iHeartMedia, TikTok hook up for content
Social media platform adds radio broadcaster
[Editor’s Note: This post was updated on November 19.]
Radio broadcaster iHeartMedia announced a new partnership with popular social media platform TikTok on Monday, launching a podcast network featuring up to 25 creators.
iHeartMedia plans to build new state-of-the-art podcast studios in New York, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. The studios will feature advanced audio and video infrastructure for podcasting and video production. The podcasts will be available on iHeartMedia’s platforms and on TikTok, where videos range from three seconds to a full hour.
“This partnership connects TikTok’s cultural energy and creator community with the unmatched scale and reach of iHeartMedia”, said iHeartMedia President/COO/CFO Rich Bressler.”We’re giving creators access to the biggest audio platforms in America — creating new ways to tell stories, entertain, and build deeper connections with fans. Together, we’re combining our vast networks to deliver relevant content on a massive scale. It’s a win for creators, fans, and brands alike.”
“At TikTok, empowering creativity and connecting communities are at the heart of everything we do”, said TikTok Global Head of Media and Licensing Partnerships Dan Page. “This partnership with iHeartMedia opens up exciting new opportunities for creators and brands to reach wider audiences, collaborate across platforms and extend their creativity beyond the TikTok platform. Together, we’re amplifying the connection between artists, creators and our community through the shared power of cross platform storytelling.”
TikTok is one of the leading social media platforms in the world, where users post videos that sometimes go viral within seconds. Since its launch in 2016, TikTok has been a powerful force in pop culture – especially in music, where artists have recorded and posted songs with several even charting on the Billboard Hot 100 and Global 200. TikTok has been controversial because it originated and is still based in China, as U.S. politicians have tried to ban the platform, claiming “national security concerns.” Since President Trump returned to the White House, Chinese TikTok parent ByteDance had been trying to spin off its U.S. operations.
TikTok and iHeartMedia are also collaborating on a TikTok radio channel, available to broadcast on stations nationwide and digitally on iHeartMedia’s platforms. TikTok Radio will feature TikTok’s hottest new songs, plus trend-driven storytelling and emotional context behind the music, with segments like “Behind-the-Charts,” “New Music Fridays,” and “On The Verge.” iHeartMedia mentioned TikTok Radio would be structurally similar to its Top 40 stations WHTZ New York and KIIS Los Angeles.
In Chicago, iHeart owns six stations, including 103.5 Kiss FM (WKSC-FM), a Top 40 sister station to WHTZ and KIIS.
The two will also partner on iHeart’s major events, including The iHeart Music Festival and iHeartRadio’s Jingle Ball, giving access to TikTok creators to produce and create content, and use mass marketing from each company’s sales teams “to drive meaningful sponsorships and a new line of business overall for these creators and their shows”.
TikTok currently has a separate deal with SiriusXM, which broadcasts a similar TikTok Radio on channel 4. That deal ended on November 19, as SiriusXM announced it would replace TikTok Radio on channel 4 with their Holly Christmas music format, which began at 11 p.m. Central Time.