iHeartMedia and European podcast platform Podimo announced a partnership to translate and adapt popular podcasts across the globe in different languages. This initiative will introduce these podcasts to hundreds of millions of new listeners.
The first project will be a true crime podcast “Forgotten: Women of Juárez” (Olvidadas: Muertes de Juárez) about femicides in Mexico’s most dangerous city.
The original podcast features hosts Mónica Ortiz Uribe and Oz Woloshyn investigating theories surrounding the disappearance of hundreds of young women along the Mexican border city of Juárez. Some are tragically found with symbols carved into their bodies or wrists bound with shoelaces.
The adapted versions will feature existing content from the original podcast plus new elements, including additional interviews with special hosts Rossana Fuentes-Berain and Sandra Romandía.
The Spanish version will be released early 2021 in 20 countries in Latin America, as well as in Spain and in the United States. The German and Danish versions will follow at a later date. The original series will continue to be available on the iHeartRadio app and everywhere podcasts are available.
“We know that around 90% of all listening on Podimo is on local language podcasts, so translating good stories will help grow the audience for these stories tremendously,” said Eva Lægdsgaard, chief of strategic relations at Podimo. “In the podcast business, everything begins and ends with great storytelling. But for great stories to have a great life, we need to drive large-scale listening numbers for our podcasters and publishers — both locally and globally. This will help them monetize their content on a much bigger scale, and that is the very core of our business model,” she said.
“Podcast listening continues to see tremendous growth as more and more listeners seek out layered storytelling, and we believe this venture with Podimo will help us to introduce great podcasts to new fans around the world,” said Conal Byrne, president of the iHeartPodcast Network.