Podcasting? Radio? It’s all one big opportunity for iHeartMedia digital CEO Conal Byrne

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Feb 28, 2023

Conal Byrne, CEO of iHeartMedia’s digital audio group, leads the charge in the evolving podcast landscape. He discusses his unconventional strategies that prioritize audience reach over subscriptions, leveraging traditional radio for podcast promotion. Conal also highlights innovative advertising techniques and collaborations with big-name creators like Will Ferrell and Shonda Rhimes. He dives into the unique challenges of ownership and monetization in a decentralized medium, all while fostering a supportive space for diverse creators.

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ANECDOTE

iHeartMedia's Acquisition of Stuff Media

Conal Byrne's company, HowStuffWorks.com, was acquired by Discovery Communications, then spun out Stuff Media, which iHeartMedia later acquired.
iHeart offered investment, marketing, and a large sales team, accelerating Stuff Media's growth.

INSIGHT

Synergy Between Radio and Podcasting

Conal Byrne emphasizes the unexpected synergy between iHeartMedia's broadcast radio talent and podcasting.
This synergy arises from radio talent's honed conversational skills developed over decades.

ANECDOTE

Broadcast Radio Promotion for Podcasts

iHeartMedia invests heavily in on-air promotion, spending $113 million yearly on broadcast radio ads for podcasts.
Promoting the Ron Burgundy podcast with hourly ads led to increased downloads and demonstrated the effectiveness of this strategy.

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We taped this episode live at Hot Pod Summit. That’s our conference for the podcast industry. We have a whole newsletter for podcasters. It’s called Hot Pod, written by our very own Ariel Shapiro. Hot Pod Summit is where we bring that community of creators, trendsetters and decision-makers together to explore the latest developments in podcasting, audiobooks, and more. It was a packed house and a great time.

We ended the day by recording our first-ever live Decoder with Conal Byrne, CEO of iHeartMedia’s digital audio group. Conal oversees podcasting at a giant radio company, and his group accounts for a quarter of iHeart’s revenue, which was $1 billion last quarter alone. His team makes some of the biggest podcasts around, with huge talent like Will Ferrell, Shonda Rhimes, and Charlamagne tha God, who you’ll hear Conal talk about quite a lot.

Conal and iHeart Digital earned that success by doing some unconventional things. Whereas other big podcasting players like Spotify and Apple have tried to boost revenue through subscriptions or platform exclusivity, Conal shunned those approaches and said he’s going for big audience reach, made possible in part by his ability to run ads and even shows on iHeart’s huge network of traditional radio stations.

But that maverick approach has included some controversial steps as well. Last year, Verge alumni and Bloomberg reporter Ashley Carman reported that iHeart worked with a firm called Jun Group to essentially buy podcast downloads through video games. To many in the industry, that seemed pretty disingenuous. So of course I asked Conal about that and lots more. He was a great guest, super game to answer the questions, especially in front of a live audience.

Links:

iHeartMedia Buys Stuff Media for $55 Million - WSJ

Podcasters Are Buying Millions of Listeners Through Mobile-Game Ads

Cost Per Thousand (CPM) Definition and Its Role in Marketing

Spotify reportedly paid $200 million for Joe Rogan’s podcast - The Verge

Chris Dixon thinks web3 is the future of the internet — is it? - Decoder, The Verge

Decoder with Nilay Patel (@decoderpod) Official | TikTok

Transcript:

https://www.theverge.com/e/23381445

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

It was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Jackie McDermott and it was edited by Callie Wright.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Editorial Director is Brooke Minters and our Executive Director is Eleanor Donovan.

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