Earlier this week, podcast startup Gimlet raised $15 million — which gave us the opportunity to note that investors have not been clamoring to put money into podcasting.
More money for podcasting: Radio network Entercom invests in podcast network Dgital Media
The broadcaster is taking a 45 percent stake in the startup.
Peter Kafka covered media and technology, and their intersection, at Vox. Many of his stories can be found in his Kafka on Media newsletter, and he also hosts the Recode Media podcast.
Now, here’s another investor putting money into podcasting: Entercom, the fourth-largest radio broadcaster in the U.S., is buying 45 percent of Dgital Media, a podcast producer/network whose roster includes political shows like Pod Save America.
Dgital Media also works closely with Recode and our parent company Vox Media — it provides production services for Recode’s podcasts and sell ads for all of Vox Media’s podcasts.
So we’re quite conflicted here, and will keep this short. Just a couple quick notes:
- Entercom isn’t providing details about the size of its investment and the valuation it is placing on Dgital. But the investment is part cash and part in-kind services — “significant annual marketing and promotional support across its nationwide broadcast radio platform.” That is, it will promote and sell Dgital’s shows on its radio network.
- Entercom should get much bigger later this year once it swallows up CBS Radio, a move that will double its size and make it the second-largest radio network. Last year, the two companies did a combined $1.7 billion in revenue.
- Yes, this is another investment in podcasting, which makes the “investors don’t want to bet on podcasting” thesis I was advancing earlier a bit flimsier. On the other hand, it’s a strategic investor who is entrenched in the dominant/existing audio business, not a venture capitalist. Which may or may not mean something.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
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