ViacomCBS and iHeartMedia Ink Three-Year Deal for Dozens of Podcasts

Todd Spangler
·2 min read

ViacomCBS will have an extra-large helping of podcasts coming to iHeartMedia under a three-year deal between the companies.

Under the deal, ViacomCBS’ Entertainment & Youth Group — which comprises MTV, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, Smithsonian Channel, Pop TV, CMT, VH1, TV Land and Logo — will work with iHeartMedia’s podcast group to create dozens of original podcasts. The shows will include both new original podcasts and ones based on ViacomCBS’s stable of brands, and will cut across genres including music, comedy, pop culture and history.

The initial slate includes an expanded lineup of audio content from Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah” with additional original podcasts from the show’s correspondents and more, as well as a “Yo! MTV Raps” podcast, the seminal hip-hop music and interview series. Those join two existing podcasts from Comedy Central — “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah: Ears Edition,” launched in 2018 and featuring episode highlights and extended interviews, and “The Daily Show: Podcast Universe,” launched last year, a five-episode miniseries in which each segments parodies a popular podcast or genre.

Under the deal, ViacomCBS E&Y and iHeartMedia will work together on production, distribution, marketing and advertising sales, with iHeart leading on the ad-sales front.

“We are excited to partner with iHeartMedia, the leading global commercial podcast publisher to expand our hit shows and IP into hit franchises,” said Keyes Hill-Edgar, chief operating officer of ViacomCBS’ Entertainment & Youth Group. “iHeart’s wide distribution and availability across a number of leading platforms align well with our global reach and audiences.”

Conal Byrne, president of the iHeartPodcast Network, said the company will “swing all of our resources behind these incredible brands… to make sure they get the audience they deserve in this incredible new medium.”

All of the ViacomCBS audio series under the deal will be distributed through the iHeartPodcast Network and available on iHeartRadio, and also will be available on major podcast platforms.

Separately Wednesday, iHeartMedia announced a pact with popular radio host Charlamagne tha God to launch the Black Effect Podcast Network, to debut with 18 shows this fall anchored by his own syndicated radio show “The Breakfast Club.”

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