iHeartMedia plans to acquire audio ad technology company Triton Digital for $230 million.
It said the agreement to buy Triton from E.W. Scripps Company “establishes iHeartMedia as the only company to provide a complete set of advertising technologies and measurement solutions for all forms of audio media.”
It highlighted benefits of the acquisition in expanding its “data and measurement capabilities, programmatic platform, self-service platform for small businesses and podcast capabilities.”
Providing some insight into where iHeart sees its greatest business opportunities, the headline of the press release emphasizes the company’s description of itself as a podcast publisher and a leader in “all forms of audio media.”
The agreement is subject to certain closing conditions, including regulatory approval.
A spokeswoman said iHeart acquires all Triton employees and that CEO Neal Schore will continue to lead the company. Triton employees will be based in New York, Los Angeles, Montreal, Australia and Europe. Most employees are working remotely right now, she said.
The Triton arm will report to Brian Kaminsky as a part of the company’s Data and Revenue Operations team.
“With this acquisition, iHeartMedia will now be able to provide audio content to producers and advertisers with an industry-leading full ad service package for streaming and podcasting no matter their size, reach or distribution method,” the company stated.
iHeart says it will be the first company in the audio market “to provide four distribution methods for audio, including on-demand, broadcast and digital streaming radio and podcasting, and to service all audio assets programmatically.”
This is the latest in a string of audio-related moves. IHM acquired podcast marketplace Voxnest late last year and, as it noted in the announcement, in the past two and a half years it also acquired buying platform Jelli Inc., social intelligence platform Unified and, through its subsidiary RCS, the cloud-based audio platform Radiojar.
