Norman Pattiz, founder of Westwood One, has a new project with his Courtside Entertainment Group, a podcast distributor called Launchpad Digital Media.
Launchpad is a partnership between Pattiz’s Courtside and Kit Gray, formerly of Clear Channel/Katz 360 Digital. Gray will be president and CEO.
Launchpad will be a “platform” for distributing podcasts. According to a release it starts with a healthy sampling of successful talents to provide content: Adam Carolla, Bill Burr, CBS News, Afterbuzz TV with Maria Menuounos, Jay Mohr, Dr. Drew, Chris Hardwick (The Nerdist), Mark Maron, Mark & Lynda, Brian & Jill, and Penn Jillette along with several podcast networks. The release also noted that the nascent operation starts with “half a billion” podcasts in the can.
Pattiz said, “Podcasts represent one of the fastest-growing segments of digital media.”
Gray said, “This partnership … allows us to offer all of our existing clients more resources to expand their products and deliver more audience to develop the advertiser support that will benefit us all.”
