its strong audience connection and unparalleled consumer
reach to build new platforms, products and services. Visit
iHeartMedia.com for more company information.
About Sounder: Sounder is the end-to-end podcast
management platform that brings Audio Intelligence to creators and
enterprises. Founded in 2019 by former Google and Spotify
executives, Sounder connects creators and enterprises to the Audio
Intelligence solutions they need to accelerate their content’s
discovery, engagement, and monetization potential. Through the
Audio Data Cloud, Sounder gives enterprises access to insights that
inform strategy and improve monetization. Learn more and join
Sounder’s community of creators at sounder.fm.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220216005334/en/
K-SQUARED STRATEGIES Kristin Kovner
kristin@ksquaredstrategies.com
iHeartMedia Angel Aristone
AngelAristone@iHeartMedia.com
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