The difference between the Foxtel and Sony Music Binge products is very stark. The Foxtel Binge is a streaming video platform, while the new Sony Music Entertainment product will be audio only.
In an announcement dropped on the first day of The Podcast Show in London, Sony Music Entertainment has revealed The Binge, something it is calling a first of its kind subscription channel providing fans with binge-access to full seasons of new podcasts each month from across SME’s podcast slate.
Beginning Monday June 6, listeners can subscribe to The Binge on Apple Podcasts to access full seasons of two new original podcasts, Witnessed: Friendly Fire and Fringe Network: Alien State, as well as a catalogue of SME podcast series.
Sony Music Entertainment said the new offering will super-serve audiences who are eager for premium, bingeworthy shows:
The Binge bundles some of the greatest podcasts from SME’s network of award-winning creators and provides fans with at least one brand new binge-listen every month from some of the top storytellers and journalists across the industry. Each new show launch will offer subscribers the chance to listen to all episodes ad-free, all at once. In addition, the channel will also include exclusive, ad-free access to library content from some of SME’s biggest hit series including Chameleon, Death at the Wing, Firebug, The Doodler, The Just Enough Family, and Witnessed: Borderlands.
“We have been early believers in the power of subscription to drive the podcast industry forward and we see the demand and behaviour of binge-listening across our network continuing to grow, similar to how it has across other forms of media,” said Emily Rasekh, senior vice president of podcast business development and operations, Sony Music Entertainment.
Rasekh shared a stage today with Podnews editor James Cridland in London at The Podcast Show talking about the new product.
In a statement, she added: “With The Binge, we are building our offering based on those listening habits and delivering an unprecedented, new destination for listeners all around the world to get what they want, when they want it.”
