iHeartMedia & OZY Media Ink New Deal

• iHeartMedia and OZY Media announced a new multi-year deal to co-produce and promote a slate of iHeartRadio Original Podcasts, with three shows set to be released in 2020 and distributed through the iHeartPodcast Network.

“OZY’s global suite of diverse storytellers and story-finders focuses on what’s new and what’s next,” said Carlos Watson, co-founder and CEO of OZY Media. “These podcasts reflect the desire of younger audiences to broaden their minds and think bigger. We are thrilled to be collaborating with the massively talented team at iHeartMedia to co-produce powerful and diverse podcasts for listeners.”

The first co-produced podcast in the slate will be Around the World, a travel and culture podcast. The two additional podcasts set to launch this year include a spin-off series from OZY’s The Thread and a scripted series. In addition to co-producing the new slate of original podcasts, two of OZY’s existing news and culture podcasts — The Thread and OZY Confidential— will join the iHeartPodcast Network’s deep catalog of podcast titles.

“The OZY team has a remarkable way of reporting on stories that really make people think and often change the way we see important issues,” said Will Pearson, COO of the iHeartPodcast Network. “They have an impressive ability to find fascinating stories before anyone else is reporting on them and we’re thrilled to be partnering with them to bring these voices to iHeart and into the world of podcasting.”