Industry News

Bill Smee Steps Down from VP News Role at Audacy

In a post on LinkedIn, media pro Bill Smee announces he’s stepped down from his vice president of news post at Audacy to pursue consulting and project management work. He writes: “I’m happy to announce that I’m moving into a new professional chapter: I’ve stepped down as VP of news at Audacy and I am diving back into the strategic consulting and project management work that I enjoyed for a number of years. It has been incredibly rewarding to work these last four years with so many talentedim and passionate people within Audacy’s newsrooms and across the larger company. And I’m proud of our collective accomplishments: building out digital and podcasting capacity; integrating broadcast and digital teams within newsrooms; strengthening communication and collaboration across a network of brands; navigating the first wave of AI; and creating new revenue opportunities in partnership with sales teams. All of this was done while delivering over and over in high-leverage, breaking news situations and racking up awards that validate Audacy’s local news brands as best in class. The challenges for media and journalism these days — and for local news in particular — are profound, and the stakes are high. But there are new frontiers on the horizon, and we can deploy innovative ways of thinking about how we do what we do. As always, I’m excited to explore those frontiers and draw on my many years of strategic and operational experience to help media brands and other organizations find a way forward.”

Industry News

iHeartMedia and LinkedIn Collaborate on Podcast Projects

iHeartMedia and LinkedIn are entering a strategic partnership to introduce new offerings to the business podcast space. Key elements of the partnership include LinkedIn and iHeartMedia collaborating to produce new shows for the LinkedIn Podcast Network powered by iHeartPodcasts; partnering to license leading business and B2Bim podcasts, offering a differentiated promotional playbook to help them grow and monetize their content; and the companies teaming up to offer new resources for niche and emerging business podcasters. iHeartMedia Digital Audio Group CEO Conal Byrne states, “iHeartMedia is thrilled to team up with LinkedIn to help propel professional conversations through the podcast space. The combination of our vast reach and industry resources and expertise with LinkedIn’s professional network will allow us to bring a new level of innovation and growth to the communities’ business creators care about most.”