Q4 2026 PodcastOne Inc Earnings Call
Operator 3: Good morning. Thank you for standing by. The conference will begin shortly. Good morning, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to PodcastOne's fiscal Q4 and full year ended 31 March 2026 financial results and business update Conference Call. During today's call, all participants will be in listen-only mode. Following the presentation, the conference will be opened for questions. Presenting on today's call is Kit Gray, President and Founder of PodcastOne, and Craig Christensen, Interim Chief Financial Officer. I would like to remind you that some of the statements made on today's call are forward-looking and based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that involve various risks and uncertainties. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the future performance of the company, including expected future financial results and expected future growth in the business.
[Company Representative]: Good morning. Thank you for standing by. The conference will begin shortly.
Speaker #2: shortly.
Speaker #3: Good morning, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to PodcastOne's fiscal fourth quarter and full year ended March 31, 2026, financial results and business update conference call.
[Company Representative]: Good morning, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to PodcastOne's Fiscal Q4 and Full-year ended 31 March 2026 Financial Results and Business Update Conference Call. During today's call, all participants will be in listen-only mode. Following the presentation, the conference will be opened for questions. Presenting on today's call is Kit Gray, President and Founder of PodcastOne, and Craig Christensen, Interim Chief Financial Officer.
Speaker #3: During today's call, all participants will be in listen-only mode. Following the presentation, the conference will be opened for questions. Presenting on today's call are Kit Gray, President and Founder of PodcastOne, and Craig Christensen, Interim Chief Financial Officer.
Speaker #3: I would like to remind you that some of the statements made on today's call are forward-looking and based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that involve various risks and uncertainties.
[Company Representative]: I would like to remind you that some of the statements made on today's call are forward-looking and based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that involve various risks and uncertainties. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the future performance of the company, including expected future financial results and expected future growth in the business.
Speaker #3: These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the future performance of the company, including expected future financial results and expected future growth in the business.
Speaker #3: Actual results may differ materially from those discussed on this call for a variety of reasons. Please refer to the company's filings with the SEC for information about factors that could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements.
Operator 3: Actual results may differ materially from those discussed on this call for a variety of reasons. Please refer to the company's filings with the SEC for information about factors which could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements, including those described in its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended 31 March 2026, and subsequent SEC filings. You'll find reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures discussed today in the company's earnings release, which is posted on its investor relations website. The company encourages you to periodically visit its investor relations website for important content. The following discussion, including responses to your questions, contains time-sensitive information and reflects management's view as of the date of this call, 24 June 2026.
[Company Representative]: Actual results may differ materially from those discussed on this call for a variety of reasons. Please refer to the company's filings with the SEC for information about factors which could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements, including those described in its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended 31 March 2026, and subsequent SEC filings.
Speaker #3: Including those described in its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2026, and subsequent SEC filings. You'll find reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures discussed today in the company's earnings release, which is posted on its investor relations website.
[Company Representative]: You'll find reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures discussed today in the company's earnings release, which is posted on its investor relations website. The company encourages you to periodically visit its investor relations website for important content. The following discussion, including responses to your questions, contains time-sensitive information and reflects management's view as of the date of this call, 24 June 2026.
Speaker #3: The company encourages you to periodically visit its investor relations website for important content. The following discussion, including responses to your questions, contains time-sensitive information and reflects management's view as of the date of this call, June 24, 2026. Except as required by law, the company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise this information after today's call.
Operator 3: Except as required by law, the company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise this information after today's call. I'd like to highlight to all participants that this call is being recorded. The company will make it available to investors and media via webcast, and a replay will be available on its website in the investor relations section shortly following the conclusion of the call. Additionally, it is the property of the company, and any redistribution, transmission, or rebroadcast of this call or the webcast in any form without the company's expressed written consent is strictly prohibited. I would now like to turn the call over to PodcastOne's President, Kit Gray.
[Company Representative]: Except as required by law, the company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise this information after today's call. I'd like to highlight to all participants that this call is being recorded. The company will make it available to investors and media via webcast, and a replay will be available on its website in the investor relations section shortly following the conclusion of the call.
Speaker #3: I'd like to highlight to all participants that this call is being recorded. The company will make it available to investors and media via webcast, and a replay will be available on its website in the Investor Relations section shortly following the conclusion of the call.
Speaker #3: Additionally, it is the property of the company, and any redistribution, transmission, or rebroadcast of this call or the webcast in any form, without the company’s express written consent, is strictly prohibited.
[Company Representative]: Additionally, it is the property of the company, and any redistribution, transmission, or rebroadcast of this call or the webcast in any form without the company's expressed written consent is strictly prohibited. I would now like to turn the call over to PodcastOne's President, Kit Gray.
Speaker #3: I would now like to turn the call over to PodcastOne's president, Kit Gray.
Speaker #2: Welcome to our fiscal fourth quarter and full-year 2026 earnings call. As a reminder, our fiscal year begins on April 1. This quarter marked a strong finish to fiscal 2026 and reflected the continued execution of our strategy to grow PodcastOne through premium content, strategic talent partnerships, diversified monetization, and technology-driven operations.
Kit Gray: Welcome to our fiscal Q4 and full year 2026 earnings call. As a reminder, our fiscal year begins on 1 April. This quarter marked a strong finish to fiscal 2026 and reflected the continued execution of our strategy to grow PodcastOne through premium content, strategic talent partnerships, diversified monetization, and technology-driven operations. Throughout the year, we strengthened our position as one of the leading podcast publishers in the industry while expanding our network with established creator brands, developing original content, and driving meaningful growth across our advertising platform. PodcastOne continues to distinguish itself as the leading pure play podcasting platform in the public markets through a vertically integrated model that combines talent development, content creation, distribution, analytics, monetization, and operational efficiencies, all supported by our AI-powered infrastructure. Our AI toolkit continues to enhance performance across every aspect of the business. Flightpath drives predictive profitability.
Kit Gray: Welcome to our fiscal Q4 and full year 2026 earnings call. As a reminder, our fiscal year begins on 1 April. This quarter marked a strong finish to fiscal 2026 and reflected the continued execution of our strategy to grow PodcastOne through premium content, strategic talent partnerships, diversified monetization, and technology-driven operations.
Speaker #2: Throughout the year, we strengthened our position as one of the leading podcast publishers in the industry, while expanding our network with established creator brands, developing original content, and driving meaningful growth across all our advertising platforms.
Kit Gray: Throughout the year, we strengthened our position as one of the leading podcast publishers in the industry while expanding our network with established creator brands, developing original content, and driving meaningful growth across our advertising platform.
Speaker #2: PodcastOne continues to distinguish itself as the leading pure-play podcasting platform in the public markets through a vertically integrated model that combines talent development, content creation, distribution, analytics, monetization, and operational efficiencies, all supported by our AI-powered infrastructure.
Kit Gray: PodcastOne continues to distinguish itself as the leading pure play podcasting platform in the public markets through a vertically integrated model that combines talent development, content creation, distribution, analytics, monetization, and operational efficiencies, all supported by our AI-powered infrastructure. Our AI toolkit continues to enhance performance across every aspect of the business. Flightpath drives predictive profitability.
Speaker #2: Our AI toolkit continues to enhance performance across every aspect of the business. Flight Path drives productive profitability, boosts skills, advertising management, and proposal recommendations. Adobe Audition ensures best-in-class audio quality.
Kit Gray: Booster scales advertising management and proposal recommendations. Adobe Audition ensures best-in-class audio quality. Pod Engine supports discoverability through SEO and in-search. Magellan AI powers advertising attribution, and OpusClip converts long-form video into short-form content that fuels audience growth across platforms. Our team constantly uses AI-based search components to discover new talent, match trending topics to specific content created on our programs, and more. These tools directly support how we grow shows, monetize audiences, and operate more efficiently at scale. Throughout the quarter, we continued expanding and strengthening our content portfolio through a combination of new talent partnerships, creator renewals, and original content development. We added several established creator-led podcasts to the PodcastOne network, including "The Wellness Cafe," "No Filter with Zack Peter," and "The Michelle Collins Show." These additions expand our reach across lifestyle, entertainment, and culture categories, while providing advertisers with access to highly engaged audiences.
Kit Gray: Booster scales advertising management and proposal recommendations. Adobe Audition ensures best-in-class audio quality. Pod Engine supports discoverability through SEO and in-search. Magellan AI powers advertising attribution, and OpusClip converts long-form video into short-form content that fuels audience growth across platforms.
Speaker #2: Claude Engine supports discoverability through SEO and insights. Magellan AI powers advertising attribution, and Opus Pro converts long-form video into short-form content that fuels audience growth across platforms.
Speaker #2: Our team constantly uses AI-based search components to discover new talent, match trending topics to specific content created on our programs, and more. These tools directly support how we grow shows, monetize audiences, and operate more efficiently at scale.
Kit Gray: Our team constantly uses AI-based search components to discover new talent, match trending topics to specific content created on our programs, and more. These tools directly support how we grow shows, monetize audiences, and operate more efficiently at scale. Throughout the quarter, we continued expanding and strengthening our content portfolio through a combination of new talent partnerships, creator renewals, and original content development.
Speaker #2: Throughout the quarter, we continued expanding and strengthening our content portfolios through a combination of new talent partnerships, creator renewals, and original content development. We added several established creator-led podcasts to the PodcastOne network, including Wellness Cafe, No Filter with Zach Peter, and The Michelle Collins Show.
Kit Gray: We added several established creator-led podcasts to the PodcastOne network, including "The Wellness Cafe," "No Filter with Zack Peter," and "The Michelle Collins Show." These additions expand our reach across lifestyle, entertainment, and culture categories, while providing advertisers with access to highly engaged audiences.
Speaker #2: These additions expand our reach across lifestyle, entertainment, and culture categories, while providing advertisers with access to highly engaged audiences. We also continued investing in original content with the development and launch of "It's Okay, We're All Gonna Die with Nurse Julie," demonstrating our ability to identify emerging talent and create new intellectual property within the PodcastOne ecosystem.
Kit Gray: We also continued investing in original content with the development and launch of "It re All Gonna Die with Nurse Julie," demonstrating our ability to identify emerging talent and create new intellectual property within the PodcastOne ecosystem. Across our network, PodcastOne creators continued to attract high-profile guests and cultural influencers, spanning entertainment, business, health, and public affairs. Notable appearances during the quarter include Mel Robbins on "Off The Vine," Jerry Seinfeld on "The Adam Carolla Show," Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on "The Adam Carolla Show," Meredith Marks on "Let Me Save You 25 Years," and Morgan Stewart on "Yesterday." These appearances demonstrate the reach, relevance, and influence of PodcastOne programming across multiple audience segments. Our momentum throughout the year was further reflected in PodcastOne's growing industry standing.
Kit Gray: We also continued investing in original content with the development and launch of "It re All Gonna Die with Nurse Julie," demonstrating our ability to identify emerging talent and create new intellectual property within the PodcastOne ecosystem.
Speaker #2: Across our network, PodcastOne creators continue to attract high-profile guests and cultural influencers spanning entertainment, business, health, and public affairs. Notable appearances during the quarter include Mel Robbins on Off the Vine, Jerry Seinfeld on The Adam Carolla Show, and Robert F.
Kit Gray: Across our network, PodcastOne creators continued to attract high-profile guests and cultural influencers, spanning entertainment, business, health, and public affairs. Notable appearances during the quarter include Mel Robbins on "Off The Vine," Jerry Seinfeld on "The Adam Carolla Show," Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on "The Adam Carolla Show," Meredith Marks on "Let Me Save You 25 Years," and Morgan Stewart on "Yesterday."
Speaker #2: Kennedy Jr. on The Adam Cole Show, Meredith Marks on Let Me Save You 25 Years, and Morgan Stewart on Yesterdays. These appearances demonstrate the reach, relevance, and influence of PodcastOne programming across multiple audience segments.
Kit Gray: These appearances demonstrate the reach, relevance, and influence of PodcastOne programming across multiple audience segments. Our momentum throughout the year was further reflected in PodcastOne's growing industry standing.
Speaker #2: Our momentum throughout the year was further reflected in PodcastOne's growing industry standing. During the quarter, Triton ranked PodcastOne as the seventh largest podcast publisher in the United States, highlighting continued audience growth and the increasing scale of our platform.
Kit Gray: During the quarter, Podtrac ranked PodcastOne as the seventh largest podcast publisher in the United States, highlighting continued audience growth and the increasing scale of our platform. Our monetization platform continued to deliver strong results as advertisers increasingly embraced podcasting as a measurable and scalable media channel. Programmatic advertising revenue more than doubled compared to the same January through March period of the prior year, reflecting growing advertiser demand for premium podcast inventory and the continued success of our technology-enabled advertising solutions. This growth demonstrates the effectiveness of our investment in dynamic ad insertion, inventory expansion, audience targeting, and automated buying capabilities. As advertisers continued shifting budgets towards digital audio and podcasting, PodcastOne remains well-positioned to capture increasing demand through both direct sales and programmatic channels.
Kit Gray: During the quarter, Podtrac ranked PodcastOne as the seventh largest podcast publisher in the United States, highlighting continued audience growth and the increasing scale of our platform. Our monetization platform continued to deliver strong results as advertisers increasingly embraced podcasting as a measurable and scalable media channel.
Speaker #2: Our monetization platform continued to deliver strong results as advertisers increasingly embraced podcasting as a measurable and scalable media channel. Programmatic advertising revenue more than doubled compared to the same January through March period of the prior year, reflecting growing advertiser inventory and the continued success of our technology-enabled advertising solutions.
Kit Gray: Programmatic advertising revenue more than doubled compared to the same January through March period of the prior year, reflecting growing advertiser demand for premium podcast inventory and the continued success of our technology-enabled advertising solutions.
Speaker #2: This growth demonstrates the effectiveness of our investment in dynamic ad insertion, inventory expansion, audience targeting, and automated buying capabilities. As advertisers continued shifting budgets toward digital, audio, and podcasting, PodcastOne remains well-positioned to capture increasing demand through both direct sales and programmatic channels.
Kit Gray: This growth demonstrates the effectiveness of our investment in dynamic ad insertion, inventory expansion, audience targeting, and automated buying capabilities. As advertisers continued shifting budgets towards digital audio and podcasting, PodcastOne remains well-positioned to capture increasing demand through both direct sales and programmatic channels.
Speaker #2: Together with our growing content portfolio, audience expansion, and creator partnerships, these monetization gains further validate our strategy of building a diversified and scalable media platform.
Kit Gray: Together with our growing content portfolio, audience expansion, and creator partnerships, these monetization gains further validate our strategy of building a diversified and scalable media platform. Craig, back to you for our financial results.
Kit Gray: Together with our growing content portfolio, audience expansion, and creator partnerships, these monetization gains further validate our strategy of building a diversified and scalable media platform. Craig, back to you for our financial results.
Speaker #2: Frank, back to you for our financial results.
Speaker #4: All right. Thank you, Kit. As a reminder, our fiscal year began on April 1, 2025, and ended on March 31, 2026. Revenue in our fourth quarter of fiscal 2026 was $15.7 million.
Craig Christensen: All right. Thank you, Kit. As a reminder, our fiscal year began on 1 April 2025 and ended on 31 March 2026. Revenue in our Q4 of fiscal 2026 was $15.7 million. Operating loss in Q4 was $460,000 compared to an operating loss of $1.8 million in the same year-ago quarter. This improvement was driven primarily by higher advertising revenue and operational efficiencies across production and distribution. Net loss for Q4 was $460,000, or -$0.02 per basic and diluted share, compared to net loss of $1.8 million, or -$0.09 per share in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $1.9 million, compared to $888,000 in the same year-ago quarter, driven by revenue growth and contribution margin improvement. We ended the quarter with $3.5 million in cash and cash equivalents and no debt on the balance sheet.
Craig Christensen: All right. Thank you, Kit. As a reminder, our fiscal year began on 1 April 2025 and ended on 31 March 2026. Revenue in our Q4 of fiscal 2026 was $15.7 million. Operating loss in Q4 was $460,000 compared to an operating loss of $1.8 million in the same year-ago quarter. This improvement was driven primarily by higher advertising revenue and operational efficiencies across production and distribution.
Speaker #4: Operating loss in the fourth quarter was $460,000, compared to an operating loss of $1.8 million in the same year-ago quarter. This improvement was driven primarily by higher advertising revenue and operational efficiencies across production and distribution.
Speaker #4: Net loss for the fourth quarter was $460,000, or $(0.02) per basic and diluted share, compared to a net loss of $1.8 million, or $(0.09) per share, in the year-ago quarter.
Craig Christensen: Net loss for Q4 was $460,000, or -$0.02 per basic and diluted share, compared to net loss of $1.8 million, or -$0.09 per share in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $1.9 million, compared to $888,000 in the same year-ago quarter, driven by revenue growth and contribution margin improvement. We ended the quarter with $3.5 million in cash and cash equivalents and no debt on the balance sheet.
Speaker #4: Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $1.9 million, compared to $888,000 in the same year-ago quarter, driven by revenue growth and contribution margin improvement. We ended the quarter with $3.5 million in cash and cash equivalents, and no debt on the balance sheet.
Speaker #4: Switching now to the full year 2026 results, revenue increased 18% to $61.7 million, compared to $52.1 million in fiscal year 2025. Operating loss for fiscal year 2026 was $2.6 million compared to an operating loss of $6.4 million in fiscal year 2025. This improvement was primarily driven by revenue growth, margin improvement, and disciplined cost management.
Craig Christensen: Switching now to the full year 2026 results, revenue increased 18% to $61.7 million, compared to $52.1 million in fiscal year 2025. Operating loss for the fiscal year of 2026 was $2.6 million, compared to an operating loss of $6.4 million in fiscal year 2025. This improvement was primarily driven by revenue growth, margin improvement, and disciplined cost management. Net loss in fiscal year 2026 was $2.6 million, or -$0.10 per basic and diluted share, compared to a net loss of $6.5 million, or -$0.26 per basic and diluted share in fiscal year 2025. Adjusted EBITDA for fiscal year of 2026 was +$6.3 million, compared to adjusted EBITDA of -$0.5 million in fiscal year 2025. With that, I'll turn the call back over to you, Kit.
Craig Christensen: Switching now to the full year 2026 results, revenue increased 18% to $61.7 million, compared to $52.1 million in fiscal year 2025. Operating loss for the fiscal year of 2026 was $2.6 million, compared to an operating loss of $6.4 million in fiscal year 2025. This improvement was primarily driven by revenue growth, margin improvement, and disciplined cost management.
Speaker #4: Net loss in fiscal year 2026 was $2.6 million, or ($0.10) per basic and diluted share, compared to a net loss of $6.5 million, or ($0.26) per basic and diluted share, in fiscal year 2025. Adjusted EBITDA for fiscal year 2026 was positive $6.3 million, compared to adjusted EBITDA of ($0.5) million in fiscal year 2025. With that, I'll turn the call back over to you, Kit.
Craig Christensen: Net loss in fiscal year 2026 was $2.6 million, or -$0.10 per basic and diluted share, compared to a net loss of $6.5 million, or -$0.26 per basic and diluted share in fiscal year 2025. Adjusted EBITDA for fiscal year of 2026 was +$6.3 million, compared to adjusted EBITDA of -$0.5 million in fiscal year 2025. With that, I'll turn the call back over to you, Kit.
Speaker #2: Thanks, Craig. Fiscal 2026 was a transformational year for PodcastOne. We expanded our network with established creator brands, renewed many of our most successful long-term partnerships, developed original content, strengthened our monetization platform, and increased our industry standing among the largest podcast publishers in the country.
Kit Gray: Thanks, Craig. Fiscal 2026 was a transformational year for PodcastOne. We expanded our network with established creator brands, renewed many of our most successful long-term partnerships, developed original content, strengthened our monetization platform, and increased our industry standing among the largest podcast publishers in the country. As we look ahead, we remain encouraged by the broader trends shaping the podcast industry. Recent industry research's total podcast listening time has increased approximately 386% since 2016 and now exceeds 800 million listening hours per week. The continued growth of audience engagement, video podcasting, and advertiser adoption reinforces our belief that podcasting remains one of the most compelling and fastest-growing segments of digital media. We are also encouraged by continued investment, strategic partnerships, and innovation occurring across the podcast industry. Under Steve Lehman's leadership, we continue evaluating opportunities that can strengthen our platform, expand our creator offerings, and enhance long-term shareholder value.
Kit Gray: Thanks, Craig. Fiscal 2026 was a transformational year for PodcastOne. We expanded our network with established creator brands, renewed many of our most successful long-term partnerships, developed original content, strengthened our monetization platform, and increased our industry standing among the largest podcast publishers in the country.
Speaker #2: As we look ahead, we remain encouraged by the broader trends shaping the podcast industry. Recent industry research has found that total podcast listening time has increased approximately 386% since 2016, and now exceeds 800 million listening hours per week.
Kit Gray: As we look ahead, we remain encouraged by the broader trends shaping the podcast industry. Recent industry research's total podcast listening time has increased approximately 386% since 2016 and now exceeds 800 million listening hours per week. The continued growth of audience engagement, video podcasting, and advertiser adoption reinforces our belief that podcasting remains one of the most compelling and fastest-growing segments of digital media.
Speaker #2: The continued growth of audience engagement, video podcasting, and advertiser adoption reinforces our belief that podcasting remains one of the most compelling and fastest-growing segments of digital media.
Speaker #2: We are also encouraged by continued investment, strategic partnerships, and innovation occurring across the podcast industry. Under Steve Lehman's leadership, we continue evaluating opportunities that can strengthen our platform, expand our creator offerings, and enhance long-term shareholder value.
Kit Gray: We are also encouraged by continued investment, strategic partnerships, and innovation occurring across the podcast industry. Under Steve Lehman's leadership, we continue evaluating opportunities that can strengthen our platform, expand our creator offerings, and enhance long-term shareholder value.
Speaker #2: While we remain disciplined in our approach, we believe that the continued evolution of the industry creates meaningful opportunities for growth through partnerships, technology, content development, and other strategic initiatives.
Kit Gray: While we remain disciplined in our approach, we believe the continued evolution of the industry creates meaningful opportunities for growth through our partnerships, technology, content development, and other strategic initiatives. As we enter fiscal 2027, we remain focused on expanding our content portfolio, enhancing monetization opportunities for creators and advertisers, growing our audience reach, and continuing to build durable value across the PodcastOne ecosystem. I want to thank our team, our creators, our advertising partners, and our shareholders for their continued support and trust. With that, we'll now open the line for questions. Operator?
Kit Gray: While we remain disciplined in our approach, we believe the continued evolution of the industry creates meaningful opportunities for growth through our partnerships, technology, content development, and other strategic initiatives.
Speaker #2: As we enter fiscal 2027, we remain focused on expanding our content portfolio and enhancing monetization opportunities for creators and advertisers, growing our audience reach, and continuing to build durable value across the PodcastOne ecosystem.
Kit Gray: As we enter fiscal 2027, we remain focused on expanding our content portfolio, enhancing monetization opportunities for creators and advertisers, growing our audience reach, and continuing to build durable value across the PodcastOne ecosystem. I want to thank our team, our creators, our advertising partners, and our shareholders for their continued support and trust. With that, we'll now open the line for questions. Operator?
Speaker #2: I want to thank our team, our creators, our advertising partners, and our shareholders for their continued support and trust. With that, we'll now open the line for questions.
Speaker #2: Operator?
Speaker #1: Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one (*) to raise your hand.
Operator 3: Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. We ask that you pick up your handset when asking a question to allow for optimum sound quality. If you are muted locally, please remember to unmute your device. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Your first question comes from the line of Sean McGowan with Roth Capital Partners. Sean, your line is open. Please go ahead.
[Company Representative]: Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. We ask that you pick up your handset when asking a question to allow for optimum sound quality.
Speaker #1: To withdraw your question, press star 1 again. We ask that you pick up your handset when asking a question to allow for optimum sound quality.
Speaker #1: If you are muted locally, please remember to unmute your device. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Your first question comes from the line of Sean McGowan with Roth Capital Partners.
[Company Representative]: If you are muted locally, please remember to unmute your device. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Your first question comes from the line of Sean McGowan with Roth Capital Partners. Sean, your line is open. Please go ahead.
Speaker #1: Sean, your line is open. Please go ahead.
Speaker #3: Thanks. Hey Kit, how you doing? And hello again, Craig. My first question is regarding this pod track number. Kit, you and I have talked about this quite a bit over the last couple of years.
Sean McGowan: Thanks. Hey, Kit. How you doing? Hello again, Craig. My first question is, regarding this Podtrac number, Kit, you and I have talked about this quite a bit over the last couple of years, some of those numbers seem to move around a little bit in terms of audience size, and how it's classified. How should we think about that move to number 7 in terms of growth of podcasts versus either consolidation or other stuff going on in companies that are ranked more high than that? How much of this is real growth?
Sean McGowan: Thanks. Hey, Kit. How you doing? Hello again, Craig. My first question is, regarding this Podtrac number, Kit, you and I have talked about this quite a bit over the last couple of years, some of those numbers seem to move around a little bit in terms of audience size, and how it's classified.
Speaker #3: But some of those numbers seem to kind of move around a little bit in terms of audience size, you know, and how it's classified.
Speaker #3: So how should we think about that move to number seven in terms of growth of podcasts versus, you know, either consolidation or, you know, other stuff going on in companies that are ranked higher than that?
Sean McGowan: How should we think about that move to number 7 in terms of growth of podcasts versus either consolidation or other stuff going on in companies that are ranked more high than that? How much of this is real growth?
Speaker #3: Like, how much of this is real growth?
Speaker #4: Hey, Sean, good to hear from you. Thanks for the question. I appreciate it. Yeah, so the Podtrac, you know, it's an interesting measure of success for how you're doing compared to other people.
Kit Gray: Hey, Sean. Good to hear from you. Thanks for the question. I appreciate it. Yeah. Podtrac, it's an interesting measure of success for how you're doing comparative to other people. Just like all rankers when it comes to what's going on in the world in terms of timing, right? I would say these sports networks may be coming off of football and it's a cyclical thing, right? Summertime is not as heavy for sports, although this year with the World Cup and stuff like that, it's an interesting time. It's typically cyclical based on what's going on. If we have shows we're covering that are live right now, those typically get some good numbers. Hard to tell where it's really coming from. I look at it as exciting for us as a group in terms of our presence in the podcasting world.
Kit Gray: Hey, Sean. Good to hear from you. Thanks for the question. I appreciate it. Yeah. Podtrac, it's an interesting measure of success for how you're doing comparative to other people. Just like all rankers when it comes to what's going on in the world in terms of timing, right? I would say these sports networks may be coming off of football and it's a cyclical thing, right?
Speaker #4: Just like, you know, all rankers when it comes to what's going on, you know, in the world in terms of timing, right? Like, you know, I would say the sports networks—maybe coming off of football—and, you know, it's a cyclical thing, right?
Speaker #4: Summertime is not as heavy for sports, although this year—with the World Cup and stuff like that—it's an interesting time. But it's typically cyclical, based on, you know, what's going on.
Kit Gray: Summertime is not as heavy for sports, although this year with the World Cup and stuff like that, it's an interesting time. It's typically cyclical based on what's going on. If we have shows we're covering that are live right now, those typically get some good numbers. Hard to tell where it's really coming from. I look at it as exciting for us as a group in terms of our presence in the podcasting world.
Speaker #4: I mean, if we have shows we're covering that are live right now, those typically get some good numbers. So, you know, it's hard to tell where it's really coming from.
Speaker #4: I look at it as exciting for us as a group, in terms of our presence in the podcasting world. And I think that, you know, as we continue to grow up the ranker and grow, that's a good thing.
Kit Gray: I think that as we continue to grow up the ranker and grow, that's a good thing. That's a good thing for talent to see when we're going out there and acquiring them, that we have significant scale. We are a big player in that space. That's a good thing to say, and it's a good thing to say to advertisers. At the end of the day, that's not where we're paid, and that's not where we make our money. Our money is on, are the shows growing? Are we getting our CPMs higher? Are we getting our fill rates higher? That's where we're all graded on the real crux of the business. It really doesn't come down to Podtrac. It really comes down to how are the shows performing. Are we getting more ad dollars on? That's how we look at it.
Kit Gray: I think that as we continue to grow up the ranker and grow, that's a good thing. That's a good thing for talent to see when we're going out there and acquiring them, that we have significant scale. We are a big player in that space. That's a good thing to say, and it's a good thing to say to advertisers. At the end of the day, that's not where we're paid, and that's not where we make our money.
Speaker #4: You know, that's a good thing for talent to see when we're going out there and acquiring them—that we have significant scale. We are a big player in that space.
Speaker #4: So that's a good thing to say, and it's a good thing to say to advertisers. But at the end of the day, that's not where we're paid, and that's not where we make our money.
Speaker #4: Our money is on, you know, are the shows growing? Are we getting our CPMs higher? Are we getting our fill rates higher? That's where we're all graded—on the, you know, the real crux of the business.
Kit Gray: Our money is on, are the shows growing? Are we getting our CPMs higher? Are we getting our fill rates higher? That's where we're all graded on the real crux of the business. It really doesn't come down to Podtrac. It really comes down to how are the shows performing. Are we getting more ad dollars on? That's how we look at it.
Speaker #4: It really doesn't come down to Podtrac. It really comes down to how are the shows performing. Are we getting more ad dollars on?
Speaker #4: And that's how we look at it.
Speaker #3: So, that's helpful. So I guess my related—my next question is, so if it isn't just Podtrac, what are some of the other metrics that you use internally to measure, you know, how you guys are doing relative to the overall industry?
Sean McGowan: That's helpful. I guess related to my next question is, if it isn't just Podtrac, what are some of the other metrics that you use internally to measure how you guys are doing relative to the overall industry?
Sean McGowan: That's helpful. I guess related to my next question is, if it isn't just Podtrac, what are some of the other metrics that you use internally to measure how you guys are doing relative to the overall industry?
Speaker #4: Yeah. Well, when it comes to the industry, you know, Podtrac's a good reference. It doesn't have all the podcasts or podcast networks out there.
Kit Gray: Well, when it comes to the industry, Podtrac's a good reference. It doesn't have all the podcasts or podcast networks out there. It's still finding its way through the video side of things and social media side of things, and they've got some things coming out this year that will try to incorporate some of that stuff. I look at our competition, obviously, and what they're offering, shows that maybe we're not, and so forth like that, and what's working out there. Really my job and the team's job is to look at the shows that we have, the shows that we're trying to acquire, and just it's the whole tackle in running and doing the right things that we do every time with the show. It's what are the sell-out rates? Can we get the CPMs up? Is the show growing?
Kit Gray: Well, when it comes to the industry, Podtrac's a good reference. It doesn't have all the podcasts or podcast networks out there. It's still finding its way through the video side of things and social media side of things, and they've got some things coming out this year that will try to incorporate some of that stuff. I look at our competition, obviously, and what they're offering, shows that maybe we're not, and so forth like that, and what's working out there.
Speaker #4: It's still finding its way through the video side of things and the social media side of things. And they've got some things coming up this year that we'll try to incorporate—some of that stuff.
Speaker #4: You know, I can't really—I look at our competition, obviously, and what they're offering. It shows that maybe we're not, and so forth like that, and what's working out there.
Speaker #4: But really, my job and the team's job is to look at the shows that we have, those shows that we're trying to acquire, and, you know, just—it's the whole blocking and tackling and running and doing the right things that we do every time with the show.
Kit Gray: Really my job and the team's job is to look at the shows that we have, the shows that we're trying to acquire, and just it's the whole tackle in running and doing the right things that we do every time with the show. It's what are the sell-out rates? Can we get the CPMs up? Is the show growing?
Speaker #4: It's: What are the sellout rates? Can we get the CPMs up? Is the show growing? Are we marketing it the right way? Are the shows marketing it the right way?
Kit Gray: Are we marketing it the right way? Are the shows marketing it the right way? Are we getting them on other podcasts to grow? That's really important. Every two weeks, we as a team look through all our shows and how they're doing, what they're doing in the marketing side of things. As new things pop up, whether it's PodRoll or new videos, social media techniques that are working, we are looking at how every show on our network can use those tools to move forward.
Kit Gray: Are we marketing it the right way? Are the shows marketing it the right way? Are we getting them on other podcasts to grow? That's really important. Every two weeks, we as a team look through all our shows and how they're doing, what they're doing in the marketing side of things. As new things pop up, whether it's PodRoll or new videos, social media techniques that are working, we are looking at how every show on our network can use those tools to move forward.
Speaker #4: Are we getting them on other podcasts to grow? That's really important. Every two weeks, we as a team look through all our shows and how they're doing.
Speaker #4: What they're doing on the marketing side of things is, new things pop up—whether it's pod roll, new videos, or social media techniques that are working.
Speaker #4: We are looking at how every show on our network can, you know, use those tools to move forward.
Speaker #3: Okay, thank you. A couple of questions of a different nature. Again, we've talked a lot about using stock as a way of compensating the talent and keeping them, you know, kind of more in line with shareholders.
Sean McGowan: Okay. Thank you. A couple questions of a different nature. Again, we've talked a lot about using stock as a way of compensating the talent and keeping them more in line with shareholders. What should we expect for non-employee stock-based comp going forward? Should we expect the Q4 to be an indication of what we would see each quarter, or will it fluctuate going forward?
Sean McGowan: Okay. Thank you. A couple questions of a different nature. Again, we've talked a lot about using stock as a way of compensating the talent and keeping them more in line with shareholders. What should we expect for non-employee stock-based comp going forward? Should we expect the Q4 to be an indication of what we would see each quarter, or will it fluctuate going forward?
Speaker #3: So what should we expect for non-employee stock-based comp going forward? Should we expect the fourth quarter to be an indication of what you would see each quarter, or will it fluctuate going forward?
Speaker #4: Yeah. You know, the ones that we're able to do those types of deals with are seeing greater, you know, great value, right? And something that's unique.
Kit Gray: Yeah. The ones that we're able to do those type of deals with are seeing great value, right? Something that's unique that no one else can offer, really. Those partners that have jumped on early on that have reaped the rewards, especially as the stock has gone the last 3 or 4 months. That's been a great payout to those guys. We see them all, the ones that are currently doing that continuing. I believe you're going to see a lot more jumping into the fray, right? Because we now have the case studies of it working and people making more money and having some great upside on it and enjoying the process. I think you're going to see more of that over the next 12 to 24 months.
Kit Gray: Yeah. The ones that we're able to do those type of deals with are seeing great value, right? Something that's unique that no one else can offer, really. Those partners that have jumped on early on that have reaped the rewards, especially as the stock has gone the last 3 or 4 months. That's been a great payout to those guys.
Speaker #4: So that no one else can offer, really. So the partners that have jumped on early on, that have reaped the reward—especially as the stock has gone the last, you know, three or four months.
Speaker #4: That's been a great payout to those guys. So we see all of them—the ones that are currently doing that—continuing. But I believe you're going to see a lot more jumping into the fray, right?
Kit Gray: We see them all, the ones that are currently doing that continuing. I believe you're going to see a lot more jumping into the fray, right? Because we now have the case studies of it working and people making more money and having some great upside on it and enjoying the process. I think you're going to see more of that over the next 12 to 24 months.
Speaker #4: Because we now have a case study, is it working? And are people making more money and having, you know, some great upside on it, and enjoying the process?
Speaker #4: So, I think you're going to see more of that over the next 12 to 24 months.
Speaker #3: Yeah, and just to jump in there for a second, Sean, this is a game changer, right? In that, what you always want is your talent to get behind your company, right?
Robert Ellin: Yeah. Just to jump in there for a second, Sean McGowan, this is a game changer, right? In that what you always want is your talent to get behind your company, right? We want everyone rowing in the same direction. You'll see my brother was on Adam Carolla this morning. Yeah, I'm going on Carolla, I think in 2 weeks on Fox with him, right? We're going to start to get our talent getting behind the company as well as behind the stock. When that happens, you get these big social media stars with big audiences. It's a great help to everybody here. It's a great help to building the network and building the audience and continue to grow. We're really proud of this, and it gives us a huge leg up when we're negotiating with talent to be able to offer them a currency, right?
Robert Ellin: Yeah. Just to jump in there for a second, Sean McGowan, this is a game changer, right? In that what you always want is your talent to get behind your company, right? We want everyone rowing in the same direction. You'll see my brother was on Adam Carolla this morning. Yeah, I'm going on Carolla, I think in 2 weeks on Fox with him, right? We're going to start to get our talent getting behind the company as well as behind the stock.
Speaker #3: We want everyone rowing in the same direction. You'll see my brother was on Adam Carolla this morning. Yeah, I'm going on Carolla, I think in two weeks, on Fox with him, right?
Speaker #3: We're going to start to get our talent behind the company, as well as behind the stock. And when that happens, you get these big social media stars with big audiences.
Robert Ellin: When that happens, you get these big social media stars with big audiences. It's a great help to everybody here. It's a great help to building the network and building the audience and continue to grow. We're really proud of this, and it gives us a huge leg up when we're negotiating with talent to be able to offer them a currency, right?
Speaker #3: It's a great help to everybody here. It's a great help to building the network and building the audience, and continuing to grow. So we're really proud of this.
Speaker #3: And it gives us a huge leg up when we're negotiating with talent to be able to offer them a currency, right? And a pretty liquid currency now, that they can jump into.
Robert Ellin: A pretty liquid currency now that they can now jump into, and eventually, if the stock has a big run like it deserves, eventually they'll make additional money, but they'll also create enormous liquidity for the company. We're really excited about this. It was something that Kit and I have been working on for the better part of 5 years. Now the talent is getting so excited about where the company is going. As we head towards, as we break $50 million in revenues, now we break $60 million and we start to talk about getting to $100 million, there's going to be more and more talent that want to join and want to join our platform. When you see guys like Dr. Phil join the platform, it's a great indication of how the equity can really be a game changer in locking down talent.
Robert Ellin: A pretty liquid currency now that they can now jump into, and eventually, if the stock has a big run like it deserves, eventually they'll make additional money, but they'll also create enormous liquidity for the company. We're really excited about this. It was something that Kit and I have been working on for the better part of 5 years.
Speaker #3: And eventually, if the stock has a big run like it deserves, they'll make money. They'll make additional money, but they'll also create enormous liquidity for the company.
Speaker #3: So we're really excited about this. It was something that Kit and I have been working on for the better part of five years. But now the talent is getting so excited about where the company is going, and as we head towards, as we break $50 million in revenue, now we break $60 million, and we start to talk about getting to $100 million, there's going to be more and more talent that want to join and want to join our platform.
Robert Ellin: Now the talent is getting so excited about where the company is going. As we head towards, as we break $50 million in revenues, now we break $60 million and we start to talk about getting to $100 million, there's going to be more and more talent that want to join and want to join our platform. When you see guys like Dr. Phil join the platform, it's a great indication of how the equity can really be a game changer in locking down talent.
Speaker #3: And when you see guys like Dr. Phil join the platform, it's a great indication of how the equity can really be a game-changer in locking down talent.
Speaker #3: Okay, that makes sense. Just to clarify, for non-employee stock-based comp for PodcastOne, are all of those shares PodcastOne shares, or are there any LVO shares as well?
Sean McGowan: Okay, that makes sense. Just to clarify, for non-employee stock-based comp for PodcastOne, are all of those shares PodcastOne shares or are there any LiveOne shares as well?
Sean McGowan: Okay, that makes sense. Just to clarify, for non-employee stock-based comp for PodcastOne, are all of those shares PodcastOne shares or are there any LiveOne shares as well?
Robert Ellin: We've used
Robert Ellin: We've used
Speaker #4: We've used both. Right now, it's all PodcastOne, but we've used both. We've used both along the way, Sean. Right now, all of these are in PodcastOne.
Kit Gray: They're all PodcastOne
Kit Gray: They're all PodcastOne
Robert Ellin: we've used both. Right now it's all PodcastOne, but we've used both along the way, Sean. Right now all these are in PodcastOne.
Robert Ellin: we've used both. Right now it's all PodcastOne, but we've used both along the way, Sean. Right now all these are in PodcastOne.
Speaker #3: Okay. Thank you. Nice talking.
Sean McGowan: Okay. Thank you. Thanks for talking.
Sean McGowan: Okay. Thank you. Thanks for talking.
Speaker #4: Sure. Thanks, Sean. Good to talk to you.
Kit Gray: Sure. Thanks, Sean. Good to talk to you.
Kit Gray: Sure. Thanks, Sean. Good to talk to you.
Speaker #3: Thanks.
Sean McGowan: Thanks.
Sean McGowan: Thanks.
Speaker #1: A reminder: if you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again.
Operator 3: A reminder. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. Your next question comes from the line of Leo Carpio with Joseph Gunnar & Co.. Your line is open. Please go ahead.
[Company Representative]: A reminder. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. Your next question comes from the line of Leo Carpio with Joseph Gunnar & Co.. Your line is open. Please go ahead.
Speaker #1: Again, your next question comes from the line of Leo Carpio with Joseph Gunner. Your line is open. Please go ahead.
Leo Carpio: Good afternoon, gentlemen. Actually, good morning for you, actually. Just kind of a quick questions. First, on the fiscal 2027 guidance, could you break it down in terms of what is going to be organic growth driven versus acquisitions in terms of new talent that you're going to bring onto the platform? I have a few follow-up questions.
Leo Carpio: Good afternoon, gentlemen. Actually, good morning for you, actually. Just kind of a quick questions. First, on the fiscal 2027 guidance, could you break it down in terms of what is going to be organic growth driven versus acquisitions in terms of new talent that you're going to bring onto the platform? I have a few follow-up questions.
Speaker #3: Good afternoon, gentlemen—or actually, good morning for you. I have kind of a quick question. First, on the fiscal 2027 guidance, could you break it down in terms of what is going to be organic growth-driven versus acquisitions, in terms of new talent that’s going to be brought onto the platform?
Speaker #3: I have a few follow-up questions.
Speaker #4: Sure. You know, that's a little fluid in terms of where exactly that's going to come down to. But, you know, we've kind of — like I mentioned in the call — three or four really exciting M&A opportunities. We don't know which ones are going to fall, but we know some of them will.
Kit Gray: Sure. That's a little fluid in terms of where exactly that's going to come down to. We've cut, like I mentioned in the call, three or four really exciting M&A opportunities that we don't know which ones are going to fall, but we know some of them will. We also have some really big shows and some other tech things that are in the works now. I can't tell you if it's going to be 10% this or 15% this or 70% this, what I will tell you is that we're seeing good growth even as we're charging through the end of Q1 this year. We're seeing some good things on the sales, just organic growth just based on the medium. You can read it in the trades. I don't even have to make it. These aren't secrets. The podcasting world is doing great.
Kit Gray: Sure. That's a little fluid in terms of where exactly that's going to come down to. We've cut, like I mentioned in the call, three or four really exciting M&A opportunities that we don't know which ones are going to fall, but we know some of them will. We also have some really big shows and some other tech things that are in the works now.
Speaker #4: And we also have some really big shows and some other tech things that are in the works. Now, I can't tell you, like, if it's going to be 10% this or 15% this or 70% this, but what I will tell you is that we're seeing good growth.
Kit Gray: I can't tell you if it's going to be 10% this or 15% this or 70% this, what I will tell you is that we're seeing good growth even as we're charging through the end of Q1 this year. We're seeing some good things on the sales, just organic growth just based on the medium. You can read it in the trades. I don't even have to make it. These aren't secrets. The podcasting world is doing great.
Speaker #4: You know, even as we're charging through the end of Q1 this year, we're seeing some good things. On the sales side, just organic growth, just based on the medium.
Speaker #4: And, you know, you can read it in the trades. I don't even have to make it up. These aren't secrets. The podcasting world is doing great.
Speaker #4: Ad spends are continuing to grow. The programmatic numbers are continuing to expand. The world is embracing not only the video side of things and the audio side of things, but also social media—how to buy into communities better.
Kit Gray: The ad spends are continuing to grow. The programmatic numbers are continuing to expand. The world is embracing not only the video side of things and the audio side of things, but social media, how to buy into communities better. It's really going to be a blend of all those three things to get us to where we need to be. There's always different things that come along the way, too. We talked a little bit about some of the AI content licensing opportunities that are really exciting as well. We don't really know exactly how it's going to go to the T, but we're pretty confident by a blend of all those things, we're going to get to the number we need to get to.
Kit Gray: The ad spends are continuing to grow. The programmatic numbers are continuing to expand. The world is embracing not only the video side of things and the audio side of things, but social media, how to buy into communities better. It's really going to be a blend of all those three things to get us to where we need to be.
Speaker #4: So, it's really going to be a blend of all those three things to get us to where we need to be. You know, there's always different things that come along the way, too.
Kit Gray: There's always different things that come along the way, too. We talked a little bit about some of the AI content licensing opportunities that are really exciting as well. We don't really know exactly how it's going to go to the T, but we're pretty confident by a blend of all those things, we're going to get to the number we need to get to.
Speaker #4: We talked a little bit about, you know, some of the AI content licensing opportunities that are really exciting as well. So, we don't really know exactly how it's going to go to the T, but we're pretty confident that by a blend of all those things, we're going to get to the number we need to get to.
Speaker #3: Okay. And then, turning to the—just, you mentioned M&A. Just to add to that, just to add to that for one second, you know, in that guidance, it is not acquisitions.
Leo Carpio: Okay. Turning to the-
Leo Carpio: Okay. Turning to the-
Robert Ellin: Just to add to that for one second, in that guidance is not acquisitions. It's acquisitions of talent because we continue to acquire talent every month. We probably add one to two new pieces of talent every month. We probably added 20 last year. That does not include an acquisition of a company. That includes acquisition of talent. We're really excited about the pipeline. Maybe, Kit, you just want to talk a little bit about the pipeline right now and how robust it is.
Robert Ellin: Just to add to that for one second, in that guidance is not acquisitions. It's acquisitions of talent because we continue to acquire talent every month. We probably add one to two new pieces of talent every month. We probably added 20 last year.
Speaker #3: It's acquisitions of talent, because we continue to acquire, you know, talent every month. We probably add one to two new pieces of talent every month.
Speaker #3: We probably added 20 last year, but that does not include an acquisition of a company; that includes acquisition of talent. And so we're really excited about the pipeline.
Robert Ellin: That does not include an acquisition of a company. That includes acquisition of talent. We're really excited about the pipeline. Maybe, Kit, you just want to talk a little bit about the pipeline right now and how robust it is.
Speaker #3: And maybe, Kit, you just want to talk a little bit about the pipeline right now and how robust it is.
Speaker #4: Yeah. You know, on the M&A side of things, we're not only talking to small podcast companies, but also bigger podcast companies in the media space.
Kit Gray: Yeah. On the M&A side of things, we're not only talking to small podcast companies, but bigger podcast companies in the media space, which are all really exciting. There's a bunch of tech aspects that we're looking at too, in terms of them being a part of PodcastOne in interesting ways. Really the talent side of things is as strong, if not stronger, than it always has been. Again, it comes down to how are we going to make the right decisions for the company so we can continue to grow on both the top line revenue and in terms of just making money. We've got a lot of things that we're really excited about. I'm traveling a lot. My team's traveling a lot. We're meeting with some really big people that have some big aspirations, and we think would be great fits for PodcastOne.
Kit Gray: Yeah. On the M&A side of things, we're not only talking to small podcast companies, but bigger podcast companies in the media space, which are all really exciting. There's a bunch of tech aspects that we're looking at too, in terms of them being a part of PodcastOne in interesting ways. Really the talent side of things is as strong, if not stronger, than it always has been.
Speaker #4: Which are all really exciting. There are a bunch of tech aspects that we're looking at too, in terms of them, you know, being a part of PodcastOne and in interesting ways.
Speaker #4: And then really, the talent side of things is strong, if not stronger than it always has been. You know, and again, it comes down to how are we going to make the right decisions for the company so that we can continue to grow both the top-line revenue and, you know, in terms of just making money.
Kit Gray: Again, it comes down to how are we going to make the right decisions for the company so we can continue to grow on both the top line revenue and in terms of just making money. We've got a lot of things that we're really excited about. I'm traveling a lot. My team's traveling a lot. We're meeting with some really big people that have some big aspirations, and we think would be great fits for PodcastOne.
Speaker #4: So we've got a lot of things that we're really excited about. I'm traveling a lot, my team's traveling a lot, and we're meeting with some really big people that have some big aspirations, and we think would be great fits for PodcastOne.
Speaker #3: Okay, so turning back to M&A of platforms, are you seeing a robust opportunity in terms of platforms that are available at a rational cost?
Leo Carpio: Okay. Turning back to, in terms of M&A of platforms, are you seeing a robust opportunity in terms of platforms that are available at a rational cost? Or is it just the same conditions that we saw in the prior year?
Leo Carpio: Okay. Turning back to, in terms of M&A of platforms, are you seeing a robust opportunity in terms of platforms that are available at a rational cost? Or is it just the same conditions that we saw in the prior year?
Speaker #3: Or is it just the same conditions that we saw in the prior year?
Robert Ellin: I wouldn't call it-
Robert Ellin: I wouldn't call it-
Speaker #4: I wouldn't call it robust. I mean, I think—let me just jump in for a second, Kit—in that it's not that there are a lot of smaller, just like we are. We're the Micro-Capital Podcast, right?
Leo Carpio: Is there more?
Leo Carpio: Is there more?
Robert Ellin: a robust. Let me just jump in for a second, Kit, in that. It's not that there are a lot of smaller Just like we are, we're the microcap of podcasts, right? We're acquiring those podcasts that are doing less than $10 million revenues. The same thing in terms of networks. The networks that we're seeing that are out there are too small for the big guys to gobble up. It's a great opportunity for us to pick up one, two, or three of these and really take this to over $100 million quickly. Right? As we said, we're very excited about the M&A side of it and what is going to happen very shortly about accretive add-on acquisitions to it. Right?
Robert Ellin: a robust. Let me just jump in for a second, Kit, in that. It's not that there are a lot of smaller Just like we are, we're the microcap of podcasts, right? We're acquiring those podcasts that are doing less than $10 million revenues. The same thing in terms of networks.
Speaker #4: We're acquiring those podcasts that are doing less than $10 million in revenue. The same thing in terms of networks—the networks that we're seeing out there are too small for the big guys to gobble up.
Robert Ellin: The networks that we're seeing that are out there are too small for the big guys to gobble up. It's a great opportunity for us to pick up one, two, or three of these and really take this to over $100 million quickly. Right? As we said, we're very excited about the M&A side of it and what is going to happen very shortly about accretive add-on acquisitions to it. Right?
Speaker #4: So it's a great opportunity for us to pick up, you know, one, two, or three of these and really take this to over $100 million quickly.
Speaker #4: And, you know, as we said, we're very excited about the M&A side of it and what is going to happen very shortly. You know, about the creative add-on acquisitions to it.
Speaker #4: Separately, you know, Kit, you’re talking about the pipeline of the amount of podcasts, the actual talent that’s coming to us. And some of that is because of our stock-based comp, but some of that is also because the industry is getting rolled up.
Robert Ellin: Separately, Kit was talking about the pipeline of the amount of podcasts, the actual talent that's coming to us, and some of that is because of our stock-based comps, but some of that is also because the industry's getting rolled up. A lot of acquisitions have happened for the first time in 5 years. They're starting to buy up podcast networks very aggressively again. OpenAI just paid a fortune, paid 13.5x revenues for a podcast network, and Fox just bought two major networks, including Vox, and they're paying huge multiples again. For the bigger networks, right, they're going to take those out of the way.
Robert Ellin: Separately, Kit was talking about the pipeline of the amount of podcasts, the actual talent that's coming to us, and some of that is because of our stock-based comps, but some of that is also because the industry's getting rolled up. A lot of acquisitions have happened for the first time in 5 years.
Speaker #4: So, a lot of acquisitions have happened for the first time in five years. They're starting to buy up podcast networks very aggressively again. So, OpenAI just paid a fortune—paid 13 and a half times revenues—for a podcast network.
Robert Ellin: They're starting to buy up podcast networks very aggressively again. OpenAI just paid a fortune, paid 13.5x revenues for a podcast network, and Fox just bought two major networks, including Vox, and they're paying huge multiples again. For the bigger networks, right, they're going to take those out of the way.
Speaker #4: And Fox just bought two major networks, including Vox. And they're paying huge multiples again. So for the bigger networks, right, they're going to take those out of the way for us.
Robert Ellin: For us, we're sitting in the sweet spot where Kit and his team really give such an advantage to talent because of that 360 play that those smaller networks really need our services in order to really stay in the game. I think this is probably the most robust lineup of smaller acquisitions we've seen in the last 5 to 7 years.
Robert Ellin: For us, we're sitting in the sweet spot where Kit and his team really give such an advantage to talent because of that 360 play that those smaller networks really need our services in order to really stay in the game. I think this is probably the most robust lineup of smaller acquisitions we've seen in the last 5 to 7 years.
Speaker #4: We're sitting in the sweet spot, where Kit and his team really give such an advantage to talent because of that 360 play, that their smaller networks really need our services in order to really stay in the game.
Speaker #4: And so, I think, you know, this is probably the most robust lineup of smaller acquisitions we've seen in the last five to seven years.
Speaker #3: Okay. And then, in terms of just the advertising environment, it sounds like it's pretty rich and robust in spite of the economic backdrop we've been hearing about in the last few weeks. Do you think that will persist in the coming quarters?
Leo Carpio: Okay. In terms of just the advertising environment, it sounds like it's pretty rich and robust in spite of the economic backdrop we've been hearing in the last few weeks. Do you think that will persist in the coming quarters and?
Leo Carpio: Okay. In terms of just the advertising environment, it sounds like it's pretty rich and robust in spite of the economic backdrop we've been hearing in the last few weeks. Do you think that will persist in the coming quarters and?
Speaker #3: And.
Speaker #4: Everything is pointing towards good things on the podcasting front. Just because brands are seeing great results, they have the ability to do their digital attribution to see uptick—what shows are working and where their budgets are working, what demographics are working for their brands.
Kit Gray: Everything is pointing towards good things in the podcasting front. Just because brands are seeing great results, they have the ability to do their digital attribution to see uptick in what shows are working and where their budgets are working, what demographics are working for their brands. We've seen great things on that. As always when we go out to advertising agencies, we're not a spots and dots company. We do that, but really where you get your value is being able to buy into these communities that we offer. To not only buy into them, make sure that the campaigns are done the right way. That's the key, right?
Kit Gray: Everything is pointing towards good things in the podcasting front. Just because brands are seeing great results, they have the ability to do their digital attribution to see uptick in what shows are working and where their budgets are working, what demographics are working for their brands. We've seen great things on that.
Speaker #4: So we've seen great things on that. As always, when we go out to advertising agencies, we're not a spots-and-dots company. I mean, we do that, but really where you get your value is being able to buy into these communities that we offer, and not only buy into them—make sure that the campaigns are done the right way.
Kit Gray: As always when we go out to advertising agencies, we're not a spots and dots company. We do that, but really where you get your value is being able to buy into these communities that we offer. To not only buy into them, make sure that the campaigns are done the right way. That's the key, right?
Speaker #4: And that's the key, right? That's what we offer that's different than everybody else: we're meeting with talent, we're working on campaigns that fit into their community the right way, and the brands feel comfortable about it.
Kit Gray: That's what we offer that's different than everybody else, is that we're meeting with talent, we're working on campaigns that fit into their community the right way, and the brands feel comfortable about it, and that's where they'll pay premiums on that. It's hard to do. There's a million companies out there that say they can do it, but actually getting the talent to do what the brands need to do, that's the name of the game, and that's where you're going to get paid higher CPMs and make more and get better rev splits and things like that. The talent that we have, whether they've been with us for seven, eight, nine years, like a lot of them have been, or some of these new ones, they are telling us.
Kit Gray: That's what we offer that's different than everybody else, is that we're meeting with talent, we're working on campaigns that fit into their community the right way, and the brands feel comfortable about it, and that's where they'll pay premiums on that. It's hard to do.
Speaker #4: And that's where they'll pay premiums on that. So it's hard to do, you know? There are a million companies out there that say they can do it, but actually getting the talent to do what the brands need to do—that's the name of the game.
Kit Gray: There's a million companies out there that say they can do it, but actually getting the talent to do what the brands need to do, that's the name of the game, and that's where you're going to get paid higher CPMs and make more and get better rev splits and things like that. The talent that we have, whether they've been with us for seven, eight, nine years, like a lot of them have been, or some of these new ones, they are telling us.
Speaker #4: And that's where you're going to get paid higher CPMs and more—get better read splits, things like that. And the talent that we have, whether they've been with us for seven, eight, nine years, like a lot of them have been, or some of these new ones, they are telling us that. I literally had lunch with one of our shows on Monday in New York City.
Kit Gray: I literally had lunch with one of our shows on Monday in New York City, and they were with two or three other companies before us, and just how they're loving the experience, the relationships, the working hand in hand with the team to really understand the business that we're partnered in has been great to them. I think you're going to see more and more of that, and I think you're starting to see agencies, ad agencies, and brands just buy the ones that they're comfortable with, and making the right deals based on proven track records of doing what you say you do. That's our business.
Kit Gray: I literally had lunch with one of our shows on Monday in New York City, and they were with two or three other companies before us, and just how they're loving the experience, the relationships, the working hand in hand with the team to really understand the business that we're partnered in has been great to them.
Speaker #4: And they were with two or three other companies before us. And just how they're loving the experience, the relationships, the working hand-in-hand with the team to really understand the business that we're partnered in, has been great to them.
Speaker #4: So, I think you're going to see more and more of that. And I think you're starting to see agencies and brands just buy the ones that they're comfortable with.
Kit Gray: I think you're going to see more and more of that, and I think you're starting to see agencies, ad agencies, and brands just buy the ones that they're comfortable with, and making the right deals based on proven track records of doing what you say you do. That's our business.
Speaker #4: And making the right deals based on proven track records of doing what you say you will do. And that's our business.
Speaker #3: Okay. And then last question. Can you provide us an update on the Amazon relationship with R19? I recall you've been moving out in terms of the volume activity as you've been moving up on the thresholds.
Leo Carpio: Okay, last question. Can you provide us an update on the Amazon relationship with ART19? I recall you've been moving up in terms of the volume activity, as you've been moving up on the thresholds for the contract. Does that momentum continue?
Leo Carpio: Okay, last question. Can you provide us an update on the Amazon relationship with ART19? I recall you've been moving up in terms of the volume activity, as you've been moving up on the thresholds for the contract. Does that momentum continue?
Speaker #3: For the contract, does that momentum continue?
Speaker #4: Yeah. So the Amazon relationship has just been a great one. Andy and his team over there have been more than just amazing partners.
Kit Gray: Yeah. The Amazon relationship has just been a great one. Andy and his team over there have been one, just amazing partners. The technology and the efficiencies that we've just been able to use by working with them has been just tremendous. We don't have to spend nearly as much time perfecting that and working on that. Just the efficiencies alone have been great. The connection to their sales platform, and their sales team at Amazon took a little bit of a bumpy start over the last year, over the first couple of months, just in terms of getting set up and having their team package our programming and podcasting programming into what their offerings are. We're really hitting our stride, and we look at sellout percentages and CPMs almost daily, and they're all going in the right direction. We're really happy with that.
Kit Gray: Yeah. The Amazon relationship has just been a great one. Andy and his team over there have been one, just amazing partners. The technology and the efficiencies that we've just been able to use by working with them has been just tremendous. We don't have to spend nearly as much time perfecting that and working on that. Just the efficiencies alone have been great.
Speaker #4: The technology and the efficiencies that we've just been able to use by working with them have been just tremendous. We don't have to spend nearly as much time perfecting that and working on that.
Speaker #4: So just the efficiencies alone have been great. But the connection to their sales platform and their sales team at Amazon took a little bit of a little bit of a bumpy start over the last year, over the first couple of months just in terms of getting set up and having their team package our programming and podcasting programming into what they're offerings are.
Kit Gray: The connection to their sales platform, and their sales team at Amazon took a little bit of a bumpy start over the last year, over the first couple of months, just in terms of getting set up and having their team package our programming and podcasting programming into what their offerings are. We're really hitting our stride, and we look at sellout percentages and CPMs almost daily, and they're all going in the right direction. We're really happy with that.
Speaker #4: But we're really hitting our stride, and we look at the sell-up percentages and CPMs almost daily, and they're all going in the right direction.
Speaker #4: So we're really happy with that. If we can acquire some of these shows and networks that we're talking about, it'll keep moving us up on the next tier of the minimum guarantee.
Kit Gray: If we can acquire some of these shows and networks that we're talking about, it'll keep moving us up on the next tier of the minimum guarantee. We're really excited and happy about where that is right now.
Kit Gray: If we can acquire some of these shows and networks that we're talking about, it'll keep moving us up on the next tier of the minimum guarantee. We're really excited and happy about where that is right now.
Speaker #4: But we're really excited and happy about where that is right now.
Speaker #3: Okay. Thank you.
Leo Carpio: Okay. Thank you.
Leo Carpio: Okay. Thank you.
Speaker #4: Sure. Thanks. Yeah, good to talk to you.
Kit Gray: Sure. Thanks. Yeah. Good to talk to you.
Kit Gray: Sure. Thanks. Yeah. Good to talk to you.
Speaker #1: Your next question comes from the line of Barry Sine with Litchfield Hills Research. Barry, your line is open. Please go ahead.
Operator 3: Your next question comes from the line of Barry Sine with Litchfield Hills Research. Barry, your line is open. Please go ahead.
[Company Representative]: Your next question comes from the line of Barry Sine with Litchfield Hills Research. Barry, your line is open. Please go ahead.
Speaker #5: Hey, good afternoon, Kit, and Rob, and Craig. First question should be an easy one. I didn't see the number of shows in the press release.
Barry Sine: Good afternoon, Kit and Rob and Craig. First question should be an easy one. I didn't see the number of shows in the press release. How many shows did you have in Q1 that you're reporting? Where are you now in terms of the number of shows? What are your top three? I'm particularly interested in how the Dr. Phil Show is going, given the high hopes you had for that when he first came on.
Barry Sine: Good afternoon, Kit and Rob and Craig. First question should be an easy one. I didn't see the number of shows in the press release. How many shows did you have in Q1 that you're reporting? Where are you now in terms of the number of shows? What are your top three? I'm particularly interested in how the Dr. Phil Show is going, given the high hopes you had for that when he first came on.
Speaker #5: How many shows do you have? How many did you have in the March quarter that you're reporting? Where are you now in terms of the number of shows?
Speaker #5: What are your top three? And I'm particularly interested in how the Dr. Phil show is going, given the high hopes you had for that when he first came on.
Speaker #4: Okay, a lot of good questions there—thanks. I don't know the exact numbers of where we were when we ended the quarter to where we are exactly right now.
Kit Gray: Okay. Lot of good questions there. Thanks. I don't know the exact numbers of where we were when we ended the quarter to where we are exactly right now, but it's in that 200 to 185 show range, give or take one or two. The podcasts that still remain atop the world in podcasting for us, Adam Carolla, Jordan Harbinger, the A&E properties, those remain our top dogs. Taffy has been doing really great. There's a good solid group of those that continue to remain at the top of the PodcastOne ranker. I don't know if I got all your answers in there for all your questions. Did I miss something?
Kit Gray: Okay. Lot of good questions there. Thanks. I don't know the exact numbers of where we were when we ended the quarter to where we are exactly right now, but it's in that 200 to 185 show range, give or take one or two.
Speaker #4: But it's in that 200 to 185 show range, give or take one or two. The podcasts that still remain atop the world in podcasting for us—Adam Carolla, Jordan Harbinger, the A&E properties—those remain our top dogs. Tossy has been doing really great.
Kit Gray: The podcasts that still remain atop the world in podcasting for us, Adam Carolla, Jordan Harbinger, the A&E properties, those remain our top dogs. Taffy has been doing really great. There's a good solid group of those that continue to remain at the top of the PodcastOne ranker. I don't know if I got all your answers in there for all your questions. Did I miss something?
Speaker #4: So there's a good, solid group of those that continue to remain at the top of the PodcastOne ranker. And I don't know if I got all your answers in there, or all your questions.
Speaker #4: Did I miss something?
Speaker #5: Dr. Phil McGraw?
Barry Sine: Dr. Phil McGraw.
Barry Sine: Dr. Phil McGraw.
Speaker #4: Oh, Dr. Phil. Yes. And Dr. Phil, it's been good. Dr. Phil has two really good shows, right? He's got the Dr. Phil podcast that he does a bunch of times a week, and then the Murder and Mystery, or Mystery and Murder, show.
Kit Gray: Oh, Dr. Phil. Yes. Dr. Phil, it's been good. Dr. Phil has two really good shows, right? He's got the Dr. Phil podcast that he does a bunch of times a week, and then the Murder and Mystery or Mystery of Murder show. I always get that back the wrong way, but that's been doing great, too. They fit well into the network we continue to promote in our lifestyle, and really our male network, The Dr. Phil Show and then the Murder and Mystery or Mystery of Murder show fits really well into our crime network, and we go out and sell the crime space. It's been a good one. He's in very big demand. We have high hopes that he does a tour through Austin in the next couple of months to hit up some of those big podcasts that he has great relationships with. Phil's been amazing.
Kit Gray: Oh, Dr. Phil. Yes. Dr. Phil, it's been good. Dr. Phil has two really good shows, right? He's got the Dr. Phil podcast that he does a bunch of times a week, and then the Murder and Mystery or Mystery of Murder show. I always get that back the wrong way, but that's been doing great, too.
Speaker #4: I always get that back the wrong way. But that's been doing great too. So they fit well into the network. We continue to promote in our lifestyle and really our male network—the Dr. Phil show—and then the Mystery and Murder show fits really well in our crime network.
Kit Gray: They fit well into the network we continue to promote in our lifestyle, and really our male network, The Dr. Phil Show and then the Murder and Mystery or Mystery of Murder show fits really well into our crime network, and we go out and sell the crime space. It's been a good one. He's in very big demand.
Speaker #4: And when we go out and sell the crime space, it's been a good one. He's in big demand. We have high hopes that he does a tour through Austin in the next couple of months to hit up some of those big podcasts that he has great relationships with.
Kit Gray: We have high hopes that he does a tour through Austin in the next couple of months to hit up some of those big podcasts that he has great relationships with. Phil's been amazing. We're really happy with that relationship to date.
Speaker #4: So Phil's been amazing, and we're really happy with that relationship to date.
Kit Gray: We're really happy with that relationship to date.
Speaker #5: Okay. And then Sean asked about the Podtrac data, and I know you said that there are some better data items, but things like CPMs, you guys don't report.
Barry Sine: Okay. Sean asked about the Podtrac data, and I know you said that there's some better data items, but things like CPMs, you guys don't report, so it's the best we can do, and it does come out monthly. One flaw that we've talked about with the Podtrac data is, and you just alluded to it, is it does not pick up all of the viewing sources, and in fact, correct me if I'm wrong, I don't believe it picks up the largest viewing source, which is YouTube. What percentage do you think of viewing do they pick up? How might we adjust the Podtrac numbers upward to get a broader number?
Barry Sine: Okay. Sean asked about the Podtrac data, and I know you said that there's some better data items, but things like CPMs, you guys don't report, so it's the best we can do, and it does come out monthly. One flaw that we've talked about with the Podtrac data is, and you just alluded to it, is it does not pick up all of the viewing sources, and in fact, correct me if I'm wrong, I don't believe it picks up the largest viewing source, which is YouTube.
Speaker #5: So it's the kind of the best we can do and it does come out monthly. One flaw that we've talked about with the pod track data is, and you just alluded to it, is it does not pick up all of the viewing sources and in fact, correct me if I'm wrong, I don't believe it picks up the largest viewing source, which is YouTube.
Speaker #5: So, what percentage do you think of viewing do they pick up? How might we adjust the pod track numbers upward to get a broader number?
Barry Sine: What percentage do you think of viewing do they pick up? How might we adjust the Podtrac numbers upward to get a broader number?
Speaker #4: Yeah, so we're in constant contact with the Podtrac team, and they're in a world where they're testing some things to include video as well.
Kit Gray: Yeah. We're in constant contact with the Podtrac team. They're in a world where they're testing some things to include video as well. YouTube, Rumble, all of those. They're even looking at social reach, where now that'll include everything from LinkedIn to X to TikTok, Instagram, all that. That number is going to get wild. Hard for you guys to do full analysis on that because it doesn't correlate from impression to impression in terms of sales. Again, the Podtrac world is it doesn't have all the shows, it doesn't have all the networks, but we look at it as at least a good tracker in the industry for where we are and our continued growth.
Kit Gray: Yeah. We're in constant contact with the Podtrac team. They're in a world where they're testing some things to include video as well. YouTube, Rumble, all of those. They're even looking at social reach, where now that'll include everything from LinkedIn to X to TikTok, Instagram, all that.
Speaker #4: So, YouTube, Rumble, all of those. They're even looking at social reach now. That'll include everything from LinkedIn to X, to TikTok, Instagram, all that.
Speaker #4: So that number is going to get wild. It's hard for you guys to do a full analysis on that because it doesn't correlate from impression to impression in terms of sales.
Kit Gray: That number is going to get wild. Hard for you guys to do full analysis on that because it doesn't correlate from impression to impression in terms of sales. Again, the Podtrac world is it doesn't have all the shows, it doesn't have all the networks, but we look at it as at least a good tracker in the industry for where we are and our continued growth.
Speaker #4: So what we see again, the Podtrac world is just—it doesn't have all the shows, it doesn't have all the networks, but we look at it as at least a good tracker in the industry for where we are and our continued growth.
Speaker #4: Really, it comes down to the internal side of things, which I know you guys don't see: the sellout rates, the increased CPMs, the growth, the marketing, and the backlog.
Kit Gray: Really, it comes down to the internal side of things, which I know you guys don't see, but the sellout rates, the increased CPMs, the growth of the marketing and the backlog content to monetize that. That's where we live, and that's how we try to do the best that we can. You're seeing more and more video numbers. We have seen a little bit of press on how video can't be quantified as strong as maybe the audio experience. That seems to be evening out recently in some of the press out there and some of the attribution on it, and seeing really good sales results or ROI results just on the video side of things, which is great news for the industry, right? Again, really hard to answer and give you all the information because Podtrac just doesn't have that.
Kit Gray: Really, it comes down to the internal side of things, which I know you guys don't see, but the sellout rates, the increased CPMs, the growth of the marketing and the backlog content to monetize that. That's where we live, and that's how we try to do the best that we can.
Speaker #4: Content to monetize that. That's where we live, and that's how we try to do the best that we can. You're seeing more and more video numbers, and we have seen a little bit of press on how video can't be quantified as strongly as maybe the audio experience.
Kit Gray: You're seeing more and more video numbers. We have seen a little bit of press on how video can't be quantified as strong as maybe the audio experience. That seems to be evening out recently in some of the press out there and some of the attribution on it, and seeing really good sales results or ROI results just on the video side of things, which is great news for the industry, right? Again, really hard to answer and give you all the information because Podtrac just doesn't have that.
Speaker #4: That seems to be evening out recently. And some of the press out there, and some of the attribution on it, and seeing really good sales results or ROI results just on the video side of things—which is great news for the industry, right?
Speaker #4: So again, it's really hard to answer and give you all the information because Podtrac just doesn't have that. They just do the best that they possibly can.
Kit Gray: They just do the best that they possibly can. They are continuing to evolve, so you will have more information to look at. I would hesitate to say the millions and millions of social media followers that we have is going to just grow our revenue exponentially when you do see that stuff. It is more how we use it to package individual sales deals and buying into communities, and really hard to quantify for you guys, but that is our world.
Kit Gray: They just do the best that they possibly can. They are continuing to evolve, so you will have more information to look at. I would hesitate to say the millions and millions of social media followers that we have is going to just grow our revenue exponentially when you do see that stuff. It is more how we use it to package individual sales deals and buying into communities, and really hard to quantify for you guys, but that is our world.
Speaker #4: They're continuing to evolve, so you'll have more information to look at. But I would hesitate to say that the millions and millions of social media followers we have are going to just grow our revenue exponentially when you see that stuff.
Speaker #4: It's more about how we use it to package individual sales deals and buy into communities. It's really hard to kind of quantify for you guys, but that's our world.
Speaker #5: Okay, just to clarify on that pod track point—in the past, I think you've said to me that YouTube is the largest source. They're not in there, and they represent about 22% of viewing.
Barry Sine: Okay. Just to clarify on that Podtrac point. In the past, I think you have said to me that YouTube is the largest source. They are not in there, and they represent about 22% of viewing. Are those three data points still directionally correct, do you think?
Barry Sine: Okay. Just to clarify on that Podtrac point. In the past, I think you have said to me that YouTube is the largest source. They are not in there, and they represent about 22% of viewing. Are those three data points still directionally correct, do you think?
Speaker #5: Are those three data points still directionally correct, do you think?
Kit Gray: I think so. It really is hard because not every show has YouTube, right? Or if they do, they put it out on YouTube as still imagery, right? Because look, we have A&E, "Cold Case Files," and that network of shows is one of our biggest groups, right? They are not on YouTube, right? The reason they are not on YouTube is because they are on A&E. We do not do the video side of things, so they lose out on some of the discovery to that. Other prime shows, they are not conversations that you can just put on YouTube. They are a lot of research, a lot of writing, a lot goes into it behind the scenes. It is not something that you could add video to.
Kit Gray: I think so. It really is hard because not every show has YouTube, right? Or if they do, they put it out on YouTube as still imagery, right? Because look, we have A&E, "Cold Case Files," and that network of shows is one of our biggest groups, right? They are not on YouTube, right? The reason they are not on YouTube is because they are on A&E.
Speaker #4: I think so. But really, it's hard because not every show has YouTube, right? Or, if they do, they put it out on YouTube as still imagery, right?
Speaker #4: Because, look, we have A&E, Cold Case Files, and that network of shows is one of our biggest groups, right? And they're not on YouTube, right?
Speaker #4: And the reason they're not on YouTube is because they're on A&E. And so we don't do the video side of things, so they lose out on some of the discovery to that.
Kit Gray: We do not do the video side of things, so they lose out on some of the discovery to that. Other prime shows, they are not conversations that you can just put on YouTube. They are a lot of research, a lot of writing, a lot goes into it behind the scenes. It is not something that you could add video to.
Speaker #4: Other crime shows—they're not conversations that you can just put on YouTube. There's a lot of research, a lot of writing. A lot goes into it behind the scenes.
Speaker #4: So, it's not something that you could add video to. You can just put the still imagery out there and put your commercials in, and use YouTube for discovery and shareability.
Kit Gray: You can just put the still imagery out there and put your commercials in and use YouTube for discovery, shareability, and consumption. It is different, right? Everything is a little different. Again, it comes down to the shows, how much can we package them together, video, audio, social media, and just go from there.
Kit Gray: You can just put the still imagery out there and put your commercials in and use YouTube for discovery, shareability, and consumption. It is different, right? Everything is a little different. Again, it comes down to the shows, how much can we package them together, video, audio, social media, and just go from there.
Speaker #4: And consumption. But it's different, right? So everything's a little different. So again, it comes down to the shows—how much can we package them together?
Speaker #4: Video, audio, social media, and just go from there.
Speaker #5: Okay. And then my last question is regarding the competitive environment versus the other podcast publishers. And if I look at the rankings, the guys that are the bigger guys that are above you, are they getting more or less aggressive in going after talent?
Barry Sine: Okay, my last question is regarding the competitive environment versus the other podcast publishers. If I look at the rankings, the bigger guys that are above you, are they getting more or less aggressive in going after talent? It seems to me that a lot of the ones that are above you are really just only doing their own content, not third party as you do. Below you, the smaller podcast publishers, historically, you've had a competitive advantage because you just give your podcasters a lot more data, and they are able to run their business more effectively. What are you seeing both above you in terms of competing for talent, and above you, your ability to perhaps take talent away from some of the smaller publishers that are below you?
Barry Sine: Okay, my last question is regarding the competitive environment versus the other podcast publishers. If I look at the rankings, the bigger guys that are above you, are they getting more or less aggressive in going after talent? It seems to me that a lot of the ones that are above you are really just only doing their own content, not third party as you do.
Speaker #5: It seems to me that a lot of the ones that are above you are really just only doing their own content, not third-party, as you do.
Speaker #5: And then below you, the smaller podcast publishers, historically you’ve had a competitive advantage because you just give your podcasters a lot more data, and they’re able to run their business more effectively.
Barry Sine: Below you, the smaller podcast publishers, historically, you've had a competitive advantage because you just give your podcasters a lot more data, and they are able to run their business more effectively. What are you seeing both above you in terms of competing for talent, and above you, your ability to perhaps take talent away from some of the smaller publishers that are below you?
Speaker #5: So, what are you seeing both above you, in terms of competing for talent, and—above you—your ability to perhaps take talent away from some of the smaller publishers that are below you?
Speaker #4: Yeah. So, above us, when you look at the ranker—I mean, iHeart's good. The top two spots there, I don't know. It's been explained to me a couple of times, how that works.
Kit Gray: Yeah. Above us, when you look at the ranker, iHeartMedia's got the top two spots there. I don't know. They've explained that to me a couple of times on how that works, but I think what it is their original shows and then the ones that they represent, in air quotes, right? Some of those other shows that you see above us, Listenr is a lot of hosting large run-of-network type sales that they do on their end, but they also have shows that they work with hand in hand. We're stealing from a bunch of those companies. iHeart has their own financial issues that they're working through. Every time you listen to them on what they're talking about on their earnings calls, it's really strong in terms of podcast growth, right?
Kit Gray: Yeah. Above us, when you look at the ranker, iHeartMedia's got the top two spots there. I don't know. They've explained that to me a couple of times on how that works, but I think what it is their original shows and then the ones that they represent, in air quotes, right?
Speaker #4: But I think what it is, is they're original shows, and then the ones that they represent in air quotes, right? So some of those other shows that you see above us—Libsyn is a lot of hosting, large run-of-network-type sales that they do on their end, but they also have shows that they work with hand-in-hand.
Kit Gray: Some of those other shows that you see above us, Listenr is a lot of hosting large run-of-network type sales that they do on their end, but they also have shows that they work with hand in hand. We're stealing from a bunch of those companies. iHeart has their own financial issues that they're working through. Every time you listen to them on what they're talking about on their earnings calls, it's really strong in terms of podcast growth, right?
Speaker #4: We're stealing from a bunch of those companies. iHeart has their own financial issues that they're working through. Every time you listen to them on what they're talking about on their earnings calls, it's really strong in terms of podcast growth, right?
Speaker #4: So that's probably picking up for a lot of the other lagging verticals in their world. So they're concentrating on podcasts, and they can make different deals than we can just because they can funnel money different ways and show growth in certain things.
Kit Gray: That's probably picking up for a lot of the other lagging verticals in their world. They're concentrating on podcasts, and they can make different deals than we can just because they can funnel money different ways and show growth in certain things. They like to do that. They're a great place for us to go and steal content. We say that in the right way because we just are very connected. If you look at all the shows that they have, it's almost impossible to manage all of those the right way. When we go to podcasters that are with them, we talk about what we do, and people really like it. They like the attention. They like the things that you mentioned earlier about being able to see the numbers and run their business that way based off of that.
Kit Gray: That's probably picking up for a lot of the other lagging verticals in their world. They're concentrating on podcasts, and they can make different deals than we can just because they can funnel money different ways and show growth in certain things. They like to do that. They're a great place for us to go and steal content.
Speaker #4: So they like to do that. But they're a great place for us to go and source content—and we say that in the right way, because we just serve, we're very connected.
Kit Gray: We say that in the right way because we just are very connected. If you look at all the shows that they have, it's almost impossible to manage all of those the right way. When we go to podcasters that are with them, we talk about what we do, and people really like it. They like the attention. They like the things that you mentioned earlier about being able to see the numbers and run their business that way based off of that.
Speaker #4: I mean, if you look at all the shows that they have, it's almost impossible to manage all of those the right way. So when we go to podcasters that are with them, we talk about what we do, and people really like it.
Speaker #4: They like the attention. They like the things that you mentioned earlier about being able to see the numbers and run their business that way, based off of that.
Speaker #4: I think that's a real competitive advantage for us. When you look at some of the smaller ones behind us, I think it's the same story, right?
Kit Gray: I think that's a real competitive advantage for us. When you look at some of the smaller ones behind us, I think it's the same story, right? It's the hand-holding ability to use all our marketing, our talent booking, our hosting, our sales team. That's still attractive to some of these other shows that are with some of these smaller networks. We're able to offer scale, right? It's nice to be able to say, "Well, you're going to get all that attention, but you're also going to get scale, where we can offer you 30 million or 25 million downloads a month, right? Genres, and get you on a bunch of podcasts in our network and off our network to grow.
Kit Gray: I think that's a real competitive advantage for us. When you look at some of the smaller ones behind us, I think it's the same story, right? It's the hand-holding ability to use all our marketing, our talent booking, our hosting, our sales team. That's still attractive to some of these other shows that are with some of these smaller networks.
Speaker #4: It's the hand-holding ability to use all our marketing, or talent booking, or hosting, or sales team. That's still attractive to some of these other shows that are with some of these smaller networks.
Speaker #4: And we're able to offer scale, right? So it's nice to be able to say, "Well, you're going to get all that attention, but you're also going to get scale where we can offer you to 30 million or 25 million downloads a month," right?
Kit Gray: We're able to offer scale, right? It's nice to be able to say, "Well, you're going to get all that attention, but you're also going to get scale, where we can offer you 30 million or 25 million downloads a month, right? Genres, and get you on a bunch of podcasts in our network and off our network to grow.
Speaker #4: And genres, and get you on a bunch of podcasts in our network and offer our network to grow. So we like to, kind of, I guess, for lack of better words, attack both the bigger ones and the smaller ones just by knowing what we do best.
Kit Gray: We like to, I guess, for lack of better words, attack both the bigger ones and the smaller ones just by knowing what we do best.
Kit Gray: We like to, I guess, for lack of better words, attack both the bigger ones and the smaller ones just by knowing what we do best.
Speaker #5: All right, that's it for me. Thank you very much, Kit.
Barry Sine: All right. That's it for me. Thank you very much, Kit.
Barry Sine: All right. That's it for me. Thank you very much, Kit.
Speaker #4: Sure. Good to talk to you.
Kit Gray: Sure. Good to talk to you.
Kit Gray: Sure. Good to talk to you.
Speaker #1: There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back to Kit Gray for closing remarks.
Operator 3: There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back to Kit Gray for closing remarks.
[Company Representative]: There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back to Kit Gray for closing remarks.
Speaker #4: Thank you, everyone. I really appreciate your time today. It's been a tremendous Q4 and year. We've learned a lot, we continue to grow, and we've made some great relationships.
Kit Gray: Thank you everyone. I really appreciate your time today. It's been a tremendous Q4 and year. We learned a lot. We continued to grow. We made some great relationships. It's been just really a thrill to get PodcastOne's stock heading in the right direction. We feel really good about where we are and huge upside. Rob mentioned it earlier when he was talking. We think we're a great value play, a great growth play. We're a great company in a great medium. We're really excited about the next year and what we're gonna do with PodcastOne and the industry. We just wanted to say thank you for your time today. We appreciate you guys following us, listening to our podcast, and understanding our medium.
Kit Gray: Thank you everyone. I really appreciate your time today. It's been a tremendous Q4 and year. We learned a lot. We continued to grow. We made some great relationships. It's been just really a thrill to get PodcastOne's stock heading in the right direction. We feel really good about where we are and huge upside.
Speaker #4: It's been just really a thrill to get PodcastOne stock heading in the right direction. We feel really good about where we are, and there's huge upside.
Kit Gray: Rob mentioned it earlier when he was talking. We think we're a great value play, a great growth play. We're a great company in a great medium. We're really excited about the next year and what we're gonna do with PodcastOne and the industry. We just wanted to say thank you for your time today. We appreciate you guys following us, listening to our podcast, and understanding our medium.
Speaker #4: Rob mentioned it earlier when he was talking, but we think we're a great value play and a great growth play. We're a great company and a great medium.
Speaker #4: So we're really excited about the next year and what we're going to what we're going to do with podcast one and the industry. But we just wanted to say thank you for your time today.
Speaker #4: We appreciate you guys following us, listening to our podcast, and engaging with our media. So, thank you so much for your time today, and I look forward to talking to you throughout the year and updating you as we continue to grow and have great success.
Kit Gray: Thank you so much for your time today, and I look forward to talking to you guys throughout the year and updating you as we continue to grow and have great success. Thank you so much and have a great day.
Kit Gray: Thank you so much for your time today, and I look forward to talking to you guys throughout the year and updating you as we continue to grow and have great success. Thank you so much and have a great day.
Speaker #4: So, thank you so much, and have a great day.
Speaker #3: Yeah. And I'll just add one last thing. LiveOne will continue to buy back a substantial amount of PodcastOne stock every quarter. We are extraordinarily proud of Kit and the team and what they've done.
Robert Ellin: Just adding one last thing. LiveOne will continue to buy back a substantial amount of PodcastOne stock every quarter. We are extraordinarily proud of Kit and the team and what they've done. This is a world-class team. It has really held us together this year, in a tough year coming off the coverage of Slacker. PodcastOne has just shined and done a great job. We will continue to do buybacks and continue to add to it. If the stock continues trading way below the industry levels, we'll just keep buying back as much stock as we can, and we'll start again next week. Thank you everyone for joining, and thanks, Kit.
Robert Ellin: Just adding one last thing. LiveOne will continue to buy back a substantial amount of PodcastOne stock every quarter. We are extraordinarily proud of Kit and the team and what they've done. This is a world-class team. It has really held us together this year, in a tough year coming off the coverage of Slacker.
Speaker #3: This is a world-class team. It has really held us together this year, in a tough year coming off of Slacker. PodcastOne is just shining and has done a great job.
Robert Ellin: PodcastOne has just shined and done a great job. We will continue to do buybacks and continue to add to it. If the stock continues trading way below the industry levels, we'll just keep buying back as much stock as we can, and we'll start again next week. Thank you everyone for joining, and thanks, Kit.
Speaker #3: And so we will continue to do buybacks and continue to add to it. And if the stock can trade way below the industry levels, we'll just keep buying back as much stock as we can, and we'll start again next week.
Speaker #3: So, thank you everyone for joining, and thanks, Kit.
Speaker #4: Thanks, Rob.
Kit Gray: Thanks, Rob.
Kit Gray: Thanks, Rob.
Speaker #1: This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.
Operator 3: This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect. This event has now concluded. Thank you for joining PodcastOne, Inc., PODC, Q4 Fiscal 2026 Financial Results and Business Update. The line will disconnect automatically.
[Company Representative]: This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.
Speaker #2: This event has now concluded. Thank you for joining Podcast One Incorporated, PODC, Q4 fiscal 2026 financial results and business update. The line will disconnect automatically.
Moderator: This event has now concluded. Thank you for joining PodcastOne, Inc., PODC, Q4 Fiscal 2026 Financial Results and Business Update. The line will disconnect automatically.

