Audacy Pitches Audio At NewFronts

The audio streamer Audacy made its first appearance at the virtual NewFronts Wednesday, making the case that audio creates an intimate bond with listeners, something marketers can capitalize on with campaigns they can buy across the company’s vast network of radio stations, podcasts, website and events, reports AdWeek.

“People are more receptive to receiving a message from someone they know and someone they trust,” Ken Lagana, Audacy’s evp digital sales and strategy, said during the NewFront virtual presentation, which Adweek received in advance. “Audio is the most engaging impression you can buy in media. Period. Only audio can build these kinds of relationships.”

Part of Audacy’s pitch to marketers is its recent expansion and rebrand. Audacy launched in March, as the new incarnation of Entercom Communications, a radio broadcasting company founded in 1968 that owns 230 radio stations across the country.

Paul Suchman

To bolster its foothold in the growing audio business, the company has been making strategic acquisitions over the past several years, including podcast studios Cadence13, Pineapple Street Studios and Podcorn. Popular shows that came with those acquisitions were Stay Tuned With Preet, Missing Richard Simmons and It Was Said With Jon Meacham.

Audacy also acquired the sports data company QL Gaming Group. Users can access information through Audacy to make sports bets using the latest data and player stats.

The rebranding under one name was a move to show audiences and marketers that it’s now a one-stop shopping for listeners’ audio needs.

“We were truly a house of brands that wasn’t perceived by the market as a branded house,” Paul Suchman, Audacy’s cmo, told Adweek.

Audacy will also present at the IAB Podcast Upfront May 13. “Our buyers are there, our audiences are there,” Suchman said. “And the planners, the strategists, the executives who will be seeing our brand and seeing our content are thinking holistically about media plans more than ever. We need to be part of that media ecosystem conversation.”