Schwartz Media has entered into a heads of agreement to sell its daily news podcast, 7am, to Solstice Media.
The sale comes as 7am celebrates significant year-on-year growth and after again winning Best News and Current Affairs Podcast at the Australian Podcast Awards.
Schwartz Media’s chief executive and editor-in-chief, Erik Jensen, said: “In the six years since we launched 7am, it has grown to be Australia’s no. 1 news podcast. It has set the standard for audio journalism, telling stories with depth and sensitivity. Solstice Media is the perfect buyer and I look forward to seeing 7am thrive under its new ownership. The sale will allow us to focus on the continued success of The Monthly and The Saturday Paper.”
Solstice Media’s managing director, Paul Hamra, said: “We had been looking to add respected journalism projects to our product mix and audio was a logical next offering for our audience of over 1.5 million readers. 7am is the right fit. We are excited to keep developing 7am into Australia’s leading daily news podcast.”
Solstice Media is a digital news publisher with over 50 staff around the country. It owns The New Daily and InDaily in South Australia and Queensland and a number of magazines and lifestyle sites.
Since its launch in 2019, 7am has frequently been Australia’s no. 1 news podcast. It is currently ranked no. 18 across all podcasts in Australia, with more than 900,000 monthly downloads.
Solstice Media plans to formally take ownership of 7am from July 1, with the intention of continuing with its current team and format.
Nova Entertainment will continue its exclusive representation of 7am for advertising sales.