Wizzard Software, the parent company of Liberated Syndication and several podcast hosting services, announced today that revenues for the fourth quarter of 2007 were $1,540,992, a 108% increase over revenues of $739,551 in the fourth quarter of 2006.
For the full year of 2007, the Company recorded revenues of $5,163,491, a 75% increase of $2,195,967 from revenues of $2,943,578 in 2006. Wizzard posted a gross profit of $1,562,703, a 47% increase versus a gross profit of $1,064,115 in the full year 2006.
The company noted several podcasting-related accomplishments in its announcement:
Acquisition of Podcast Company Liberated Syndication (Libsyn) 3/19/07
Completed Raise of $7,500,000 for its Podcasting Business 7/9/07
Adds Nielsen//NetRatings’ Site Census to Advertising System 9/12/07
Announces Largest Ever Industry Ad Campaign 11/14/07
Ends Year with Approximately 10,000 Podcast Publishers 12/31/07
1 Billion Download Requests in 2007 12/31/07
In 2007, Wizzard Media surpassed download request forecasts with one billion podcast download requests achieved, surpassing the 450 million download requests for 2006.
“Podcasting is becoming a necessary audience expansion tool for content publishers and brand advertisers seeking cost effective, high return outlets to capture the migration of audiences from traditional media outlets to the internet,” says Chris Spencer, Wizzard CEO. “We are seeing an increase in advertiser understanding of the high quality, subscription and episodic benefits of podcasting versus other internet video offerings. We believe that our ambitious undertaking of targeting similar audiences through interesting, engaging podcast micro-communities is a very compelling advertising opportunity and we expect advertising revenues to grow substantially in 2008.”
There’s been a lot of discussion lately in the world of new media about the future of podcasting - people wondering what the current state of podcasting is and where it’s going.
eMarketer forecasts that the audience for podcast consumption will double in the next two years, but even that relatively rosy forecast is disappointing to some.
We recently talked to Chris Spencer, CEO of podcasting hosting mega-network Wizzard Media, to get his perspective on podcasting and its future.
In the last year, Wizzard has acquired podcast hosting services Switchpod, Libsyn, and Blast Podcast. Wizzard made headlines in January when it announced that it had delivered over one billion podcast downloads in 2007. Earlier this week, Wizzard announced that it was now trading on the American Stock Exchange (”AMEX”) under the ticker symbol “WZE.”
In our interview, Chris shared his thoughts on what a billion podcast downloads per year means, what he expects that number to be in 2008, and his predictions on what will happen with podcast advertising.
Elisabeth McLaury Lewin: Tell me about this whole billion downloads number. What does that mean for you in particular, and for downloadable media industry in general?
Chris Spencer: It’s a big number, isn’t it?
For us in particular, it means our servers are running well. Let’s face it: some people wonder whether this accomplishment gets credited to Wizzard, or to our content creators. We feel strongly that it’s 95% our content creators - they create the quality content, and they go out and market their show, and grow their audience. We get 5% credit for being proficient and productive enough to offer a stable inexpensive hosting solution, and that takes a lot of work.
But it comes down to the podcast producers. It’s a big accomplishment for the podcasters we host. It’s a big enough milestone for them and for us, and we publicized it so much.
In reality, what we’re trying to do is raise awareness for podcasting, specifically with the advertisers and the sponsors. It’s a number that’s going to attract a lot of the bigger brands that didn’t realize how big the potential here is. If there’s going to be big audience for podcasts, then that’s going to draw advertisers. That’s why we publicize it, not just for us, but for the whole industry.
Let’s look at the whole podcast industry: Right now, the industry is too small to worry if it’s us, or PodShow, or Podomatic. Right now it’s all about getting the advertisers and sponsors to know more about and be more interested in podcasting. Period.
I could talk about this for hours: it comes down to trying to demonstrate that this is a viable alternative to reach target audiences. More importantly, it is a product that people are consuming, and they’re loving it.
Podcast hosting network Wizzard Media announced this morning that its common shares are set to begin trading today on the American Stock Exchange (”AMEX”) under the ticker symbol “WZE.” Previously, the company traded as “WIZD” on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board.
Wizzard is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, and Detroit, and was in the headlines last month for its disclosure that it had served up one billion podcast downloads in 2007. Additionally, Wizzard recently completed a major podcast advertising campaign for the U.S. Navy, across 28 of the podcast shows it hosts on its network.
Wizzard, the podcasting network that recently announced it had served up over a billion podcasts in 2007, announced today that its common shares have been approved for listing on the American Stock Exchange (”AMEX”).
Wizzard is tentatively scheduled to begin trading during the week of February 4th, 2008. The company will be traded under the ticker symbol “WZE”. Previously, the company traded as “WIZD” on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board.
“We’re very excited to have finally reached such a tremendous milestone for our company and shareholders,” said Chris Spencer, Wizzard CEO. “We expect Wizzard’s shareholders to benefit from the increased trading liquidity and investor visibility that comes with trading on the AMEX.”
The AMEX listing approval is contingent on the Company being in compliance with all applicable listing requirements on the date that it begins trading.
Today’s big podcasting news is that Wizzard Media announced their download totals for 2007, an amazing one billion podcast files downloaded. To put that large number into some context, we talked with Rob Walch, Wizzard’s Vice President of Podcaster Relations (and creator/host of the popular Podcast411).
First off, congratulations - this is pretty stunning news. What do you think this billion-download figure means, for Wizzard Media in particular, and for the wider downloadable media industry in general?
To my knowledge we are the first ones to hit a billion in a calendar year in the Podcasting space (wearing my 411 hat). I am sure there will be others — if not in 2008 then certainly in 2009.
But the bigger news for podcasting is that someone has done it. I believe that hitting that the 1 billion mark is the type of benchmark that big ad agencies will take notice of. Now they’ll understand that podcasting is for real — and that is good for everyone.
So, when we were at the Portable and New Media Expo this fall, some guys were talking gloom and doom — that podcasting was essentially dead. Your news seems to belie that prediction.
There is a lot of misguided talk about podcasting being dead. We just are not seeing it. We continue to see growth in the numbers each month. To us, at least, podcasting keeps growing.
What do you think this bodes for the coming year?
We hope that 2008 will be the year that advertisers stop thinking of podcasting as an experiment, and start thinking of it as a necessity for every campaign.
ReadWriteWeb’s Marshall Kirkpatrickreports that Wizzard Media, the owners of the Libsyn, Switchpod and Blast Podcast networks, will announce tomorrow that it passed the 1 billion download mark in 2007.
It’s an impressive number, one that’s sure to generate a lot of buzz for both Wizzard and podcasting.
It’s been an interesting ride for Wizzard. Here are some of the company’s podcasting milestones:
In September of 2006, we reported that Wizzard had acquired podcast hosting service providers Switchpod.com and Blast Podcast.
In October 2006, Wizzard announced that it was buying Libsyn and that it had secured $1,750,000 investments.
In early 2007, Wizzard announced its revenues for 2006. The company recorded record revenues of $2,943,578, thanks in part to (we’re not making this up!) “Rex” - the talking pill bottle.
In May of 2007, we reported that Wizzard was serving up over 70,000,000 podcast episodes per month.
In September 2007, they announced a partnership with Nielsen/NetRatings to offer certified download data. According to Wizzard, certified download numbers will bring “a new level of accountability to podcast ad sales.”
1-billion podcast served is an interesting milestone for Wizzard. What’s really interesting, though, is that Wizzard has demonstrated that it can execute on podcasting’s potential.
Nascent new media industry group, the Association for Downloadable Media, has announced the new officers, committee chairmen, and Advisory Board members. Podcasting News Publisher Elisabeth McLaury Lewin talked with some of the newly-elected board members this weekend.
Here’s what Chris MacDonald, (Executive VP, Business Development and Operations, Libsyn PRO), Chairman (looking chairmanly in this updated photo, right) had to say about his plans and goals for the ADM, and what moved him to become involved in the new organization:
“[Over the last several years], I wanted to start up a conversation with other podcasters and new media creators, stemming from talks with folks at different PodCamps and industry gatherings. I saw a real unmet need for having replicable standards and metrics – not in terms of this one particular company or this one existing sort of metric being incorrect – more like, how do we craft the language and the matrix and the variety of different ways that value can be applied from a monetization strategy? We came to the conclusion that a lot of it was gonna happen on an ad-supported basis, and that would be a conversation worth having as a group.
“I heard from Susan Bratton [ADM Vice-Chairwoman] around that same time, and she was interested in getting a little more formal, like a trade association, and wondered would I like to be involved. I jumped at the opportunity to do this – because it seemed to be the sort of environment that would kick-start this metrics and monetization conversation, and translate it into something concrete. It takes money, coordination, research, many people, a structure, to get these conversations going, and this seemed like a great way to mobilize all these things.
“[The ADM] We have members and officers from all corners of the industry — large broadcasters, independent publishers, large publishers, small and medium-sized companies, nonprofit and for profit ventures, individuals and corporations… a variety of different stakeholders who are attracted to the concept of getting together and sharing information, and bridging the gap that we all know exists between getting advertisers more excited, and growing the industry for all the stakeholders.
“The industry is growing up and we’re at this place right now where it’s making an undulation. There’s definitely money to be made, but how? We’re becoming legitimate in the eyes of older media and advertising. And there have been some interesting strategic directions for communication that help to create a lot of value for advertisers. But, for those of us who are the “experts,” the people who’ve been doing downloadable media for several years now, what do we do with all this sweat equity knowledge we have? And how do we start to communicate as a community?
What’s Next For The ADM
“I think the thing we have to do first [now that the ADM elections are decided], is some of the organizational stuff, to help us get up and rolling. Subject-matter work at the committee level… We now have committee heads, so the work of the committees can get started in earnest.
“What I’d like to see happen in the coming year at ADM: We have a good base of corporate and non-profit and individual members. And I expect that we will spend a lot of time, getting that membership base even broader and stronger, so our potential resources will increase. Frankly, when you’re concerned with what we’re going to be doing, things like primary research, being the focal point for press inquiries about issues of donloadable media, pulling together our diverse collective interests and supporting those, we’ll have to figure out financing and prioritizing our collective goals.
“We also have to talk with advertisers and figure out what they really want and need, before we begin to build a structure for collecting information and doing research about the reach of providers of downloadable media.
“The ADM is a unique organization, in the sense that we’re not “vertical”, not a trade association per se, but rather we’re a group for solving complex problems. The needs of independent publishers might be different from an advertising-repping company or a measurement company. One of our first things will be to come up with some ways we can work collectively.
“You can expect some very hard work from from the ADM board in the months to come, and people are gonna be hearing from us soon. If someone’s been sitting on the fence, wondering whether to get involved in the ADM, I really encourage them to come to downloadable media.org. Look around the site, and see what we’re about. I invite you to become members, and get involved, and join the conversation. Pick out and work on a committee with the subject matter that appeals to you.”
Wizzard Media has announced that the U.S. Navy has signed on for its first-ever podcast advertising campaign.
The campaign will continue through the end of January. It encompasses 20 different shows in the Wizzard Media network, covering the categories of music, gaming and sports & recreation.
To execute the buy, Wizzard was faced with its most extensive insertion order to date. The Navy’s 20-podcast campaign includes more than 3,000 ad placements across 1,200-plus individual audio and video podcast episodes. The total downloads for this campaign will exceed 6.5 million, with results being certified by Wizzard using Nielsen//NetRatings to verify the scope of audiences for the U.S. Navy and participating podcasts.
“Podcast advertising is on the cusp of becoming a red-hot vehicle for marketers, and Campbell-Ewald should be credited for being ahead of the curve on behalf of its client,” said Jim Else, Vice President, Sales, Wizzard Media. “With its podcast campaign, the Navy is reaching a highly targeted, opt-in audience of high quality, on-going audio and video shows.”
Heavyweight podcast hosting provider Wizzard Software has announced changes to the Company’s Board of Directors, as part of a bid to get listed on the American Stock Exchange.
The Board accepted the resignations of Armen Geronian and Gordon Berry, effective October 3, 2007. Geronian and Berry resigned for the sole purpose of facilitating the creation of a Board of Directors consisting of a majority of independent directors, allowing Wizzard to become compliant with the mandates set forth by the American Stock Exchange. Geronian will continue to serve as Wizzard’s Chief Technology Officer and Berry will continue to oversee the Company’s healthcare operations.
The Board unanimously appointed three new independent board members to Wizzard’s Board of Directors, effective October 3, 2007:
Greg Smith, a producer with over 10 years of experience in television;
Douglas Polinsky, President of Great North Capital Corp., a Minnesota-based financial services company; and
Denis Yevstifeyev, a CPA who currently serves as a Sr. Financial Reporting Analyst for American Eagle Outfitters.
Wizzard Software, the parent company of Liberated Syndication and several podcast hosting services, announced today that revenues for the fourth quarter of 2007 were $1,540,992, a 108% increase over revenues of $739,551 in the fourth quarter of 2006.
In early 2007, Wizzard announced its revenues for 2006. The company recorded 
Nascent new media industry group, the 
