Bloomberg Media has announced its first five podcasts under its multiyear deal announced last May with iHeartMedia. The two companies plan to release five new podcasts this year. Over the course of the next three years, more than a dozen podcasts are planned.
The rollout begins with a daily show on cryptocurrencies hosted by Stacy-Marie Ishmael, who is the managing editor for crypto at Bloomberg News. The show called "Bloomberg Crypto" will dive into how digital assets are affecting our lives, examining the players and what’s at stake in this unproven financial landscape. It will debut June 2.
Then in July, the political series “Bedrock, USA” will roll out. It is a limited-run series that will be hosted by Bloomberg CityLab reporter Laura Bliss. Bloomberg will release two more in September, including a podcast called “In Trust,” which is also a limited-run series about the land ownership of one of the wealthiest families in Osage County, OK. A daily series called “The Big Take” is also slotted for release. The Weston Kosova-hosted show will offer a take on the day’s biggest news. Then in October, Bloomberg Opinion senior columnist Tim O’Brien will host a new podcast called “Crash Course.”
Bloomberg will produce the shows while the iHeartPodcast Network will distribute them and alongside Bloomberg’s own in-house sales team, iHeart will also sell advertising on the shows. The deal also calls for iHeart to market the shows to its radio listeners and on other podcasts.
Jared Sandberg, Bloomberg’s Senior Executive Editor for Digital, told Digiday that the alliance with iHeart will help expose the business brand to people who may not be familiar with Bloomberg. “So, if we can expose what we consider to be very good work to new people, perhaps they will explore some of our other offerings,” he said.
Bloomberg is not a podcast newcomer. It already produces a lineup of about 20 business-related podcasts including the incredibly popular "Masters in Business", "Odd Lots", "Foundering", and "The Pay Check", among others. A company rep told Digiday that it saw an 11% increase in its podcast audience during 2021.
Bloomberg and iHeartMedia are already in business on the radio dial with several iHeart-owned radio stations airing its broadcast content including “News Radio 850” KOA Denver and “News Radio 1200” WOAI San Antonio.