MONTREAL — Music service provider and broadcaster Stingray announced Friday it has acquired a 30% interest in The Podcast Exchange (TPX), the Toronto-based podcast enterprise co-founded by Jean-Marie Heimrath and Jeff Ulster.
In the news release, Stingray says TPX is “the Canadian leader in podcast advertising representing thousands of shows with over 70 million impressions per month across multiple genres and networks.” The release goes on to say “TPX’s ‘network’ approach to podcasting is not contingent on a one or two-hits model to drive ad revenue but rather offers important potential for return through scale and flexibility.”
Stingray says the investment will give the company a head start in podcast digital ad revenue and support its growth in the key 18-34 demographic. In addition, the transaction will give Stingray a platform to test owned and operated podcasts and take advantage of the existing TPX ecosystem to drive listenership of Stingray products and services, the release says.
“Stingray’s investment in The Podcast Exchange will provide Stingray and Stingray Radio with a toehold in the fast-growing ad-supported podcast market thus supplementing our radio and digital audio products,” said Eric Boyko, president, co-founder and CEO of Stingray, in the news release. “This strategic investment is a bold move to show our continued commitment to deliver new and innovative content to Canadian consumers and brands. Having the means to deliver music, radio, and podcasts to listeners will pave the way for Stingray’s market position as Canada’s only true ‘Audio Everywhere’ provider.”
Jean-Marie Heimrath, president and CEO of The Podcast Exchange, added: “This strategic investment will support TPX growth plans in media sales and launch our content production and consulting offerings in 2020.”
