*By Bridgette Webb*
Public Radio Exchange (PRX) and Public Radio International (PRI) are joining forces in a bid to capitalize on the booming popularity of podcasts.
The radio producers are two of the four national distributors of programming for public radio stations in the United States, and the first among their peers to merge.
PRX's chief executive, Kerri Hoffman, said there's a real synergy between the two companies.
"Think of PRX and PRI as siblings born a generation apart," Hoffman said Friday in an interview on Cheddar. "There are some things, at our core, at both organizations that we can strengthen. And the things that are differentiators are really where the opportunity is."
The merger may have arrived just in time, with listeners slowly tuning out traditional broadcasts in favor of on-demand and streaming options.
The number of people listening to podcasts has more than doubled over the past five years and is expected to hit roughly 73 million listeners this year, according to [Edison Research](http://www.edisonresearch.com/podcast-consumer-2018/).
That growth has been buoyed by podcasts' ability to showcase diverse and compelling content ー with voices that were traditionally neglected by mainstream radio.
Hoffman said it's a trend she hopes will continue.
"The barriers to entry is so much lower, but that is just part of they story," she said. "The thing that we learned over many years is that we need a whole suite of services that help people get successful."
According to PRX, the combined organization will reach more than 28.5 million listeners a month through 885 stations’ broadcast signals and websites. The companies are projecting $38 million in revenue in the first year after the merger.
Hoffman sees some roadblocks ahead, specifically, the proposal by [Republican lawmakers](http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-pbs-cpb-npr-trump-budget-cuts-20170316-story.html ) to reduce funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Still, she thinks public media is here to say ー largely because of listener and viewer support.
" It's always a threat, but we really believe the American public has demonstrated over and over again that there is a strong and important place for non-commercial media in a Democratic society."
For more on this story, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/public-radio-platforms-merge-to-create-podcast-powerhouse).
After two years and $52 million in funding from some of Silicon Valley’s top investors, the video chat app Houseparty is ready to start making money. On Thursday, the social network announced a partnership with “Heads Up!,” the charades-like game for phones that was created by Ellen DeGeneres and Warner Bros. Entertainment.
Soulja Boy is not shy about expressing his infatuation with three things: wealth, fame, and Tesla. "I love Tesla ($TSLA), man. I think it's one of the most innovative things in the last century," said the rapper, who dressed in a Tesla tracksuit for his interview with Cheddar Wednesday.
Even after a dramatic and high-profile series of privacy violations in 2018, consumers are still willing to surrender personal data to improve their shopping experience ー but only if that data is handled responsibly, Salesforce growth and innovation evangelist Tiffani Bova told Cheddar Wednesday.
A new travel site is looking to make booking a vacation as easy as sending a text message. SnapTravel offers exclusive hotel deals via SMS, in an effort to get customers the hotel they want, when they want it. "Essentially, we want to get you the best hotel, as fast as possible, and as easy as possible," CEO and co-founder Hussein Fazal told Cheddar.
Snap’s Chief Financial Officer, Tim Stone, and Vice President of Investor Relations, Kristin Southey, have both left the company after less than a year. Both departures come as the company is still reeling from a disastrous app redesign and is under federal investigation in connection with a class action shareholder lawsuit.
As NBCUniversal, Disney, and WarnerMedia prepare to launch streaming services, Netflix is raising subscription prices to ensure it has the budget to tighten its stronghold and expand its reach in the content wars. Netflix announced on Tuesday it will raise its prices 13 to 18 percent, just as NBCUniversal confirmed it was entering the streaming business with its own subscription service.
Brex, the provider of credit cards for early stage venture-backed companies, plans to broaden its customer set this year to include other small businesses, according to CEO and co-founder Henrique Dubugras.
The National Retail Federation trade show, held this week in New York City, has long been a place for industry players ー merchants, retailers, payment providers, marketing execs ー to gather and preview the latest innovations in commerce. And while Amazon, the world's largest retailer, was conspicuously absent from this year's event the presence of the e-commerce behemoth could be felt across the vast expanse of the Javits Convention Center.
Disappointing quarterly earnings from JPMorgan Chase weighed on the Dow and other major indexes Tuesday morning even though investors seemed optimistic about a new stimulus plan from China. NBC disclosed more details about its ad-supported streaming service which is scheduled to launch in 2020. Plus, Harlem Capital's John Henry joins Cheddar to talk about Gary Vaynerchuk's Agent2021 conference, his new Viceland series, and Harlem Capital's first fund for underrepresented entrepreneurs.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Tuesday Jan. 15, 2019.
