The audio media company that not only owns such radio brands as KROQ and WFAN but podcast companies Cadence13 and Pineapple Street Studios has acquired a third podcast-related business.
However, it is not a content creator. It’s an online advertising marketplace designed to connect brands with “the most relevant podcasters” to create native advertising and branded content — a.k.a. on-demand infomercials.
It’s a $22.5 million deal, bringing Podcorn immediately into the Entercom Communications family.
An upfront cash payment of $14.6 million has been delivered to Podcorn. A performance-based earnout over the next three years will provide the concluding compensation to the seller.
“The acquisition of Podcorn expands Entercom’s product offering for advertisers and builds on our position as one of the country’s three largest podcast publishers,” boasted Entercom President/CEO David Field. “By making it easier for brands to collaborate with targeted podcast creators of all sizes, we are addressing an important market opportunity in the fastest growing segment of media.”
Podcorn’s marketplace includes nearly 40,000 creators and has facilitated thousands of podcast ad campaigns.
Specifically, Podcorn creates an infrastructure for enabling direct podcaster and advertiser relationships, surfacing the most relevant matches to scale native branded content, drive higher ROI for brands, and enhance how podcast creators monetize their content, Entercom explains.
Podcorn was founded by Agnes Kozera and David Kierzkowski following the acquisition by Google of their previous company FameBit, a marketplace for video influencers where brands and YouTube stars collaborated for branded content. Kozera and Kierzkowski will continue to lead Podcorn, joining Entercom’s leadership team.
“Given the success that podcasters and brands have seen on Podcorn, we’re excited to join Entercom’s growing audio platform to accelerate our vision and help brands and podcasters succeed in an even bigger way,” said Kozera. “Together, we hope to provide the most effective podcast influencer marketing solution for brands and become the largest driver of brand deals for podcasters of all sizes.”
The acquisition allows Entercom to bring advertising clients to the “hard-to-access micro-influencer community,” it says.
Podcorn provides brands with a self-serve platform, along with a full-service option “that unlocks more managed support and consultation to help them accelerate, curate and manage their podcast campaigns to exceed their KPIs,” Entercom adds.
Podcorn’s marketplace of niche creators will complement Entercom’s existing roster of podcasts, while helping it identify talented new creators.
“Introducing Podcorn’s marketplace of nearly 40,000 creators to our podcast audience network will enable advertisers to target the right listeners with the most effective media available to brands today – custom, host-read, branded audio content at scale,” said J.D. Crowley, Entercom’s Chief Digital Officer. “Remarkably, only a fraction of podcasts generate revenue. We want to change that. Bringing together independent creators, chart-topping talent and advertisers under one roof, and providing the tools to streamline collaboration, transparency and efficiency provides greater value for advertisers, creators and listeners alike.”
