TuneIn–Stingray Merger Opens New Distribution Doors For Podcasters, CEO Says.

TuneIn CEO Rich Stern says the company’s pending sale to Stingray Group, a Montreal-based music, media and technology company, will create “a great position” for audio creators as the platform continues to distribute millions of podcasts while expanding across more devices and environments. But even with a larger global footprint, TuneIn’s podcast approach remains largely unchanged and intentionally disciplined.

“We’re going to continue to distribute millions of podcasts,” Stern says, noting TuneIn’s ongoing commitment to serving creators who want broad reach. In an interview, he explains that the company is focused on being helpful to the podcast community, especially as the combined company brings more distribution touchpoints across smart speakers, connected cars, and connected TVs.

But Stern also makes it clear that TuneIn’s business model isn’t shifting into full-scale podcast production or exclusive monetization. “It’s not in the cards for us,” he says. “We’re not going to be making podcasts or competing with some of the large podcast studios on the distribution or monetization side.”

Stern says the economics of the category remain difficult, explaining their decision is grounded in realities of a business where the number of active shows tops 600,000. “Podcasting as a market has a pretty brutal power curve,” he says, pointing to the dominance of the biggest shows with the top 100 shows attracting the most listeners. TuneIn’s role, he says, is to ensure access to the most sought-after titles.

“We’ve just made the decision that it makes sense to focus on the most popular podcasts. We still have millions of them on the platform, but our investment is in the most popular — what people who come to our platform are most likely looking for,” Stern says. “I can understand why that can be frustrating to some of the upstarts that are looking for audience.”

He acknowledges why smaller creators may want distribution via TuneIn. “It’s a big feather in your cap to be able to say, ‘Go ask for my podcast on Alexa, and it shows up,’” says Stern. But the platform’s priorities remain tied to its broadcast heritage. “Our business is really about the broadcast community,” he says.

Even as podcasting won’t become TuneIn’s primary focus, the company has taken steps to improve accessibility for creators. That includes tools to help make it easier for podcasters to get onto the app. But those additions support — not redirect — the platform’s mission.

In the end, Stern says TuneIn now enters a stronger era with Stingray, but its goals remain grounded. “We know what business we’re in. We know what business we’re not,” he says.

Years In the Making

Stingray will pay up to $175 million to buy TuneIn. The streaming app currently has more than 5 million podcasts and more than 100,000 radio station streams, along with music channels, news, sports, and audiobooks.

“We’ve been partners for more than three years,” Stern says. TuneIn distributes and monetizes Stingray’s group of Canadian radio stations and the music streaming service Calm Radio in its subscription bundle. “We started as business partners working together, and we picked up real quickly that our cultures and values were very compatible,” Stern says. Earlier this year, the two companies’ finances aligned in such a way that it made sense to bring the companies together.

Stingray CEO Eric Boyko sees TuneIn’s “advertising machine” as the heart of the deal. In a call with his investors last week, he noted TuneIn’s ad revenue is not only growing by 40% year-over-year, but it’s capable of immediately boosting revenue across Stingray’s FAST channels, retail-media network, and music apps where it currently has $500 million worth of unsold ads. “TuneIn will help us sell this unsold inventory,” Boyko said.

TuneIn shareholders still need to approve the sale of the privately held company. It also needs to secure regulatory approvals. Following the acquisition, the TuneIn platform will continue to operate under its existing brand.

“This isn’t an ending, this isn’t an exit,” Stern says. “This is a new beginning.”