PITTSBURGH--()--Wizzard Media (NYSE Amex: WZE), the world’s largest podcasting network, today announced that for the third quarter of 2009 the Wizzard Media Network saw total podcast download requests of 332 million vs. 287 million in the third quarter of 2008, an increase of 45 million. The Wizzard Media Network received, on average, 4.1 million requests for podcasts daily throughout September equating to over 1.5 million hours of content per day.
“More people are consuming their favorite shows via the PC, iPod®, iPhone®, Blackberry® and other such devices. This is the future media distribution model and Wizzard Media is delivering it today which we feel is demonstrated by our network’s continued growth of publishers, content, audience and demand.”
The audience consuming podcasts from the Wizzard Media Network grew from 15 million monthly unique audience members at the end of the third quarter of 2008 to 18 million monthly unique audience members at the end of the third quarter of 2009, an increase of 3 million monthly unique audience members during what is historically the slowest quarter of the year for podcasting due to the summer months of July and August.
The number of podcast shows on the Wizzard Media Network grew from 11,600 at the end of the second quarter of 2009 to 12,281 shows at the end of the third quarter of 2009. Podcasters pay Wizzard Media to use its publishing platform and work with Wizzard to monetize their show through brand advertising and more recently, content sales (Apps).
In the third quarter of 2009 Wizzard delivered over 12.7 million podcast advertisements, its second highest quarterly total on record and an increase of 130% from 5.5 million ads in the third quarter of 2008.
Wizzard’s Podcast Companion App monetization plan continues to grow with the top podcast App having now converted 15% of its audience from free subscribers to paid audience members in the first 45 days since launch. With approximately 13 million monthly audience members on the Wizzard Media Network finding and subscribing to their favorite podcasts through iTunes, Management believes there is real opportunity for podcasters to monetize their show with the company’s proprietary Podcast Companion App. The growing number of podcasters signing up for Wizzard’s customizable Podcast App is encouraging and will create an installed base of consumers for each podcast. This lays the groundwork for further revenue opportunities beyond the one-time purchase of the Podcast App, including monthly subscriptions and individual episode sales using the App Store’s in-App purchasing capabilities.
“We believe we are building a strong media asset with our podcasting business and continue to see accelerated network growth due to on-going changes in people’s entertainment consumption habits, especially during the traditionally slower summer months,” said Chris Spencer, Wizzard Media CEO. “More people are consuming their favorite shows via the PC, iPod®, iPhone®, Blackberry® and other such devices. This is the future media distribution model and Wizzard Media is delivering it today which we feel is demonstrated by our network’s continued growth of publishers, content, audience and demand.”
About Wizzard Media
Wizzard Media provides publishing and distribution services to podcasters and monetization services for podcasters. Wizzard Media is the industry's leading podcasting network with an unprecedented 1.2 billion download requests in 2008. Podcasts are a means for independent and professional content creators to publish audio and video shows for the world to enjoy over the Internet or on mp3 players, such as the Apple iPod®, iPhone® and the Microsoft Zune®. Podcasting is a relatively new phenomenon, but Wizzard Media collectively broadcasts millions of podcast downloads per day through media aggregators like Apple's iTunes and Microsoft's Zune Marketplace. For more information, please visit www.wizzardsoftware.com/media . Wizzard Media is a division of Wizzard Software.
Legal Notice
Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: "Forward-looking Statements" as defined in the Private Securities litigation Reform Act of 1995 may be included in this news release. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance. These statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future results or events. We disclaim any intention or obligation to revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. There are important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to risks associated with changes in general economic and business conditions, actions of our competitors, the extent to which we are able to develop new services and markets for our services, the time and expense involved in such development activities, the level of demand and market acceptance of our services, changes in our business strategies and acts of terror against the United States.
iPod, iPod Touch, iPhone and iTunes are all registered marks or trade names of Apple, Inc.
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