Audioboom going all-out with crime podcasts, signs deal with A+E

Commercial podcasting producer and platform provider Audioboom Group updated the market on its ‘Audioboom Originals Network’ on Monday, announcing the launch of new, higher margin owned shows.

The AIM-traded firm said the Audioboom Originals Network (AOM), launched in 2017, was owned and operated by Audioboom.

It said that, given its success to date, it had assigned a portion of the funds raised earlier in June to further expand production.

To date, AON has produced 11 shows, including political talk show 'The 45th'; sci-fi-fi comedy 'Mission to Zyxx'; black ops documentary 'Covert', and true crime history podcast, 'Mafia'.

The company said the latter two shows were a co-production between Audioboom and UK-based video production company World Media Rights.

'Covert' and 'Mafia' were based on their successful television series, 'Mafia's Greatest Hits' and 'Black Ops'.

Thus far, 'Mafia' was Audioboom's most successful original content production with more than 175,000 listens per episode in its first season.

The second season of 'Mafia' was set to premier on 20 June.

Additionally, Audioboom said it would launch three more shows by the end of the third quarter, including the tentatively titled 'Dead Man Talking' which would investigate the confessions of Angel Maturino Reséndiz, aka 'The Railroad Killer', whose admission to a string of murders was captured on tape.

Hosted by British journalist Alex Hannaford, 'Dead Man Talking' was slated for release on 25 September.

As it announced on 8 June, the company's board believed that the leading AON podcasts had individual annual revenue potentials of between $0.1m and $0.9m.

It said that importantly, it believed that original content generated a higher margin for Audioboom and it viewed the creation of AON original content as being central to the success of the company's business model.

Additionally, Audioboom said it had finalised a production, advertising sales and distribution deal with US cable and satellite television company A+E Networks.

Audioboom, which opened production studios in New York City and Los Angeles to coincide with the launch of AON in 2017, would produce podcasts based on existing A+E Networks programmes, as well as new shows unique to on-demand audio.

It said it would work closely with the satellite television company to develop a pipeline of audio content which would be available from AON.

“The potential to drive higher margin returns by expanding AON's portfolio remains a cornerstone of our growth strategy,” said Audioboom chief executive Rob Proctor.

“The success to date underpins our desire to build on the strong momentum achieved as we look for innovative ways to capture increased audience share and grow our revenue streams.

“We've already seen podcasts becoming a go-to inspiration for television producers and we're excited to explore the flip side of that phenomenon by partnering with World Media Rights and A+E Networks to produce great new podcasts inspired by must-see TV.”