On Air Fest, the Brooklyn-based festival that has become the leading gathering place for the podcast industry, is expanding into a year-round enterprise under the name On Air Presents, cofounder and director Scott Newman told ADWEEK.
The rebrand folds in its creative agency Work x Work, relaunches the Los Angeles edition of the festival in November, and brings The Ambies-the industry’s most prominent awards show-under its banner for the first time.
The shift comes amid a period of rapid transformation for podcasting, which has seen distribution swell alongside a rise in video podcasting. In 2024, the industry experienced 26.4% year-over-year growth, with the U.S. market reaching $2.43 billion, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
While that remains small relative to the $152 billion spent on digital video and social, On Air sees opportunity in helping podcasters and marketers extend beyond audio into video, events, and creator collaborations.
“Podcasting has shifted from audio storytelling to omnichannel storytelling,” Newman said. “Our expansion is a reflection of the ways in which the industry itself is changing.”
From festival to full-service
On Air Presents will now operate with two interconnected businesses: a festival division, producing events in Brooklyn, Los Angeles, and beyond; and On Air Studio, its newly rebranded creative agency.
Formerly known as Work x Work, the studio has handled rebrands and campaigns for clients including Spotify, Sonos, and The New York Times. The plan is to expand its remit from white-label campaigns into collaborations with brands that want to activate inside the On Air ecosystem.
On Air has seen steady financial gains and generates a seven-figure revenue, according to Newman. The business grew almost 30% year-over-year in 2025 and has a core staff of 10, with an additional 20 contributors including contractors.
Sponsorship of its flagship Brooklyn festival has risen between 20% and 40% each year for the past three years, Newman said, although the company declined to share more specific financials.
The audience side has grown as well. Its February event in Brooklyn this year drew 2,000 attendees-up 40% from the prior year-and hosted more than 200 performers and speakers.
Podcasts taped at the event reached more than 10 million listeners and viewers, while related social content drove 500 million impressions, according to the company.
Adding and expanding
The Ambies, the annual awards hosted by The Podcast Academy, will join On Air Fest in New York beginning in 2026.
Previously staged as part of Podcast Movement, the Ambies bring an added layer of industry recognition to the festival.
Bryan Barletta, founder of podcast agency Sounds Profitable, said the shift underscores On Air’s unique standing. Sounds Profitable merged with Podcast Movement last month.
“The Ambies are the only major independent podcast award that has a live event,” Barletta said. “Combining them with On Air gives people more reason to engage with the festival. There’s nothing in experiential like what On Air has done.”
The company will also bring back On Air LA in November after a one-year hiatus. The event will feature creator showcases, live tapings, and an invite-only Podcast Business Summit, co-hosted with Bloomberg.
“From the earliest days, On Air was an experiment in championing boundary-pushing creatives,” Newman said. “Now that the industry has caught up, we’re broadening our scope and focusing on breaking the next creative barriers.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com ’
