Season 3 of "Serial" is coming.
Unfortunately, we just don't know exactly when.
Pandora Senior Vice President Lizzie Widhelm teased the new season of the wildly popular "This American Life" series as she explained to Cheddar why her company sees a ripe opportunity in what remains a very young platform for podcasts.
"We think there's a huge opportunity there to grow listener hours, make those makers happy and have something for advertisers," she said in an interview with Cheddar's Peter Gorenstein at the Cannes Lions festival.
But many obstacles must be overcome, among them the advertising model.
"Anything that's early has a non-scalable ad model," Widhelm said, referring to the relative newness of podcasts as a medium.
But the content offers real potential for advertisers, she said.
"There's a lot of consumers right now that are moving into podcasts and loving them because their identity is becoming so important to them.
"When you're listening to content that really resonates with you and is really personal to you, any ad that sits in that format is going to have a better chance of performing than an ad that's stitched into something that's just a mass broadcast."
Discoverability of podcasts is another problem. "What's broken with podcasts is not the audience; the audience is there, they love it," she said. "They can't find anything from a topical standpoint."
She added that Pandora was in a "pilot phase" of testing different topical shows.
As for the launch date of "Serial" Season 3, Widhelm said, "I can't tell you; Sarah will kill me," a reference to one of the show's creators, Sarah Koenig.
"But you'll know soon enough; it's gonna be great."
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/pandora-svp-lizzie-widhelm-on-state-of-advertising-for-audio).
Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate run by businessman Warren Buffett, reported its operating earnings in its most recent quarter jumped more than 40% from a year ago but posted its first net quarterly loss in a year.
Maks Chmerkovskiy and wife Peta Murgatroyd, of "Dancing With the Stars" fame, are branching out into skincare.
Donald Trump began testifying Monday morning in his civil fraud trial, producing the spectacle of a former president and the leading Republican presidential candidate defending himself against allegations that he dramatically inflated his net worth.
The trial between Google and the maker of the game Fortnite will begin Monday as a San Francisco jury will hear Epic Games' case claiming the Google Play Store takes an unfair commission on purchases made through apps.
One of the most self-made and success stories in the country, Emma Grede, has worked along with the Kardashian Jenner family on many of their best-known brands. Grede, CEO and co-founder of Good American, gave back to the next generation of business leaders as a featured speaker at the Chase for Business Make Your Move summit last week. She spoke with Cheddar News about her career, her company's fashion brand, working with the famous Kardashian-Jennifer family and balancing her own family life.
Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate run by businessman Warren Buffett, reported its operating earnings in its most recent quarter jumped more than 40% from a year ago but posted its first net quarterly loss in a year.
Elon Musk's company XaI has announced a new chatbot called Grok.
SAG-AFTRA said over the weekend that it received the studios' last best and final offer following a meeting on Saturday, with the union saying it's reviewing it and considering a response "within the context of the critical issues addressed in our proposals."
Stocks rose slightly as Wall Street looks to continue its momentum with earnings season winding down.
Tyson Foods is recalling about 30,000 of its dino-shaped chicken nuggets after some consumers reported finding small metal pieces in those nuggets.
