SERIAL PRODUCTIONS SOLD TO NY TIMES FOR $25 MILLION • REGISTRATION NOW OPEN FOR “LET’S GO LIVE!”

Serial Production’s team: Julie Snyder (left), Sarah Koenig (center)

and Ira Glass (right). Image courtesy of The New York Times

The New York Times announced on Wednesday (7-22) that they have reached agreement to buy Serial Productions, producers of the hit podcast Serial.

According to a report in The Times [link], the coSt was approximately $25 million.

In many ways the deal is a merger. The Times will broaden its digital footprint and Serial Productions will have access to financial backing they need to expand their portfolio.

Serial began as a spin-off from This American Life (TAL) in 2014. In 2017, Ira Glass, the founder and host of TAL, Julie Snyder, the executive editor of Serial and Sarah Koenig, the host of Serial, formed Serial Productions, a for-profit company.

When Serial was launched it was heavily promoted on weekly episodes of TAL. At the time several station managers and programmers complained that TAL was using their airtime to promote a private business.

REGISTRATION IS OPEN FOR LET’S GO LIVE! CYBER CONFERENCE

Abby Goldstein, CEO and Executive Director of PRPD and Terry Gildea, Executive Director of PMJA announced that registration is now open for Let’s Go Live!, a four-day collaborative public media conference that is scheduled for Monday, September 21 through Thursday, September 24, 2020.The event will happen online.

To virtually attend Let’s Go Live! Register here.

 PRPD and PMJA members is $150 per person. The cost for non-members is $200 per person. Group rates are Group rates are also available.

Goldstein and Gildea said the agenda for Let’s Go Live! Will be released on August 27^th.

When people register, they will be asked to set up a profile on Attendify, the platform for the virtual event. The profile can be use to interact with other attendees prior to and during the online conference.

KEN SAYS:  We encourage people to register early for Let’s Go Live!  .According to recent research by online event vendors, about one-third of people who attend virtual conferences like Let’s Go Live! register only 72-hours or less before the event begins.

The collaboration partners, PRPD and PMJA, have committed their time and money on this event. As with other ventures during our Covid Era, some new ideas work and others fail. Consider your early registration to be a sign of your support for these two organizations.