This Week's Influencer: Calacanis on AI; SiriusXM Lands YouTube; iHeart Gets Measurable; Heather McMahan Fasts; and More

The way to thrive in an AI future? Be authentically human.

This week on The Media Roundtable, you have a VIP ticket to SXSW 2026 for the iHeart x Oxford Road Luncheon, with a podcasting powerhouse who consistently sees over the horizon.

Dan Granger (CEO & Founder, Oxford Road) chatted with Jason Calacanis (Angel Investor & Host, This Week in Startups & All-In), to break down the current state of podcasting and what’s next. What do they agree on? AI can’t outperform human connection.

The team takes on: Conversations Over Impressions, Remember the Trough, The George Lucas Alley-Oop, and more. Let’s dig in.

“In a world of unlimited impressions, what matters? It’s that authenticity and aligning yourself with the conversations that matter.” – Jason Calacanis (Angel Investor & Host, This Week in Startups & All-In)

Conversations over Impressions – You can get your fill of impressions almost anywhere, but you should know you’re encouraging the conversation wherever you are investing your dollars. It’s a luxury to have so many shows to support; you can actually find some you believe in that can also be successful for your brand. And it’s more futureproof too. Jason believes there’s always a place for  “people who can create new things in the world.” Support the creators bringing new things into the world that align with your values. Their fans will support you too.

The George Lucas Alley-Oop – You miss 100% of the moments you’re not present for. Skilled interviewers (like Jason, who studied Charlie Rose, Howard Stern, and Oprah) can sense when the moments audiences crave appear. That’s when they go off-script and discover something new. Stay on the old track, and you’re like the interviewer who asked George Lucas about merchandise, ignoring an alley-oop about Lucas’ life-changing car accident. Marketers: this is paramount for host-reads. Let the experts shape the moment for their audience; just find ways to support them.

Remember the Trough – The most valuable journeys you take in life are often marred with a trough of strife somewhere along the way.  Expecting that dip means you’ll be more prepared to stick it out. This advice applies to Y-Combinator, Tim Ferriss studying Mandarin, and Jason learning to play pickleball with his daughter. In an AI future, many tasks could be easier. The things that are still hard will be valuable, and will need practiced resilience to succeed.

See the future in Jason’s crystal ball by tuning in to the full episode below

The Classifieds

Convicted and Cleared for Takeoff

Network: Impressions.fm / Monthly Downloads: 500k

Are you bold? Are you brash? Do you like to fly high and live fancy free? Barry Oberholzer can be described as just that, and in his wild podcast from Impressions.fm, he’s more than happy to show it. In one of the most unique, out there examples of audio’s potential, each episode of this opportunity is recorded within the confines of a Bell 505 Jet Ranger X helicopter. High above the steady traffic and numerous mountains of Los Angeles, Oberholzer and his guests talk about the difficulties they have faced, the experiences that shaped them, and the lessons they invariably learned.

There’s an expert level of production that is highlighted by the video portion of this opportunity. Watch as Heidi Montag flies above the wreckage of her home in the Palisades, or as Allen Iverson grows nostalgic about his time in the NBA. This time, it is okay that this jailbird is taking flight. Check out his flight patterns via the link below.

Get The Deal

These Internet Best Friends Help Cure the Loneliness Epidemic

Network: TMG Studios / Monthly Downloads: 145k

Los Angeles is a city of transplants, but with its size and constant traffic, Angeleños rank among the loneliest US citizens. For hosts Tristan Watson and Channing Glenn, this was never an issue. Moving to the city from Alabama, these longtime best friends came to rely on and support one another throughout their lives. Now they’re bringing those good vibes to their podcast Not That Y’all Care, a weekly sit-down that involves light roasting, long tangents, general shenanigans, and a strong sense of community.

For their loyal listeners, each episode is a welcome distraction from the world and an outlet for those who miss the deep friendships they might’ve left behind. Since joining TMG Studios last year, many female-skewing high-end DTC advertisers have seen success with the show’s hosts. If you actually do care, as you should, you will click below for additional details.

Get The Deal

In Case You Missed It

YouTube Was Already an Audio Giant. Now It’s Accessible at Scale

YouTube has long been a massive audio platform, but buying its inventory at scale wasn’t possible until now. SiriusXM Media struck a deal to become the exclusive ad rep for YouTube Main & Music audio ads, combining their audiences for a reach of 255M unique monthly listeners (90% of the U.S. audio market). Oxford Road has secured one of ten beta slots ahead of the June launch. Inventory includes :15 and :30 spots with targeting across audience cohorts, lifestyle segments, and genre-specific listeners. Measurement during the beta relies on Google’s Brand Lift, so no 3rd-party attribution yet. Marketers should expect new scale and reach through this partnership, with measurement limitations in the near term.

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Netflix’s Podcast Audience is a Work in Progress

Hernan Lopez’s Streamonomics analysis of Netflix’s Q1 2026 earnings finds Netflix is looking for its next growth curve beyond core streaming, with advertising, gaming, creator content, and podcasts all part of the conversation. Podcasts are getting attention because Netflix is a massive platform, but Samba TV estimates they represented just 0.5% of Netflix’s total U.S. TV viewing hours in Q1. That puts the opportunity in perspective: Netflix podcasts may become useful for talent, IP, and discovery, but they have not yet scaled enough for a reach play for marketers. Netflix adding podcasts sounds like a big deal because Netflix is big. But when Streamonomics estimates that podcasts represent just 0.5% of total viewing hours, that puts the opportunity into perspective. Marketers do not need to panic about missing out, at least not yet. Reminder: don’t confuse platform buzz with actual audience delivery.

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Radio Ads Work. Now iHeart Wants to Actually Prove It

iHeartMedia’s AudioGraph platform aims to make broadcast radio addressable and programmatically transactable — closing a gap where 70% of audio inventory sits outside automated buying systems, even as ~90% of ad dollars flow through programmatic. Currently in closed beta using the iHeartRadio app and TransUnion identity data, Chief Business Officer Lisa Coffey projects it will grow total programmatic audio inventory by 400%. AudioGraph is iHeart recognizing how media is bought today. With most media bought programmatically, traditional media has to adapt if it wants to compete for modern budgets. AudioGraph’s real value will come down to whether it makes radio easier to plan, target, optimize, and prove out inside a broader media mix.

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#SaveTheLiveReads

When the Ad Feels Like a Voice Memo From Your Best Friend

Heather McMahan has absolutely cooked with this week’s #STLR on her podcast, Absolutely Not, with her tried and true testament to fasting with Prolon from L-Nutra! She kicks things off by calling out everyone listening with second careers, crazy workweeks, and weekends that somehow feel busier than weekdays. That instant “she gets me” feeling is exactly why this ad works so well. She runs through all the Prolon benefits–fat loss, glowing skin, cellular renewal, and muscle protection–but it doesn’t feel like she’s reading off a fact sheet. It feels like she’s texting you a voice memo about something she’s genuinely obsessed with.

Then, she drops that she personally does the Prolon program twice a year, and honestly, that’s it; we’re sold. No “my partners at Prolon” energy here, just a real person telling you what actually works for her. She drives this read home with a quick, quirky joke about how fasting is biblical and good for the soul. It’s funny, AND she actually means it; somehow, it makes you trust her even more. Only she could pull that off. Wrapping it all up with a concise call to action and an easy-to-remember link, her audience is coming away with a story to remember and a brand to check out for themselves.

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OXFORd In The News

A New Scorecard That Could Unlock Serious Podcast Ad Dollars

Podcast News Daily‘s deep dive on Bumper‘s new audience verification tool anchored its argument in our What Brands Want 2025 finding: better measurement could unlock $1 billion in additional podcast ad spend. As the industry races to solve for trust, the data we surfaced continues to frame the conversation.

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The More AI Takes Over, The More a Human Voice Is Worth

Our Media Roundtable episode, “The Guaranteed Human in an Artificial World,” was featured in Podcast News Daily‘s coverage of the Oxford Road x iHeart Luncheon panel during SXSW. Featuring executives from iHeart Podcasts, Libsyn, Whole Foods, and GoodRx, the conversation landed on one clear theme: as automation increases content volume, trust and authenticity are becoming scarcer, and more valuable.

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