Audio Ink

Pandora's premium subscription service is launching this week with some listeners getting a free trial Wednesday. All other listeners will have an option to upgrade to the $9.99 per-month service over the next few weeks.

The new series will tell original sports stories made exclusively for audio. Two of the topics that will be featured in the first season of 30 for 30 Podcasts will be “Dan and Dave Revisited,” the true story of the massive 1990s marketing campaign around the world’s two best decathletes, and “On the Ice,” the story of how a group of amateur Brits became the first all-women’s team to make it to the North Pole."

The new partnership will allow PodcastOne to offer advertisers audio advertising with one-to-one targeting abilities. PodcastOne will now be able to use AdsWizz’s suite of products, including Audio Ad Insertion Software for on-demand content, AudioServe for campaign management, and PodWave, a marketplace for podcast audio inventory.

Mark Ramsey says the deal with podcast publisher Wondery is to create new and original content. The first project produced for Wondery will be Inside Psycho, a six-part series about the making of the classic movie Psycho. The first two episodes will premiere March 24.

Jep and Jessica Robertson, who star in A&E’s Duck Dynasty and Growing the Dynasty, are the latest celebrities to get their own show on PodcastOne. PodcastOne Founder and Executive Chairman Norman Pattiz made the announcement Wednesday.

The new six-year deal extends their broadcasting and marketing agreement through 2022. Under the agreement, SiriusXM will continue to deliver 24/7 racing content plus daily NASCAR talk and interviews with voices across the industry through its SiriusXM NASCAR Radio channel.

iHeartmedia continues to show how it's hip with the times when it comes to using the latest social media platforms. This past weekend at the iHeartRadio Music Awards, winners of several award categories were announced using Snapchat. Artists that could not make it to the show snapped 10-second acceptance speeches. Check out some of those videos HERE.

Former WWE star Scott “Raven” Levy brings his infamous "Raven Effect" finishing move to PodcastOne with a new weekly podcast, under wrestler Chris Jerrico’s Jericho Network. The Raven Effect is available now, with new episodes every Monday.

Naveen Chopra replaces Mike Herring, who had served as Pandora’s CFO since March 2013, and took on the role of president in March 2016. Herring will focus his attention on advertising and subscription growth. Chopra joined TiVo in 2003 and most recently served as the company’s interim CEO from January 2016 until its acquisition by Rovi in September 2016.

Megaphone is a podcast hosting and ad-serving platform from Panoply. Clients include BuzzFeed, WBUR, and Gimlet.