I sadly can’t attend Podcast Evolutions this 12 months. If you’re in attendance and have some scorching goss, be happy to ship my manner! Additionally some heat, dry climate — that will be good.
At this time, SiriusXM lays off lots of of staffers, Twitter Areas loses one other function, and podcast bros can’t catch a break on the courting market.
How will SiriusXM’s layoffs have an effect on its podcasting enterprise?
On Monday, SiriusXM CEO Jennifer Witz introduced that she was chopping 475 roles, or about 8 p.c of staff on the firm. Citing financial uncertainty (novel!), Witz stated the cuts are a consequence of administration’s plan to “enhance collaboration, consolidate groups to realize higher efficiencies, and finally, design a corporation construction that’s finest positioned to realize our priorities.” Each division was hit, together with engineering, gross sales, and naturally, podcasting.
SiriusXM constructed itself right into a podcasting power when it acquired Stitcher in 2020 for $325 million and has since added to its roster by shopping for Workforce Coco and 99% Invisible. When you throw in licensing offers with Freakonomics Radio Community and Crooked Media, SiriusXM Podcast Community is the most important podcast writer within the trade, in accordance with Edison and Triton Digital. However all these acquisitions imply plenty of information staffers, a lot of whom have been impacted by the layoffs. One podcasting crew noticed its staffing numbers minimize in half.
It appears the corporate is decided to keep up that extensive attain with out the identical breadth of content material or staffing. At an all-hands assembly final month, chief content material officer Scott Greenstein advocated for making fewer however higher reveals, in accordance with an individual who attended the assembly. Greenstein underscored that time at one other all-hands yesterday wherein he touted Kevin Hart and Conan O’Brien’s podcasts as success tales, the individual stated. It seems to be a continuation of the shift from quirkier reveals by up-and-comers to podcasts hosted by large names with speedy draw. Greenstein’s feedback set off alarm bells internally. “We’re cautious of the movie star host-fueled podcasts,” the individual stated.
In keeping with SiriusXM spokesperson Jessica Casano-Antonellis, Greenstein’s feedback have been meant to display what the corporate does notably effectively: establish reveals which have podcast-radio crossover potential. Hart had a SiriusXM channel earlier than getting his podcast, whereas SiriusXM launched a Workforce Coco channel after buying the corporate final 12 months.
Between Greenstein’s feedback, the intensive staffing cuts, and Witz’s deal with consolidations, it appears inevitable that some podcasts will fall by the wayside.
Twitter Areas is deleting previous recordings
They’re actually leaning in to doing it stay. Twitter sent out a notification saying that the service will begin wiping out previous recorded broadcasts. The notification stated, “for those who’d wish to retain any broadcasts you’ve recorded, you’ll have to obtain them quickly or danger dropping them,” after which directed to the Assist Heart. It seems that you can nonetheless file new Areas, however how lengthy will they continue to be up so that you can entry? Who’s to say. The deletions appear to be the newest signal of value chopping at Twitter — and an extra deprioritization of audio options.
We’ve got clearly come a protracted, lengthy manner from final summer season when Twitter introduced a beta podcast function. Hardcore Twitter underneath Elon Musk did away with podcast playlists nearly instantly, in addition to many of the Areas crew. One of many key — and distinctive — parts of the podcast function was that it might create individualized playlists combining reveals from RSS with recorded Areas.
The transfer additionally comes at a time when the corporate laid off one in every of its most important Areas staffers, Leah Culver. Culver got here to Twitter in 2021 after the corporate acquired her podcast app, Breaker. Culver lasted so much longer than many of the Areas crew and tweeted last week that “my solely remorse isn’t getting fired for one thing superior and hilarious. As a substitute I’m simply a part of the layoff of acquired founders.”
Twitter Areas is among the few stay audio platforms nonetheless hanging in there, nevertheless it’s unclear how for much longer that would be the case because the vertical is deprioritized over and over. With so few folks left on the firm and so many issues to repair, it’s exhausting to see how Areas can transfer ahead.
Chameleon: Wild Boys wins podcast of the 12 months on the Ambies
The Podcast Academy introduced its Awards for Excellence in Audio on the Ambies final night time. Campside and Sony’s Chameleon: Wild Boys took residence the award for Podcast of the 12 months. We’ll possible get extra from Campside and Wild Boys producer Sam Mullins, because the studio inked a first-look take care of him simply final month.
You may see the complete checklist of winners right here.
It’s exhausting on the market for a podcast bro
With all due respect, there’s a consequence to placing all of your ideas on the web.
That’s all for now. See you subsequent week!
