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Podcast hosting company Libsyn has appointed interim CEO and chief product officer John W. Gibbons to its board of directors, the company has announced.
Gibbons, who was appointed as interim CEO in June this year, joins with 26 years of experience in the tech sector as well as having served senior roles in the podcasting industry such as strategic advisor for Podchaser and chief executive officer for Pocket Casts.
“Libsyn has executed its platform strategy and is well-positioned for the future,” said Gibbons. “I look forward to collaborating with the board and the leadership team to advance our product suite, our international growth ambitions, serving the next million podcasters with our enhanced content creation offerings, and driving the expansion of our advertising marketplace to deliver advanced capabilities to more brand advertisers.”
The Libsyn board of directors is chaired by Patrick Dolan, digital advertising expert and former president of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), who was promoted to that position in March this year. He initially joined the board as a member in November 2021 after two decades of experience in the digital ad industry.
“John brings a proven track record of success in scaling businesses across the podcasting and digital media sectors,” Dolan said. “His contribution to driving our product innovation roadmap has been invaluable. As our newest board member, I'm confident that John will help us achieve our next rapid growth phase with diverse podcasters and advertisers on a global scale while continuing to stay at the forefront of innovation with industry-leading capabilities."
Other members of the board that joined this year include Hudson Executive Capital senior analyst Ian Harris and Rockstar Games digital media editorial director Michael Torok. Dolan added that the board members bring a “wealth of industry, technology, and corporate strategy experience” to the company, which will be essential to its growing success.
Libsyn has made a number of significant moves in the past year as part of its global podcast strategy, including its recent announcement of Predictive Contextual Targeting, a new advertising offering which allows advertisers to target specific audience demographics based on content preferences.
According to its financial and operational update for 2022, the company grew its revenue by almost 40% over the course of last year, with 57% coming from its advertising business. This was also partially due to a number of exclusive monetisation partnerships it signed with podcast networks and creators, which it continued to do in 2023 with new deals with companies like Big IP Media, Multitude, and Upfire Digital.
