News

Jason and Travis Kelce are taking their New Heights podcast to Wondery.

The brothers have signed a reported nine-figure deal, handing the Amazon-owned podcast company rights to distribute their show, along with exclusive ad-sales representation.

The multi-year agreement also gives Wondery global distribution rights to all audio and video episodes of New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce and its back catalog. Wondery can also create international adaptations.

Since its launch in 2022, New Heights has been with Wave Sports + Entertainment, but now transfers to Wondery, which is known for the likes of Dr. Death, Business Wars, Scamfluencers and American Scandal. The show follows the NFL stars’ personal and sporting lives, plus insight on football and pop culture. It is a regular top sports podcast on Apple and Spotify. Wave will continue to provide production services.

The move comes in a big year for the brothers. Jason retired from the...

In audio storytelling, finding the right music can be challenging. There’s an abundance of well-produced, ear-catching, front-and-center music libraries—but music that draws attention to itself is often the last thing your narrative needs. For years, we've wrestled with this problem, finding it's sometimes faster and more successful to compose our own music. But that’s not an option for everyone.

So on August 20th, we’re introducing Thrumm at Podcast Movement in Washington, D.C.

Thrumm isn't just another production music library. It's a carefully considered system, born from countless hours of podcast production and music composition. We've distilled our experience into a collection of thousands of tracks organized not by genre, but by narrative function: Action, Exposition, Resolution, and Tension.

This approach is simple, yet powerful. It allows you to intuitively match music to your story's emotional arc, saving time and enhancing your narrative.

“The power of...

Award-winning podcaster and CEO of Airship, Lindsay Graham, has announced a multi-show partnership with Rhapsody Voices for the first launch of the new true crime podcast American Criminal.

With a Webby award and Ambie nominations, Graham is no stranger to leading chart-topping podcasts. He has amassed hundreds of millions of listens through his podcasts American Scandal, American History Tellers, History Daily, American Elections: Wicked Game and more.

This new venture, however, sees Graham jump into the world of true crime. American Criminal is a weekly true crime podcast that dives deep into the country’s most infamous felons, historical and modern, from mob bosses to Crypto kings. Every week, the show reveals the men and women who cheated, lied, and murdered in their own twisted pursuit of the American dream.

Hosted by Jeremy Schwartz, each episode of American Criminal is as thoroughly researched as it is gripping. Listeners will delve...

A giant in the world of podcasting needs a “sonic signature.”

So when the prolific publisher Wondery decided it was time to brand its product by establishing an unforgettable signature, its leaders hired the creative-design firm, Made Music, behind the iconic static-screen clip that opens every HBO show. Wondery CEO Jen Sargent recalls that the branding exercise in 2018 helped the company fine-tune its vision of what Wondery podcasts should deliver to listeners.

“Imagine six or seven of us sitting in a room and asking ourselves, ‘Does this sound like wonder to you? Does this sound like wondering?’” recalls Sargent.

The efforts proved to be time well spent. Since Wondery’s launch in early 2016, podcasting as a medium has seen its listener base skyrocket. Wondery has blossomed into one of the largest producers of popular, recurring podcast series including “SmartLess,” a freewheeling conversation hosted by actors Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett.

Today, premium podcast studio Wondery announced three new free ad-supported (Fast) Channels that will launch on Amazon Freevee, as a new entry point for audiences to discover Wondery’s premium content. Wondery’s three new Fast Channels will be the first podcast video channels on Freevee, featuring over 20 Wondery series, centered around True Crime, Sports, and Entertainment & Pop Culture.

Starting October 31, Freevee viewers can discover new and old episodes of Wondery’s fan-favorite podcasts through a mix of on-camera video, cinemagraphs, animation, and show artwork from series like Morbid, Business Wars, Dr. Death and Baby, this is Keke Palmer. These new Fast channels highlight Wondery’s unique brand of immersive storytelling to audiences through a video-first free streaming service like Amazon Freevee.All Fast Channels available on Freevee can be accessed through the Freevee app, as well as within Fire TV and Prime Video.

“With podcast video being a means...

Launching a third season, Sound Judgment takes listeners into the studios — and the minds — of your favorite audio storytellers.

Unlike virtually every other show about podcasting, Sound Judgment explores the audio storytelling craft, not the business of podcasting.

In each episode, journalist Elaine Appleton Grant and a top audio creator deconstruct an episode of the guest’s show. It’s not just a revealing conversation about the art and craft of audio storytelling, it’s a sound-rich narrative interview: Grant plays back clips from her guest’s podcast. Together, they explore the storyteller’s creative choices in a “living learning lab.”

In its first year, the critically acclaimed podcast has been called “your online master’s degree in audio storytelling” by Whisper, Speak, Roar Media; “a masterclass in podcasting” by Ear Worthy, and “required listening for our profession” by the supervising podcasting producer at ABC News. Grant made Ear Worthy...

Bone Valley hosts Gilbert King and Kelsey Decker appear on Sound Judgment. Together with Sound Judgment host Elaine Appleton Grant, they unpack the process of crafting Bone Valley into one of 2022’s most talked-about wrongful conviction podcasts. The Sound Judgment episode drops two days after The Podcast Academy hosts the Ambies—its Third Annual Awards for Excellence in Audio. Bone Valley is the recent winner of two Ambie awards: Best Documentary Podcast and Best Reporting.

Decker and King, who won the Pulitzer for his book Devil in the Grove, dissect Bone Valley episode 5, “Bam Bam,” which introduces a character who they suspect could be the killer of Leo Schofield’s wife. Slate called Bone Valley “heartbreaking from bow to stern, in part because King and Decker treat their flawed, complicated subjects…with a ferocious empathy and patience uncommon in any medium.” Rebecca Lavoie of Crime Writers On … calls it “arguably...

Seasoned engineer, production manager and narrator Andrew Parella is joining Podcast Allies as production manager. He has a long background in public radio and podcasting.

He began his radio career in 2002 at Wgbh in Boston, moving to New Hampshire Public Radio as production manager in 2007. A talented audio engineer, producer and sound designer, Parella is, above all, a masterful manager. He's been instrumental in growing Tradeoffs, a podcast founded by Marketplace alum Dan Goreinstein. Tradeoffs is one of the key sources for policy makers, health care leaders and the public on healthcare in America today.

Having Parella manage Podcast Allies' production services allows the company to expand and serve more and larger clients.

It also gives Podcast Allies the capacity to offer radio show development, host and editor training services to public radio leaders. The company takes a "Sound Judgment" approach. This places the listener at the center of everything we do,...