This week we heard from our friends at iHeartMedia that they’d honored Descript with the Innovator Award at the 2022 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards. 

We were thrilled — in part because we didn’t see it coming, at all. But also because we’ve been working with iHeartMedia for several years now; many of the producers and shows under the iHeartMedia umbrella have incorporated Descript into their workflow, and we’re very proud to be a part of the work they do. 

iHeartMedia is the world’s biggest podcast publisher, according to Podtrac, with a global reach that exceeds 350M monthly listeners, with more than two-thirds of a billion ears. Into those ears iHeartMedia pours some of the world’s most popular and acclaimed shows; it publishes shows like ”1619” from the New York Times and “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend,” by Team Coco & Earwolf. And it produces shows too — stuff like “Chiquis and Chill” and “Stuff You Should Know.” 

As podcast listenership has exploded — more than half of the world’s population listens to podcasts now — Descript has somewhat quietly become an important engine in that growth. Today nine of the 10 biggest US podcast publishers use Descript in their production. That includes iHeartMedia, where  Descript has made life a little easier, workflow a bit smoother, and production a lot more enjoyable for some preeminent creators, including Jonathan Hawes-Dressler, Executive Producer for Food & Travel Podcasts at iHeartMedia.

“After using Descript for 10 minutes, I had to rethink everything I knew about podcast production workflow, which skill sets are good for the industry, and how to collaborate better”, Jonathan says.  “If you are a professional podcast shop and you aren't using Descript, you're underutilizing your team's talents and wasting valuable time."

So we’re proud to accept the award, proud to contribute to the amazing work being done in the podcast world, and proud to be on a list with these creators. 

We can’t wait to see what they create next.