The Spanish-language media giant Prisa says it produced a total of 1,200 podcasts during 2022. That included 82 new podcasts that it launched, of which 54 were created by the group's own media team, 17 are productions for third parties, and 11 are branded podcasts. Prisa says that has allowed its audio division to “practically double” its revenue during the past year. Advertising and sponsored content have seen growth of 43% compared to 2021 and revenue from new lines such as third-party production, events and intellectual property management have doubled, it announced in a presentation to advertisers last week.
Prisa Audio was launched in May 2021 as part of the company’s digital strategy. It brings together the non-linear audio content of its radio brands such as W Radio, Caracol Radio, and Los40 with its Madrid newspaper El Pais.
“Combining, as Prisa Audio does, creativity and innovation with the power of our news media brands and technological development is decisive in the streaming industry,” said Carlos Núñez, Executive Chairperson of Prisa Media said, while also noting the importance of group's expansion strategy in Latin America.
So far, its Hoy en El Pais podcast has had 15 million downloads and is expanding to Saturdays and Sundays thanks to its Podimo partnership. As a top-ranking podcast producer in the Spanish-speaking world, PRISA Audio also strengthened its presence in Latin America in 2022 with the debut of the Podium Podcast Chile portal.
In addition to Podimo, Prisa also worked with third parties including iHeartMedia, Spotify, Amazon Music and Penguin Random House. And more growth is planned for 2023. “Our goal is to become a key agent of transformation in the podcast industry,” said María Jesús Espinosa de los Monteros, Managing Director of Prisa Audio.
Prisa Media has been looking to carve out a podcast business since it created Podium Podcast in 2016 as a global network of podcasts in Spanish. The company says Podium Podcast saw net downloads rise by 36% last year as it produced 25 new titles. That included a branded podcast for BMW (Cambio de Sentido) and Audio (Road to Dakar 2023). Other branded podcasts have been produced for LaLiga, Caixa Forum, Ericsson, the State Lottery and Banco Sabadell.
Prisa also strengthened its presence in Latin America in 2022 with the debut of Podium Podcast Chile. With this launch, the group now offers Chilean listeners a portal where they can consume content, including the entire Prisa Media catalog. More recently, Podium Podcast has also launched in Colombia and will soon make its debut in Mexico, culminating its expansion in Latin America.
Prisa already operates in the U.S. via its Grupo Latino de Radio- GLR subsidiary which owns or operates “Caracol 1260” WSUA Miami and “W Radio 690” XEWW Tijuana-San Diego (690).
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