In a move to expand the reach of its podcasts around the globe, iHeartMedia has formed a strategic alliance with Copenhagen-based Podimo to translate and adapt popular podcasts into different languages. Podimo is currently live in Denmark, Germany, Spain, and across Latin America.
“We’re excited to partner with a podcast innovator like Podimo and use iHeartMedia’s unparalleled ability to introduce podcast listening at scale to bring some of the most fascinating local podcasts to millions of listeners worldwide,” said Conal Byrne, President of the iHeartPodcast Network. “Podcast listening continues to see tremendous growth as more and more listeners seek out layered storytelling, and we believe this venture with Podimo will help us to introduce great podcasts to new fans around the world,” he said in the announcement.
The first podcast to be adapted will be Forgotten: Women of Juárez about femicides in Mexico’s most dangerous city. It will be translated into Spanish, German and Danish. The podcast was released in June as a coproduction with Unusual Productions, featuring hosts Mónica Ortiz Uribe and Oz Woloshyn investigating the theories surrounding the disappearance of hundreds of young women along the Mexican border city of Juárez.
With obvious appeal to a Latin American audience, recreating Forgotten: Women of Juárez for the Spanish-speaking listener will be the first project Podimo undertakes. The retitled Olvidadas: Muertes de Juárez will feature both existing content from the original podcast, plus new elements including additional interviews with hosts Rossana Fuentes-Berain and Sandra Romandía. The adapted podcast series will be released in early 2021 in 20 countries in Latin America, as well as in Spain and in the U.S. The series will be recreated for the German and Danish markets at a later date.
“We know that around 90% of all listening on Podimo is on local language podcasts, so translating good stories will help grow the audience for these stories tremendously,” said Eva Lægdsgaard, Chief of Strategic Relations at Podimo. “In the podcast business, everything begins and ends with great storytelling. But for great stories to have a great life, we need to drive large-scale listening numbers for our podcasters and publishers – both locally and globally. This will help them monetize their content on a much bigger scale, and that is the very core of our business model.”
Launched in 2019, Podimo currently features more than 400 podcasts that it created or has licensed. In May it became the latest podcasting company to raise capital despite the COVID-19 impact on the public markets, obtaining $16.5 million in Series A funding led by 83North with participation from existing investors e.ventures and Heartcore. That adds to the $6.6 million in seed funding raised last July.