iHeartMedia (NASDAQ: IHRT) announced it has entered into an agreement with The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) to acquire Triton Digital®, the global technology and services leader to the digital audio and podcast industry, for $230 million, subject to certain adjustments.
Triton Digital owns podcast host Omny Studio, podcast metrics, analytics services, and dynamic advertising.
In addition to measuring audiences for customers, Triton Digital operates the world’s first programmatic marketplace for digital audio programmatic ad-buying and Yield-Op, a world-class Supply Side Platform (SSP) that specializes in Audio and enables programmatic audio advertising.
With this acquisition, iHeartMedia will now be able to provide audio content to producers and advertisers with an industry-leading full ad service package for streaming and podcasting no matter their size, reach or distribution method.
Some history behind the acquisition
- EW Scripps bought Triton Digital for $150m in October 2018; Triton Digital paid $8.5m for Omny Studio in June 2019.
- EW Scripps previously sold Stitcher to SiriusXM for $325m in July 2020. Stitcher and Midroll cost Scripps $54.5m in 2016.
- iHeartMedia also owns podcast hosts Voxnest and Spreaker, podcast producer How Stuff Works, Mediabase and Media Monitors, radio software company RCS, and radio news website Inside Radio.
The addition of Triton Digital’s vast array of infrastructure and measurement solutions will complement iHeartMedia’s current advertising technology services, data platforms and programmatic platforms while providing additional solutions for those in the digital radio industry, allowing iHeartMedia to provide four distribution methods for audio, including on-demand, broadcast and digital streaming radio and podcasting, and to service all audio assets programmatically.
“Adding Triton Digital and its industry leading services to the iHeartMedia audio ecosystem establishes iHeartMedia as the only company with a total audio advertising technology and data solution,” said Bob Pittman, Chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia, Inc. “iHeart, with our strong leadership position in podcasting, digital radio and broadcast, already provides cutting edge audio management, programmatic and data solutions for the broadcast radio, digital audio and podcasting industries, and this acquisition further strengthens our position as the No. 1 audio company in America and provides unique — and critical — solutions for the industry and for advertisers.”
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