Dear Fellow Shareholders:
Today marks approximately nine months from our
As we launch into our new fiscal year, I wanted to take this opportunity to personally communicate with you and let you know how much we appreciate your belief in our team and in our company. PodcastOne is a special place, and we couldnt do what we do without your support.
In this letter, Id like to give you an idea of who we are, including an opportunity to get to know some of the key players in our company. Ive always believed a companys most important asset is its people, and Im extremely proud of our team here at PodcastOne.
An estimated 505 million people will listen to podcasts in 2024, the most in this medium's short history. Since the term podcast was coined in 2004, the format has grown into a
I founded PodcastOne in 2012 as one of the first people to recognize the potential of the podcast medium, developing a network-talent partnership model that has been emulated by many major broadcasters in the last few years. Our early success caught the attention of legendary broadcast leader and founder of radio network giant WestwoodOne,
In addition to our C-Suite, we have a unique and world class board of directors rarely seen with a company of our size that consists of
Together, along with our employees, we are generating impressive results and the numbers speak for themselves.
We are consistently ranked in Podtracs Top 20 publishersWe added 30 new podcasts in FY24We generate 350+ hours of content produced weekly We attract 10M+ unique monthly listenersWe have 200+ Fortune 1000 advertisersWe see 38M+ monthly downloads We see 600M+ annual downloads On the financial front, for our fourth quarter ended
During FY24, we successfully added 30 new podcasts, with over 100 potential new shows in the pipeline, and we closed a B2B partnership with a Fortune 250 company with over 60M global streaming subscribers generating $20M+ annual revenues to PodcastOne. Our ownership and stake in IP is a flourishing aspect of our business. We sold "Vigilante" television rights to a major studio, and we own a slate of six plus scripted podcasts, including "Varnamtown", for which we are in negotiations and development for television or movie productions.
As you may also recall, in
As you can see, weve accomplished a lot, but we still have work to do. Our optimized business model seamlessly launches and onboards podcasts, making them immediately accretive by leveraging our parent companys resources. We're seeing unprecedented studio interest in partnering with our podcast slate, easily adaptable into major productions. With revenue streams from advertising, scripted series, and IP ownership, I foresee a clear path to continued growth with a goal of surpassing
Over the next year you will see PodcastOne continue to lead the way in the podcasting medium testing the limits through the possible acquisition of existing successful podcasts, further developing and growing podcasts within our network and new ones, continuing to build our IP library with scripted shows, maximizing operational efficiencies, and finding new ways to create additional revenue verticals. The growth of video and social media has and will continue to be a big part of our expansion.
As you can tell, we are excited about the future here at PodcastOne. Rest assured, we will continue to work diligently, focused squarely on creating shareholder value.
Thank you for your continued support.
President/Founder
PodcastOne
About PodcastOne
PodcastOne (Nasdaq: PODC) is a
About LiveOne
Headquartered in
Forward-Looking Statements
All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release are forward-looking statements, which may often, but not always, be identified by the use of such words as may, might, will, will likely result, would, should, estimate, plan, project, forecast, intend, expect, anticipate, believe, seek, continue, target or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including: LiveOnes reliance on one key customer for a substantial percentage of its revenue; LiveOnes and PodcastOnes ability to consummate any proposed financing, acquisition, spin-out, special dividend, merger, distribution or transaction, including the spin-out of LiveOnes pay-per-view business, the timing of the consummation of any such proposed event, including the risks that a condition to the consummation of any such event would not be satisfied within the expected timeframe or at all, or that the consummation of any proposed financing, acquisition, spin-out, merger, special dividend, distribution or transaction will not occur or whether any such event will enhance shareholder value; PodcastOnes ability to continue as a going concern; PodcastOnes ability to attract, maintain and increase the number of its listeners; PodcastOne identifying, acquiring, securing and developing content; LiveOnes intent to repurchase shares of its and/or PodcastOnes common stock from time to time under LiveOnes announced stock repurchase program and the timing, price, and quantity of repurchases, if any, under the program; LiveOnes ability to maintain compliance with certain financial and other covenants; PodcastOne successfully implementing its growth strategy, including relating to its technology platforms and applications; managements relationships with industry stakeholders; uncertain and unfavorable outcomes in legal proceedings; changes in economic conditions; competition; risks and uncertainties applicable to the businesses of LiveOne and/or its other subsidiaries; and other risks, uncertainties and factors including, but not limited to, those described in PodcastOnes Special Financial Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended
* About Non-GAAP Financial Measures
To supplement our consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with the accounting principles generally accepted in
We use Contribution Margin (Loss) and Adjusted EBITDA to evaluate the performance of our operating segment. We believe that information about these non-GAAP financial measures assists investors by allowing them to evaluate changes in the operating results of our business separate from non-operational factors that affect operating income (loss) and net income (loss), thus providing insights into both operations and the other factors that affect reported results. Adjusted EBITDA is not calculated or presented in accordance with GAAP. A limitation of the use of Adjusted EBITDA as a performance measure is that it does not reflect the periodic costs of certain amortizing assets used in generating revenue in our business. Accordingly, Adjusted EBITDA should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for operating income (loss), net income (loss), and other measures of financial performance reported in accordance with GAAP. Furthermore, this measure may vary among other companies; thus, Adjusted EBITDA as presented herein may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.
Contribution Margin (Loss) is defined as Revenue less Cost of Sales. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, other (income) expense, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization and before (a) non-cash GAAP purchase accounting adjustments for certain deferred revenue and costs, (b) legal, accounting and other professional fees directly attributable to acquisition activity, (c) employee severance payments and third party professional fees directly attributable to acquisition or corporate realignment activities, (d) certain non-recurring expenses associated with legal settlements or reserves for legal settlements in the period that pertain to historical matters that existed at acquired companies prior to their purchase date and a one-time minimum guarantee to effectively terminate a live events distribution agreement post COVID-19, (e) depreciation and amortization (including goodwill impairment, if any), and (f) certain stock-based compensation expense. Management does not consider these costs to be indicative of our core operating results.
With respect to projected full year 2025 and 2024 Adjusted EBITDA, a quantitative reconciliation is not available without unreasonable efforts due to the high variability, complexity, and low visibility with respect to purchase accounting adjustments, acquisition-related charges and legal settlement reserves excluded from Adjusted EBITDA. We expect that the variability of these items to have a potentially unpredictable, and potentially significant, impact on our future GAAP financial results.
Press Contacts:
For PodcastOneSusan@Guttmanpr.com
Investor Relations:jwassad@podcastone.com
Copyright 2024 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
© Japan Corporate News, source