Audio Ink

According to the June Triton Digital ranker, the Boston market showed the largest increase at 2.2% compared to May 2017. Seattle-Tacoma was next with an increase of 1.78%, followed by Philadelphia at 1%. The biggest fall-off was in Denver, off 5.2%, Washington DC was next at 5%, and Phoenix was at 3.79%. For the month of June (M-F/6A-8P) Pandora lead all listening, followed by Spotify, iHeart, and NPR. Check out the ranker HERE.

Fanpage, a startup whose app allows users to create fan pages, connect with others based on compatibility, and compete to become the biggest fan, has raised $3 million and is partnering with Townsquare and iHeartMedia. The company plans to spend a major portion of the money on user acquisition, including radio, digital, and live event campaigns with iHeart and Townsquare.

SiriusXM and ESPN are teaming up to deliver an exclusive 24/7 college sports channel, programmed by SiriusXM. ESPNU Radio on SiriusXM (channel 84) will debut Thursday, August 31, and will be available exclusively to SiriusXM subscribers via satellite radios, the SiriusXM app and on connected devices, including smart TVs, Amazon Alexa devices and Sony PlayStation.

The Super Bowl XXI MVP will be an NFL analyst on SiriusXM's Mad Dog Sports Radio (channel 82) throughout the 2017 season. He will join host Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo each week for Simms and the Mad Dog, an hour-long program where the duo will discuss the news from the league that week and preview the coming weekend's matchups.

The hey, girl. podcast was created by author Alex Elle. During each weekly 30-minute episode, Elle sits down with women who inspire her, from friends to family members and anyone else who fascinates her. They share their journeys of struggle and self-discovery. Entering its second successful season, hey, girl. has racked up 180,000 downloads so far.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau has released the organization’s first-ever buyer’s guide for podcast advertising, which provides insights into audience demographics, listener behaviors, creative treatments, ad formats, delivery and targeting, and ad effectiveness measurement. Recent IAB research conducted by PwC forecasts that podcast advertising revenues will top $220 million in 2017, an 85 percent leap from $119 million in 2016.

Spreaker & BlogTalkRadio have announced a merger of the two companies. The combined entity will consist of more than 50,000 podcasts, millions of listeners, and a suite of creation and monetization technologies. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. No word on what the new name of the merged company will be.

AirKast announced Thursday night that it has developed and will be providing free Alexa skills for all its customers -- including over 800 North American radio stations, syndicated radio hosts and podcasters.

PodcastOne has promoted Jim Ballas to VP of Technology and Operations. In Ballas’ expanded role, he will oversee network digital initiatives and sales operations, including the website, app, ad insertion, virtual reality and reporting metrics. He'll report to CEO, Jim Berk.

Omny Studio has signed an agreement with CBS Radio giving CBS a license to the Omny Studio platform. CBS Radio will now be able to use Omny Studio’s podcast hosting, analytics and social sharing tools. CBS Radio has over 350 podcasts.