The Podglomerate taps NPR veteran Joni Deutsch as first VP

Podcast marketing leader The Podglomerate has hired Joni Deutsch, an award-winning host and producer who has spent ten years with NPR and public radio stations, as its new Vice President of Marketing and Audience Development.

In this newly created role, Deutsch will lead the firm’s marketing and audience growth strategies. Reporting directly to Podglomerate founder and CEO Jeff Umbro, she will work to broaden the company’s reach in podcasting and in the broader digital audio sector while managing a high-profile portfolio of podcast clients including PBS, CVS Health, Expedia, MIT, Stanford University, and various NPR stations.

“I’m thrilled to bring my experience working at the intersection of content and audience to the Podglomerate,” says Deutsch. “I look forward to working with our team to connect great podcasts with new audiences.”

Most recently, Deutsch was podcast manager at WFAE (NPR in Charlotte, North Carolina), where she oversaw the first Charlotte Podcast Festival (named one of the “best podcast conferences” by major audio platform Buzzsprout) and developed award-winning podcasts, including SouthBound (with Pulitzer Prize finalist Tommy Tomlinson) and She Says (the investigative series that topped the Apple Podcast charts). She also created and hosted WFAE’s music program Amplifier, named “Best Podcast” by several North Carolina publications.

In addition to being a long-standing NPR Music contributor who has written about Billie Eilish to Bill Withers, Deutsch was assistant producer for NPR Music’s legacy public radio music program Mountain Stage. She was the youngest person, and the first woman, to guest-host in the show’s decades-long run.

A supporter of inclusive media and a mentor in digital women’s leadership programs, Deutsch has been honored by the Edward R. Murrow Awards, the Webby Awards, the Gracie Awards, the Online Journalism Awards and Axios Charlotte’s “30 Under 30” (where she was called “The Sarah Koenig of Charlotte”). Deutsch has also written about the future of podcasting for Harvard University’s Nieman Lab (featuring “some of the smartest people in journalism and digital media”), with Poynter listing her work next to Mr. Rogers and Fresh Air’s Terry Gross as “50 Ways to Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Public Broadcasting Act.”

“Joni is an accomplished leader in the audio world,” said Podglomerate CEO Jeff Umbro. “Her wealth of media knowledge, passion for audience development and innovative mindset will elevate the Podglomerate and the services we provide to our industry-leading clients. We’re thrilled and privileged to call Joni a colleague, and we can’t wait to see what we can accomplish with her in our corner.”

The Podglomerate, which has been producing, distributing and monetizing podcasts since 2015, represents more than 40 podcasts accounting for millions of monthly downloads. Shows represented by the Podglomerate have topped the podcast charts and have received features on every major podcast distribution app and national coverage in print, digital, radio and television. In 2022, the Podglomerate will continue to build out its team with industry leaders, including incoming Chief Operating Officer Dan Christo.