Late last year, it was announced Google Podcasts would cease operations. We now have an official date that the division will shutter.

The app will officially end on Sunday, June 23rd. The company will allow publishers just over a month to move their current podcast libraries over to another platform before completely ending the service on Monday, July 29th.

Originally, the plan was to shutter Google Podcasts in March. That timeline, however, proved to be too quick for many content creators who published their on-demand audio with the platform.

The end of the service coincides with an increased usage of YouTube for podcast discovery. 19% of all weekly podcast listeners claim they find new podcast content on the digital video platform also owned by Google. That figure rises to 26% when segmented to just the Persons 18-34 demographic.

The company has implemented all podcast and on-demand audio into its popular YouTube Music app.

The 2024 election cycle is in full swing. And while many expect the Presidential election to drive most political ad spending, analyst Steve Passwaiter says Senate races will contribute significantly to the total.

Passwaiter, the President of Silver Oak Political, claimed that a group led by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will spend more than $250 million backing Democratic candidates in swing states during the run-up to election day. In three states — Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Nevada — WinSenate will spend more than $140 million alone, Steve Passwaiter wrote in a column for AdAge.

That group is outspending the Senate Leadership Fund — a group favoring conservative candidates — by a 4-to-1 margin.

Surprisingly, one of the states expecting the largest political ad spending is Montana. Sen. John Tester (D), the incumbent, is facing challenger Tim Sheehy. According to Passwaiter, some analysts are wondering if the state’s media outlets can handle the total expected advertising demand for both candidates.

“There are concerns about whether there’s enough inventory in the state to handle the massive amounts of spending that’s going to happen,” Passwaiter said.

Cumulus has released the financial results of its first quarter, showing a slight overall revenue decline during the first three months of 2024.

During the first quarter, the company posted net revenue of $200.1 million, which is a decline of 2.7% compared to the same quarter in 2023. While the revenue declined, Cumulus also limited its year-over-year losses in the time period. In 2023, the company saw a net loss of $21.5 million, while that number shrunk to $14.2 million in 2024.

While radio revenue was down, the company saw a 7.3% increase in digital revenue. Broadcast radio revenue stilled 5.6% from $148,010,000 in 2023 to $139,735,000 during the first quarter. Digital grew to nearly $34.5 million.

The company also extended maturities to 2029 and reduced the principal amount of outstanding debt by nearly $33 million during the first quarter

“While our Q1 revenue was in line with guidance and a marked improvement from 2023 trends, it is also reflective of the uncertainty that continues to weigh on advertisers,” said Cumulus President and CEO Mary G. Berner.

“With the advertising environment still unsettled, these new terms provide us additional time and flexibility to execute against our key business priorities – accelerating digital growth, reducing fixed costs, and continuing to de-lever our balance sheet – each of which is foundational to our ability to build long-term shareholder value.”