Skip to main content
https://www.highperformancecpmgate.com/rgeesizw1?key=a9d7b2ab045c91688419e8e18a006621

theSkimm is launching a daily news podcast offering contextualized, nonpartisan coverage

News media company theSkimm is delving further into podcasting, with the launch of its first daily news podcast called Skimm This, set to launch on March 4. Similar to how theSkimm’s morning newsletter helps people keep up with the latest goings-on in the world, the new podcast also aims to help readers quickly understand the news of the day.

However, Skimm This will be different from other news podcasts currently on the market, the company says.

For starters, it will be released in the evenings – Monday through Friday at 5 PM – in order to reach people hitting the gym after work, commuters on their way home, or those who like to listen to podcasts during dinner prep, among others.

It will also not be a round-up of the day’s headlines, like other news podcasts.

Instead, Skimm This will focus on around four stories in total over the course of about 10 minutes. The top story will always be a national or international subject, and the podcast’s goal will be to provide more context and clarity around this story to help listeners understand why it’s important.

In addition, the company positions itself as a nonpartisan news source that only delivers facts, not opinions. Over half its audience said that’s what they wanted from a podcast, along with making the news relatable and easier to understand, the company notes.

Plus, theSkimm’s own data indicated that one-quarter (24%) of its female millennial users use podcasts to listen to news, and among those who do, 60 percent listen every day.

This isn’t the first podcast to launch from theSkimm. In February 2018, it launched Skimm’d from the Couch, a weekly podcast series where The Skimm’s co-founders and co-CEOs Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg interview female leaders – like Arianna Huffington, Taraji P. Henson, Whitney Wolfe, Katrina Lake, Reshma Saujani, Martha Stewart and Hoda Kotb – about their path to success.

The company also previously invested other media programming, including Skimm’d with… and Get Off the Couch for Facebook, and digital series Sip n’ Skimm.

But with Skimm This, the company is making a play to become more of a part of users’ daily routines – one which begins in the morning with the daily email newsletter that now reaches 7 million+ readers, continues throughout the day through theSkimm app calendar integration (which reminds you of important events), and now concludes in the evening with Skimm This.

theSkimm says it’s working with podcast and media company Cadence13 on Skimm This, and will distribute it to Apple Podcasts, Google Play and Google’s Android app, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify, iHeart and Radio.com.

There will also be a “flash briefing” version of Skimm This available at launch, where it will join the existing Daily Skimm briefing available on Alexa and Google Home.

The podcasting expansion comes at time when theSkimm’s growth for its newsletter business appears to have leveled off. Last May, when the company reported its $12 million Series C funding round with big names like Shonda Rhimes and Tyra Banks attached, it said its daily newsletter reached around 7 million subscribers. That’s roughly the same figure it’s reporting today.

The power of those readers is notable, though.

Since announcing the launch of Skimm This in today’s morning newsletter, the new podcast’s trailer shot to No. 1 on iTunes’ charts, in the News & Politics section (according to Podbay.fm data.)

Below is the trailer for Skimm This:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Uber co-founder Garrett Camp steps back from board director role

Uber co-founder Garrett Camp is relinquishing his role as a board director and switching to board observer — where he says he’ll focus on product strategy for the ride hailing giant. Camp made the announcement in a short Medium post in which he writes of his decade at Uber: “I’ve learned a lot, and realized that I’m most helpful when focused on product strategy & design, and this is where I’d like to focus going forward.” “I will continue to work with Dara [Khosrowshahi, Uber CEO] and the product and technology leadership teams to brainstorm new ideas, iterate on plans and designs, and continue to innovate at scale,” he adds. “We have a strong and diverse team in place, and I’m confident everyone will navigate well during these turbulent times.” The Canadian billionaire entrepreneur signs off by saying he’s looking forward to helping Uber “brainstorm the next big idea”. Camp hasn’t been short of ideas over his career in tech. He’s the co-founder of the web 2.0 recommendatio...
Post a Comment
Read more

Leading VCs discuss how COVID-19 has impacted the world of digital health

In December 2019, Extra Crunch spoke to a group of investors leading the charge in health tech to discuss where they saw the most opportunity in the space leading into 2020 . At the time, respondents highlighted startups in digital therapeutics, telehealth and mental health that were improving medical practitioner efficiency or streamlining the distribution of care, amongst a variety of other digital health markets that were garnering the most attention. Where top VCs are investing in digital health In the months since, the COVID-19 crisis has debilitated national healthcare systems and the global economy. Weaknesses in healthcare systems have become clearer than ever, while startups and capital providers have struggled to operate while wide swaths of the market effectively shut down. Given significant volatility and the rapid changes seen in the worlds of healthcare, venture and startups broadly, we wanted to understand which inefficiencies might have been brought to light, w...
Post a Comment
Read more

News-reading app Flipboard expands local coverage, including coronavirus updates, to 12 more U.S. metros

Earlier this year, personalized news aggregation app Flipboard expanded into local news . The feature brought local news, sports, real estate, weather, transportation news and more to 23 cities across the U.S. Today, Flipboard is bringing local news to 12 more U.S. metros and is adding critical coronavirus local coverage to all of the 35 supported locales. The 12 new metros include the following:  Baltimore, Charlotte, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Orlando, Raleigh, Salt Lake City, St. Louis, and Tampa Bay. They join the 23 cities that were already supported:  Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver and Washington, D.C. To offer local news in its app, Flipboard works with area partners, big and small, like The Plain Dealer’s Cleveland.com , ...
Post a Comment
Read more